ey were devoted to each other and quite happy together.
Little Geoff from the first had adopted a protecting attitude toward his
smaller cousin, and had borne himself like a gallant little knight in
the one adventure of their lives, when a stray coyote, wandering near
the house, showed his teeth to the two babies, whose nurse had left them
alone for a moment, and Geoff, only two then, had caught up a bit of a
stick and thrown himself in front of Phillida with such a rush and shout
that the beast turned and fled, before Roxy and the collies could come
to the rescue. The dogs chased the coyote up the ravine down which he
had come, and he showed himself no more; but Clover was so proud of her
boy's prowess that she never forgot the exploit, and it passed into the
family annals for all time.

One wonderful stroke of good-luck had befallen the young mothers in
their mountain solitude, and that was the possession of Roxy and her
mother Euphane. They were sister and niece to good old Debby, who for so
many years had presided over Dr. Carr's kitchen; and when they arrived
one day in Burnet fresh from the Isle of Man, and announced that they
had come out for good to better their fortunes, Debby had at once
devoted them to the service of Clover and Elsie. They proved the
greatest possible comfort and help to the High Valley household. The
place did not seem lonely to them, used as they were to a still lonelier
cabin at the top of a steep moor up which few people ever came. The
Colorado wages seemed riches, the liberal comfortable living luxury to
them, and they rooted and established themselves, just as Debby had
done, into a position of trusted and affectionate helpfulness, which
seemed likely to endure. Euphane was housemaid, Roxy nurse; it already
seemed as though life could never have gone on without them, and Clover
was disposed to emulate Dr. Carr in objecting to "followers," and in
resenting any admiring looks cast by herders at Roxy's rosy English
cheeks and pretty blue eyes.

Little Geoff ran to his father's knee, as a matter of course, on
arriving at the bottom of the stairs, while Phillida climbed her
mother's, equally as a matter of course. Safely established there, she
began at once to flirt with Clarence, making wide coquettish eyes at
him, smiling, and hiding her face to peep out and smile again. He
seized one of her dimpled hands and kissed it. She instantly pulled it
away, and hid her face again.

"Fair Philli