ces peacefully
reposing on their pillows. Mercedes and Irene were already fast
asleep, and the other two so near the land of Nod that their eyes
merely fluttered open for an instant at the sound of the opening door,
and then drowsily fell again.

Satisfied, Gloriana turned to Tabitha, busy trying to slip Rosslyn's
nightgown over his limp body, and whispered, "All serene!"

"Then skip off to bed," said the other girl. "I will bring Janie when
I come."

"But----"

"Oh, it is just the bread. I want to knead it down once more. It
won't take me half a jiffy, but if I don't do it now, it will be all
over the floor by morning."

So Gloriana crept wearily away to her room, for it had been a long,
hard, disappointing day, but a moment later she scurried back into the
kitchen; and when Tabitha wheeled about in surprise at her hasty
entrance, she laughed nervously, half apologetically, "I kicked
someone's shoes under the bed! Don't know whether they are my own or a
burglar's!"

Knowing how timid the red-haired girl still felt on the desert at
night, Tabitha refrained from smiling at what seemed an uncalled-for
fright, and said reassuringly, "No burglars ever visit Silver Bow.
There is nothing in a miner's shack to tempt them."

"I should think there would be plenty of gold nuggets," answered
Gloriana in surprise.

"Not many in Silver Bow houses, I reckon," Tabitha placidly replied,
"But if you are afraid to go to bed alone, you better wait for me.
I'll be ready in a minute."

She did not mean to speak scornfully, for she sympathized heartily with
the sensitive gain remembering with what horror the desert nights used
to fill her when Silver Bow first became her home. But Gloriana
thought she detected a hint of ridicule in her companion's voice, and
hurriedly departed for their room once more, saying with a great show
of bravado, "Oh, I'm not afraid! Come to think of it, I believe I left
my slippers at the foot of the bed, and that is probably what I hit."

The door closed behind her again, and Tabitha, smiling sympathetically
at the girl's attempt at bravery, began to cover the mound of soft,
white dough in the huge pan, when a wild, unearthly shriek echoed
through the house, followed by the sharp crack of a pistol, and the
muffled fall of a body.

For one brief instant Tabitha stood rooted to the spot, fairly
paralyzed with horror. Then the thought of Glory gave wings to her
feet, and, heedless of her own d