in every tone of his voice, and every feature
of his honest face. "And, Dr. Bill, too? This is fine. Come right
in."

The Padre's cordiality found full reflection in his visitors' faces as
they wrung his hand.

"It's been some hustle getting here," said Kars. "There wasn't a
chance sending on word. We made the landing, and came right along up.
Ha, Murray. Say, we're in luck."

Both men shook hands with the factor, while the priest drew up the
other chairs to the stove, which he replenished with a fresh supply of
logs from the corner of the room.

"But I guess we're birds of bad omen," Kars went on, addressing Murray
in particular. "The neches are out on Bell River, and they sniped us
right along down to within twenty miles of the Fort."

"The Bell River neches within twenty miles of the Fort?"

It was the priest who answered him. His question was full of alarm.
He was thinking of the women of the Mission, white as well as colored.

Murray remained silent while Kars and Bill dropped wearily into the
chairs set for them. Then, as the great bulk of the man he disliked
settled itself, and he held out his chilled hands to the comforting
stove, his voice broke the silence which followed on the priest's
expression of alarm.

"Best tell us it right away. We'll need to act quick," he said, his
eyes shining under the emotion stirring him.

Kars looked across at the gross figure which suggested so little of the
man's real energy. His steady eyes were unreadable. His thoughts were
his own, masked as emphatically as any Indian chief's at a council.

"They handed me this," he said, with a hard laugh, indicating the
bandage which still surrounded his neck, although his wound had almost
completely healed under the skilful treatment of Dr. Bill. "We hit
their trail nearly two days from Bell River. They'd massacred an
outfit of traveling Indians, and burnt their camp out. However, we
kept ahead of them, and made the headwaters of the river. But we
didn't shake 'em. Not by a sight. They hung on our trail, I guess,
for nearly three weeks. We lost 'em twenty miles back. That's all."

Bill and the priest sat with eyes on Murray. The responsibility of the
post was his. Kars, too, seemed to be looking to the factor.

Murray gave no outward sign for some moments. His dark eyes were
burning with the deep fires which belonged to them. He sat still.
Quite still. Then he spoke, and something of the force of t