"Oh," she said; "I have forgotten it! It is in my room!" "I reckon I'd get it if I was thinkin' of goin' ridin'," he said.
"Some folks seem to think that when you're ridin' a horse a bridle is right handy." "Well," she said, smiling at him as she went out the stable door; "it has been a long time since I have had these things on, and perhaps I was a little nervous." At this reference to her past the pulse of pity which he had felt for her before again shot over him.

He had seen a quick sadness in her eyes, lurking behind the smile.
"I reckon you've been stayin' in the house too much," he said gruffly.
She hesitated, going out of the door, to look back at him, astonishment and something more subtle glinting her eyes.

He saw it and frowned.
"It's twelve miles to the Diamond K," he suggested; "an' twelve back.
If you're figgerin' on ridin' that distance an' takin' time between to look at any cattle mebbe you'd better get a move on." She was out of the door before he had ceased speaking and in an incredibly short time was back, a little breathless, her face flushed as though she had been running.
He put the bridle on her horse, led it out, and condescended to hold the stirrup for her, a service which she acknowledged with a flashing smile that brought a reluctant grin to his face.
Then, swinging into his own saddle, he urged Blackleg after her, for she had not waited for him, riding down past the ranchhouse and out into the little stretch of plain that reached to the river.
They rode steadily, talking little, for Calumet deliberately kept a considerable distance between them, thus showing her that though courtesy had forced him to accompany her it could not demand that he should also become a mark at which she could direct conversation.
It was noon when they came in sight of the Diamond K ranch buildings.
They were on a wide plain near the river and what grass there was was sun-scorched and rustled dryly under the tread of their horses' hoofs.
Then Calumet added a word to the few that he had already spoken during the ride.
"I reckon Kelton must have been loco to try to raise cattle in a God-forsaken hole like this," he said with a sneer.
"That he was foolish enough to do so will result to our advantage," she replied.
"Meanin' what ?" "That we will be able to buy what cattle we want more cheaply than we would were Kelton's range what it should be," she returned, watching his face.
He looked at her vindictively.

"You're one of them kind of humans that like to take advantage of a man's misfortune," he said.
"That is all in the viewpoint," she defended.

"I didn't bring misfortune to Kelton.