"Lordy me!" he ejaculated ironically. "The lady left a note on my
pillow--and I never received it in time! Now, ain't that a darned
shame?" He plucked the knot loose, and held up the ribbon and the note,
and laughed.
"'When this reaches you, I shall be far away, though it breaks my heart
to go and this missive is mussed up scandalous with my bitter tears.
Forgive me if you can, and forget me if you have to. It is better thus,
for it couldn't otherwise was,'" he improvised mockingly, while his
chilled fingers fumbled to release the paper, which was evidently a leaf
torn from a man's memorandum book. "Lordy me, a letter from a lady!
Ain't that sweet!"
When he read it, however, the smile vanished with a click of the teeth
which betrayed his returning anger. One cold, curt sentence bidding him
wait until help came--that was all. His eye measured accusingly the wide
margin left blank under the words; she had not omitted apology or
explanation for lack of space, at any rate. His face grew cynically
amused again.
"Oh, certainly! I'd roost on this side-hill for a month, if a lady told
me to," he sneered, speaking aloud as he frequently did in the solitude
of the range land.
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