"Miss  Helen,  what  else  could  you  look  for?  Las  Vegas
is  in  love  with  Miss  Bo.  Shore  he  told  me  so.  An'
Dale's  in  love  with  you !  .  .  .  Why,  you  couldn't  stop  them
any  more  'n  you  could  stop  the  wind  from  blowin'  down
a  pine,  when  it  got  ready.  .  .  .  Now,  it's  some  different  with
me.  I'm  a  Mormon  an'  I'm  married.  But  I'm  Dale's
pard,  these  many  years.  An'  I  care  a  powerful  sight  for
you  an'  Miss  Bo.  So  I  reckon  I'd  draw  on  Beasley  th«
first  chance  I  got."

Helen  strove  for  utterance,  but  it  was  denied  her.
Roy's  simple  statement  of  Dale's  love  had  magnified  her
emotion  by  completely  changing  its  direction.  She  for-
got what  she  had  felt  wretched  about.  She  could  not
look  at  Roy.
"Miss  Helen,  don't  feel  bad,"  he  said,  kindly.  "Shore
you're  not  to  blame.  Your  comin'  West  hasn't  made
any  difference  in  Beasley's  fate,  except  mebbe  to  hurry
it  a  little.  My  dad  is  old,  an'  when  he  talks  it's  like
history.  He  looks  back  on  happenin's.  Wai,  it's  the
nature  of  happenin's  that  Beasley  passes  away  before  his
prime.  Them  of  his  breed  don't  live  old  in  the  West.  .  ..
