on his. He opened his eyes to find Alaire bending
over him.

"You must get up," she smiled. "It is nearly time to go, and Inez is
cooking our supper."

He reached up and took her in his arms. She lay upon his breast,
thrilling happily with her nearness to him, and they remained so for a
while, whispering now and then, trying ineffectually to voice the
thoughts that needed no expression.

"Why did you let me sleep so long?" he asked her, reproachfully.

"Oh, I've been napping there in that chair, where I could keep one eye
on you. I'm terribly selfish; I can't bear to lose one minute." After a
while she said: "I've made a discovery. Father O'Malley snores
dreadfully! Juanito never heard anything like it, and it frightened him
nearly to death. He says the Father must be a very fierce man to growl
so loudly. He says, too, that he likes me much better than his mother."

It seemed to Dave that the bliss of this awakening and the sweet
intimacy of this one moment more than rewarded him for all he had gone
through, and paid him for any unhappiness the future might hold in
store.

He felt called upon to tell Alaire the truth about himself; but with
her in his arms he had no strength of purpose; her every endearment
made him the more aware of his weakness. Again he asked himself when
and how he could bear to tell her? Not now. Certainly not now when she
was trembling under his caresses.

"I've been busy, too," she was saying. "I sent Juan to the village to
learn the news, and it's not very nice. It's good we stopped here. He
says Nuevo Pueblo has been destroyed, and the Federal forces are all
moving south, away from the border. So our troubles aren't over yet. We
must reach the river tonight."

"Yes, by all means."

"Juan is going with us as guide."

"You arranged everything while I snoozed, eh? I'm ashamed of myself."

Alaire nodded, then pretended to frown darkly. "You ought to be," she
told him. "While you were asleep I read your mail and--"

"My mail?" Dave was puzzled.

"Exactly. Have you forgotten that your pockets were full of unopened
letters?"

"Oh, those! They came just as I was leaving Jonesville, and I haven't
thought of them since. You know, I haven't had my clothes off."

"I'm going to read all your love letters," she told him, threateningly.

"Yes, and you're going to write all of them, too," he laughed.

But she shook a warning finger in his face. "I told you I'm a jealous
person. I'm going