ld them.
In the corner by the cot stood her guns--one large, double-barreled
Winchester, a shot-gun, and a small rifle. Above them on the logs rested
her fishing-rods.

It was all so new and interesting to three pair of fascinated eyes. They
asked question after question and explored every nook and corner of the
cabin and its surroundings--the kitchen with its shining stove, singing
tea-kettle, and white-covered table, the pantry, the root-cellar and
chicken-house, and last of all the creek-refrigerator.

"It's all right in the daytime," announced Vivian, as they sat on the
porch before beginning to get dinner, "but I don't see how you stand it
all alone at night." She paused. "I'd die!" she finished simply.

Jean MacDonald did not laugh, though she felt like it at first, for she
saw that Vivian was very much in earnest.

"I think I know how you feel, Vivian," she said kindly. "I know you would
be very lonely, because, you see, you've always lived in a city or at
school where there have been folks all about you. But, you see, it's
different with me. I was born on a homestead in Montana, and I'm used to
endless tracts of land without neighbors. I guess I've made better friends
with the mountains than you've been able to yet, and with the silence
which I know some people fear. You see, I've never been afraid in all my
life, so I don't mind the loneliness."

Vivian was staring at her, incredulous.

"Never--been--afraid--of--anything?" she repeated questioningly.
"Honestly, haven't you--all your life?"

Jean MacDonald considered for a moment.

"No," she said, "honestly, I don't believe I ever have. I was brought up
never to fear the dark or the silence or being alone or--anything like
that. Those are the most awful things, I guess, to persons who are afraid.
And as for wild animals or people who would do harm (and there aren't
many of those in the world) why, you see"--she raised her head and her
eyes flashed--"you see, I can take care of myself! I'm thankful," she
added, "that I'm not afraid of things. I think fear must be a terrible
thing!"

Vivian's blue eyes filled with sudden tears.

"It is," she said. "It's the most dreadful monster in the whole wide
world!"

Jean MacDonald placed a firm, brown hand on Vivian's shoulder as they all
went in together to prepare dinner, and Vivian felt comradeship and
understanding in that friendly hand. Perhaps, some day, she said to
herself, she would be brave also; even