noon the roof of clapboards was on, and the siding of the same
material had been started. Evidently there was not to a be a
fireplace inside.

Then a teamster drove up with a wagon-load of purchases Kells had
ordered. Kells helped unload this and evidently was in search of
articles. Presently he found them, and then approached Joan, to
deposit before her an assortment of bundles little and big.

"There Miss Modestly," he said. "Make yourself some clothes. You can
shake Dandy Dale's outfit, except when we're on the trail. ... And,
say, if you knew what I had to pay for this stuff you'd think there
was a bigger robber in Alder Creek than Jack Kells. ... And, come to
think of it, my name's now Blight. You're my daughter, if any one
asks." Joan was so grateful to him for the goods and the permission
to get out of Dandy Dale's suit as soon as possible, that she could
only smile her thanks. Kells stared at her, then turned abruptly
away. Those little unconscious acts of hers seemed to affect him
strangely. Joan remembered that he had intended to parade her in
Dandy Dale's costume to gratify some vain abnormal side of his
bandit's proclivities. He had weakened. Here was another subtle
indication of the deterioration of the evil of him. How far would it
go? Joan thought dreamily, and with a swelling heart, of her
influence upon this hardened bandit, upon that wild boy, Jim Cleve.

All that afternoon, and part of the evening in the campfire light,
and all of the next day Joan sewed, so busy that she scarcely lifted
her eyes from her work. The following day she finished her dress,
and with no little pride, for she had both taste and skill. Of the
men, Bate Wood had been most interested in her task; and he would