f his breathing. Without seeing she
knew that he was looking into her face with those piercing, boring,
steel-grey eyes. She waited for what seemed ages for him to speak, but
he stood before her--silent.

"He is rough and uncouth and brutal. He hurled you spinning into the
snow," whispered an inner voice.

"Yes, strong and brutal and good!" answered her heart.

Chloe opened her eyes. MacNair stood before her in all his bigness.
She gazed at him wide-eyed. He was fumbling his Stetson in his hand,
and she noticed the long hair was pushed back from his broad brow. The
blood rushed into the girl's face. Her fists clenched tight, and she
took a swift step forward.

"Bob MacNair! _Put on your hat_!"

A puzzled look crept into the man's eyes, his face flushed like the
face of a schoolboy who had been caught in a foolish prank, and he
returned the hat awkwardly to his head.

"I thought--that is--you wrote in the letter, here--" he paused as his
fingers groped at the pocket of his shirt.

Chloe interrupted him. "If any man ever takes his Stetson off to me
again I'll--I'll _hate_ him!"

Bob MacNair stared down upon the belligerent figure before him. He
noticed the clenched fists, the defiant tilt of the shoulders, the
unconscious out-thrust of the chin--and then his eyes met squarely the
flashing eyes of the girl.

For a long, long time he gazed into the depths of the upturned eyes,
and then, either the significance of her words dawned suddenly upon
him, or he read in that long glance the wondrous message of her love.
With a low, glad cry he sprang to her and gathered her into his great,
strong arms and pressed her lithe, pliant body close against his
pounding heart, while through his veins swept the wild, fierce joy of a
mighty passion. Bob MacNair had come into his own!

There was a lively commotion among the Indians, and MacNair raised his
head to meet the gaze of LeFroy and Constable Craig and two others of
the men of the Mounted.

"Where is Lapierre?" asked the constable.

Chloe struggled in confusion to release herself from the encircling
arms, but the arms closed the tighter, and with a final sigh of
surrender the girl ceased her puny struggles.

Constable Craig's lips twitched in a suppressed smile. "Ripley was
right," he muttered to himself as he awaited MacNair's reply. "They
have found each other at last."

And then the answer came. MacNair stared straight into the officer's
eyes, and h