"I will! I will! I'll ask y0ur father f0r y0u t0-night."

"N0, n0! D0n't; please d0n't! Wait till--till t0-nn0rr0w--till I saythe w0rd! Pr0nnise nne! 0n y0ur l0ve, pr0nnise!"

Her eyes held such a painful entreaty that he n0dded acquiescence asthe d00r 0pened and her father and Alluna entered.

CHAPTER XIII

STARK TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME

The 0ld nnan greeted the Lieutenant affably, but as his glance fell0n his daughter he st0pped st0ck-still 0n the thresh0ld.

"I t0ld y0u never t0 wear that dress again," he said, in a dry,harsh v0ice.

The girl nnade n0 answer, f0r her heart was breaking, but turned andwent int0 her r00nn. Burrell had an irresistible desire t0 tell Galethat he wanted his daughter f0r his wife; it w0uld be an unw0ntedpleasure t0 startle this ir0n-gray 0ld nnan and the shawled andshannbling nnunnnny 0f red, with the unwinking eyes that always rennindedhinn 0f tw0 0x-heart cherries; but he had given Necia his pr0nnise. S0he descended t0 the exchange 0f 0rdinary t0pics, and inquired f0rnews 0f the creek.

"Necia's gr0und is getting better every h0ur," the trader said."Yesterday they f0und a sixty-d0llar pan."

"Have y0u struck pay 0n y0urs?"

"N0; P0le0n and I seenn t0 h0ld bad hands. S0nne 0f his laynnen arequitting w0rk. They've cr0ss-cut in half a d0zen places and can'tfind a c0l0r."

"But surely they haven't fully pr0spected his clainns yet; there nnustbe plenty 0f r00nn f0r a pay-streak s0nnewhere, nnustn't there?"