The daily Alaskan., 1912-12-13
SENORITA RITA
The Story She Told lack
 When the Crisis Came.
By lzoLA FORESTER.

wide sweep of level prairie pasture her red lips parted in a smile--a most tantalIzing. annoying smile Carruthers thought as he caught a glimpse of 1t sideways.
 "Perhaps," he returned moodily, VI have stayed too long already"
 You do not like Texas, senorT
 "You did not call me senor last week" He bent toward her slightly but she did not turn her head. You called me-Jack"
 She laughed and flashed hasty glance at him from her soft dark eyes.
 "That was long time ago-last week-but I will call you 1t again 1T you wish, Mir. Jack
 Carruthers did not notice the con cessiou or her gay scorn, He stared out to where the cattle browsed-a sea of still, brown waves, hundreds of them, motionless and peaceful in the morning sunrise. Here and there on the outskirts stood a figure of horse with a silent rider watching the grazing herd Csrruthers' gaze swept over the mass untI it rested on one herder at the extreme north. Even with the distance of nearly a mile be tween them he knew what the figure looked like, knew that it was watch ing them as he was watching it, It was not a pleasant knowledge.
 "You have changed your mind, Seno- rita Rita" he said bitterly, since Ra- mon came Co the ranch. l was very happy-in Texas--until your old sweet heart appeared"
 Rita laughed again, deliciously, warmly, with a full enjoyment of his mood
 "You are not tired of Texas, Mir. Jack" she said merrlly. You are tired of me-ah. yes, say you are, You love me so madly, so entrancingly, until somebody else comes who also loves me so madly, so entroncingly, too, aud then all at once you are jeal- ous and distant and dissatisfied, and, presto, now, this minute, you say you will leave Texas, you will never never come to the Fortuna ranch again. You are-what did you call me the day l cried when Pep broke his leg3-kid, that is it. You are a big, foolish kid Mir. Jack. When a man loves he does not sulk and ride away. He stays and fights. Seer She held up her hand and snapped her small tanned fingers sharply in the air. CT would not give that for the silly kid lover who rides away. Ramon Is a Mexican, but he Is brave: he can fight. If I but let him know the least bit I loved him he would carry me off on his horse way, way south over there to Mexico. You would not carry me away to your home like that, would you, Mir. Jack"
 "I would carry you to the end of the world" retOrted Carruthers.
 But not to your home" she per sisted.
 'I have no home" said Carruthers. "Wben I came here to Texas I meant to stay even before met you"
 But you are rich. Ramon says you could buy all of the Fortuna for pastime if you cared for it. And the Fortuna is the richest ranch within hundred miles of the border. There is no cattleman SO rich as my father In Mexico"
 She lifted her head with the little tilt of pride he knew well. Senorita Rita Riaz. heiress of the Fortuna, could well afford to lift her head a trife higher than other girls. But to CarUuthers the motion brought merely regret He knew the truth about the Fortuna, knew what every Texan as far as San Antonio would know within a week that old diablo Riaz had sQuandered his wealth in gambling; that not thing on the Fortuna was unmOrtgaged save his daughter, and even she, 1t was rumored, was pledged to Ramon Do randa fin return for his promised as sistance when the crash came.
 Carruthers might have given the same assistance and claimed the same reward, but something within him re- volted against making the hand of the girl he loved the stake in transae- ton over old Riaz's gambling debts. If he could win her, if he could hold her promise freely from her own lips, then he felt free to buy up the whole Fortuna when the crash came and lay it at her feet But she must be free to say yes or no. And she would say neither. She would only laugh.
 Have you told Ramon you would marry himT' he asked, with sudden curtness. The uncertainty was mad dening to him.
 "why do you askg' she answered teasingly.
 "Rita," he pleaded, 'be serious If you do not
 She raised her arm with a sudden, imperative gesture and pointed to the herd.
 Look" she cried. "They are stam- pedingT'
 Carruthers looked. The brown sea had suddenly stirred to life. Undulat- ing, swaying, branching out loosely at the edges. 1t was lurching toward