Joseph  she  had  faced  the  West  with  a  beating  heart  and
a  high  resolve  to  be  worthy  of  that  West.  Homes  had
to  be  made  out  there  in  that  far  country,  so  Uncle  Al  had
written,  and  women  were  needed  to  make  homes.  She
meant  to  be  one  of  these  women  and  to  make  of  her  sister
another.  And  with  the  thought  that  she  would  knovC
definitely  what  to  say  to  Riggs  when  he  approached  her,
sooner  or  later,  Helen  dismissed  hirn  from  mind,

32


THE  MAN  OF  THE  FOREST

While  the  train  was  in  motion,  enabling  Helen  to  watch
the  ever-changing  scenery,  and  resting  her  from  the  strenu
ous  task  of  keeping  Bo  well  in  hand  at  stations,  she  lapsed
again  into  dreamy  gaze  at  the  pine  forests  and  the  red,
rocky  gullies  and  the  dim,  bold  mountains.
She  saw  the  sun  set  over  distant  ranges  or  New  Mexico
— a  golden  blaze  of  glory,  as  new  to  her  as  the  strange
fancies  born  in  her,  thrilling  and  fleeting  by.  Bo's  rapt
ures  were  not  silent,  and  the  instant  the  sun  sank  and  the
color  faded  she  just  as  rapturously  importuned  Helen  to
get  out  the  huge  basket  of  food  they  had  brought  from
home.
They  had  two  seats,  facing  each  other,  at  the  end  of
the  coach,  and  piled  there,  with  the  basket  on  top,  was
luggage  that  constituted  all  the  girls  owned  in  the  world.
Indeed,  it  was  very  much  more  than  they  had  ever  owned
before,  because  their  mother,  in  her  care  for  them  and
desire  to  have  them  look  well  in  the  eyes  of  this  rich  uncle,
had  spent  money  and  pains  to  give  them  pretty  and  ser
viceable  clothes.
