-

"Just don't you say anything about it, Allie; we aren't even now, and we
sha'n't be, very soon. Besides, it's worth all the rest to have the fun
of getting the inside track of her. Good-by till breakfast-time!" And he
vanished around the corner of the house.

CHAPTER XIII.

AT THE NINE-HUNDRED LEVEL.

Late October had come, and already the snow-line was creeping down the
mountain sides towards the little town in the canon. Occasional flurries
of snow filled the air, too, and the nights were sharp and frosty; but
in the middle of the day it was still warm and bright, with a clearer,
more bracing air than the summer had given, an air which tempted the
young people out for long walks and rides up and down the valley. Louise
often joined them in these expeditions, and it was no uncommon thing for
them to be overtaken by Dr. Brownlee, who generally begged permission to
spend a leisure hour with their party. This addition to their number was
always hailed with delight by the children; for while the doctor usually
took his place by the side of Louise, he was never too much absorbed in
his companion to join the boys in their fun, or to treat Allie and
Marjorie with the gentle chivalry which made them feel so grown up and
elegant, a chivalry that is so rarely shown to children, yet never
fails to afford them a delight even more keen than it gives to their
older sisters.

Allie and the boys were coming up through the town, one Saturday
morning, after a brisk walk in the clear, crisp air. They had passed
"tin-can-dom," as Howard called the open field just below the town,
which was thickly strewn with these indigestible relics of past feasts,
and were just outside the fence separating Chinatown from its American
surroundings, when Allie stopped abruptly.

"Look there!" she exclaimed, pointing over the low wall into the
enclosure, where the tiny log cabins were scattered irregularly about
the ground, and where long-tailed, moon-faced Chinamen were scuffling
aimlessly about. "Isn't that Vic?"

"Where?" asked Howard, while Charlie added,--

"What an idea, Allie! Of course he wouldn't be in there."

"Yes; but 'tis Vic. I know that long red coat of his," responded Allie
hastily. "Right in there, between those two log houses--see?"

True enough, there in the forbidden ground of Chinatown stood Vic, his
red coat and fez making him a striking little figure against the dull
background of a rough log house, as he gazed