Part 33 (1/2)

Aldous and MacDonald looked toward the ridge Fully a mile away, al over the white surface of the snow

”It ain't a goat,” said MacDonald, ”because a goat is white, and we couldn't see it on the snow It ain't a sheep, 'cause it's too dark, an'

movin' too slow It must be a bear, but why in the nah, I don't know!”

He jurizzly,” whispered Joanne tensely ”Would it be a grizzly, John?”

”Possibly,” he answered ”Indeed, it's very likely This is a grizzly country If we hurry you can get a look at hi the object through his long glass when they joined him

”It's a bear,” he said

”Please--please let ed Joanne

The dark object was now almost on the skyline Half A ht MacDonald still held his eye to the telescope, as though he had not heard Joanne Not until theobject had crossed the skyline, and had disappeared, did he reply to her

”The light's bad, an' you couldn't have made hirizzlies, an' so near you won't want a telescope Eh, Johnny?”

As he looked at Aldous there was a strange look in his eyes, and during the remainder of the supper he was restless, and ate hurriedly When he had finished he rose and picked up his long rifle

”There's sheep somewhere near this basin, Johnny,” he explained ”An' I reckon Joanne'll scold us if we don't keep her in fresh ot, an' I probably won't be back until after dark”

Aldous knew that he had more to say, and he ith him a few steps beyond the camp

And MacDonald continued in a low, troubled voice:

”Be careful, Johnny Watch yo'rself I' to take a look over into the next valley, an' I won't be back until late It wasn't a goat, an' it wasn't a sheep, an' it wasn't a bear It o-legged! It was a man, Johnny, an' he was there to watch this trail, or my naht, an' uard while I look over into the next range”

With that he struck off in the direction of the snow-ridge, and for a few ure until it disappeared behind a clu hi season, and that it was not a prospector whoe As a matter of caution, there could be but one conclusion to draw The h, or both, and had unwittingly revealed hiun to gather up the supper things He could hear her singing happily, and as he looked she pressed a finger to her lips and threw a kiss to him His heart smote him even as he smiled and waved a hand in response Then he went to her How sli sun, he thought Hohite and soft were her hands, how tender and fragile her lovely neck! And how helpless--how utterly helpless she would be if anything happened to hiht from him On his knees he wiped the dishes and pots and pans for Joanne When this was done, he seized an axe and showed her how to gather a bed This was a new and delightful experience for Joanne

”You alant to cut balsa before two small trees ”Now, this is a cedar, and this is a balsam Notice how prickly and needlelike on all sides these cedar branches are And now look at the balsam The needles lay flat and soft Balsaet in the North, except ot to dry the moss”

For fifteen minutes he clipped off the soft ends of the balsaathered them in her arms and carried them into the tepee Then he went in with her, and showed her how to make the bed He made it a narrow bed, and a deep bed, and he knew that Joanne atching hilow in his face when he had finished tucking in the end of the last blanket

”You will be as cozy as can be in that,” he said

”And you, John?” she asked, her face flushi+ng rosily ”I haven't seen another tent for you and Donald”

”We don't sleep in a tent during the summer,” he said ”Just our blankets--out in the open”

”But--if it should rain?”