Well,
I say, thank God for a Ranger like him!"
After that there was a long silence in the little room, broken only by
the cooing of the baby. I did not dare to peep in at Miss Sampson then.
Somehow I expected Steele to arrive at that moment, and his step did not
surprise me. He came round the corner as he always turned any corner,
quick, alert, with his hand down. If I had been an enemy waiting there
with a gun I would have needed to hurry. Steele was instinctively and
habitually on the defense.
"Hello, son! How are Mrs. Hoden and the youngster to-day?" he asked.
"Hello yourself! Why, they're doing fine! I brought the girls down--"
Then in the semishadow of the room, across Mrs. Hoden's bed, Diane
Sampson and Steele faced each other.
That was a moment! Having seen her face then I would not have missed
sight of it for anything I could name; never so long as memory remained
with me would I forget. She did not speak. Sally, however, bowed and
spoke to the Ranger. Steele, after the first start, showed no unusual
feeling. He greeted both girls pleasantly.
"Russ, that was thoughtful of you," he said. "It was womankind needed
here. I could do so little--Mrs. Hoden, you look better to-day.
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