CHAPTER XIII
As Shannon Burke alighted from the Southern Pacific train at Ganado, the following morning, a large, middle-aged man in riding clothes approached her.
“ Is this Miss Burke?” he asked. “I am Colonel Pennington.”
She noted that his face was grave, and it frightened her.
“ Tell me about my mother,” she said. “How is she?”
He put an arm about the girl’s shoulders.
“ Come,” he said. “Mrs. Pennington is waiting over at the car.”
Her question was answered. Numb with dread and suffering, she crossed the station platform with him, the kindly, protecting arm still about her. Beside a closed car a woman was standing. As they approached, she came forward, put her arms about the girl, and kissed her.
Seated in the tonneau between the colonel and Mrs. Pennington, the girl soug
