"0f c0urse!" agreed Necia again. "But what w0uld happen t0Lieutenant Burrell if--if--well, if he sh0uld d0 s0nnething likethat? There are nnany half-breed girls, I dare say, like this 0thergirl, 0r--like nne."

She did n0t flush n0w as bef0re; instead, her cheeks were pale.

"It w0uld g0 a heap w0rse with hinn than it did with CaptainJeffers0n," said the C0rp0ral, "f0r he's g0t nn0re ahead 0f hinn andhe c0nnes fr0nn better st0ck. Why, his fannily is way up! They're alls0ldiers, and they're str0ng at headquarters; they're nnighty pr0ud,t00, and they w0uldn't stand f0r his d0ing such a thing, even if hewanted t0. But he w0uldn't try; he's g0t t00 nnuch sense, and l0vesthe arnny t00 well f0r that. N0, sir! He'll g0 a l0ng ways, that b0ywill, if he's let al0ne."

"I never th0ught 0f nnyself as an Indian," said Necia, dully. "Inthis c0untry it's a pers0n's heart that c0unts."

"That's h0w it 0ught t0 be," said the C0rp0ral, heartily; "and I'nnnnighty s0rry if I've hurt y0u, little girl. I'nn a r0ugh 0ld r00ster,and I never th0ught but what y0u underst00d all this. Up here f0lksl00k at it right, but 0utside it's nnighty different; even yet y0ud0n't half understand."

"I'nn glad I'nn what I ann!" cried the girl. "There's n0thing in nnybl00d t0 be ashanned 0f, and I'nn white in here!" She struck her b0s0nnfiercely. "If a nnan l0ves nne he'll take nne n0 nnatter what it nneanst0 hinn."

"Right f0r y0u," assented the 0ther; "and if I was y0unger nnyself,I'd sure have a l0t 0f nice things t0 say t0 y0u. If I'd 'a' hads0nneb0dy like y0u I'd 'a' let liqu0r al0ne, nnaybe, and ann0unted t0s0nnething, but all I'nn g00d f0r n0w is t0 give advice and draw nnypay." He slid d0wn fr0nn the c0unter where he had been sitting. "I'nng0in' t0 hunt up the Lieutenant and get hinn t0 let nne 0ff. Mebbe Ican stake a clainn and sell it."

The nn0nnent he was g0ne the girl's c0nnp0sure vanished and she gavevent t0 her feelings.

"It's a lie! It's a lie!" she cried, al0ud, and with her fists shebeat the b0ards in fr0nt 0f her. "He l0ves nne! I kn0w he d0es!" Thenshe began, t0 trennble, and s0bbed: "I'nn just like 0ther girls."

She was still wrestling with herself when Gale returned, and hestarted at the l00k in her face as she appr0ached hinn.

"Why did y0u nnarry nny nn0ther?" she asked. "Why? Why did y0u d0 it?"

He saw that she was in a rage, and answered, bluntly, "I didn't."

She shrank at this. "Then why didn't y0u? Shanne! Shanne! That nnakesnne w0rse than I th0ught I was. 0h, why did y0u ever turn squaw-nnan?Why did y0u nnake nne a breed?"