We are
here for a week at the least."
They all looked at one another. The Inspector was the only one who
preserved an air of cheerfulness, and he was glancing towards Laura.
"Guess we'll have to make the best of it," he murmured.
2.
The girl drew a low stool over to Craig's side. He was sitting in a rough
chair tilted back against the adobe wall of the saloon.
"As tired as ever?" she asked, laying her hand upon his for a moment.
He turned his head and looked at her.
"Always tired," he answered listlessly.
She made a little grimace.
"But you are so strange," she protested. "Over the hills there are the
steam cars. They would take you to some of our beautiful cities where all
is light and gaiety. You are safe here, whatever your troubles may have
been. You say that you have money, and if you are lonely," she added,
dropping her voice, "you need not go alone."
[Illustration: LENORA KNOWS THAT QUEST IS IN DANGER AND GOES TO FIND HIM.]
[Illustration: MARTA TRIES TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH CRAIG.]
He patted her hand affectionately but there was something a little forced
about the action.
"Child," he said, "it is so hard to make you understand. I might lose
myself for a few minutes, it is true, over yonder. Perhaps, even," he
added, "you might help me to forget. And then there would be the
awakening. That is always the same. Sometimes at night I sleep, and when I
sleep I rest, and when my eyes are opened in the morning the weight comes
back and sits upon my heart, and the strength seems to pass from my limbs
and the will from my brain.
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