nd when Cedar Mountain itself rose before him he swung his way with
buoyant stride, up one side and down the other of the range.

Blossom was not in sight when at last he reached the Fulkerson cabin,
but the door stood open and Henderson approached it stealthily. He
paused for a moment, pondering how conspicuously the small house
contrasted with the shabbiness of its neighborhood. It was as trim as a
Swiss chalet, reflecting the personality of its mistress. Door frames
and window casings were neatly painted--and he knew that was Bear Cat's
labor of love. The low hickory-withed chairs on the porch were put
together with an approach to a craftsman's skill--and he knew that,
too, was Bear Cat's labor of love.

As he reached the porch he saw the girl herself sitting just within,
and a broad shaft of sun fell across her, lighting the exquisite
quality of her cheeks and the richness of her hair. She was bending
studiously over a book, and her lips were drooping with an unconscious
wistfulness.

Then, as his shadow fell, Blossom looked up and, in the sudden delight
with which she came to her feet, she betrayed her secret of a welcome
deeper than that accorded to a friendly but casual stranger.

They were still very much engrossed in each other when half an hour
later Bear Cat Stacy appeared without warning in the door. For just a
moment he halted on the threshold with pained eyes, before he entered.

The two men walked home together and, along the way, the younger was
unaccountably silent. His demeanor had relapsed into that shadow of
sullenness which it had often worn before Henderson's coming.

Finally Jerry smilingly demanded an explanation and Bear Cat Stacy
turned upon him a face which had suddenly paled. He spoke with a dead
evenness.

"We've been honest with each other up to now, Mr. Henderson, an' I
demands thet ye be honest with me still."

"I aim to be, Turner. What is it?"

The younger man gulped down a lump which had suddenly risen in his
throat, and jerked his head toward the house they had just left.

"Hit's Blossom. Does ye aim ter--ter co'te her?"

"Court her! What put such an idea into your head?"

"Never mind what put hit thar. I've got ter know! Blossom hain't never
promised ter wed me, yit, but----" He broke off and for a little while
could not resume though his face was expressive enough of his
wretchedness. Finally he echoed: "I've got to know! Ef she'd rather
marry _you_, she's got a licens