see over a part of
the moonlit basin, and guard the open space between the camp and the clump
of timber that lay in the direction of the nearest mountain. After Joanne
had blown out her candle the silence of the night seemed to grow deeper
about him. The hobbled horses had wandered several hundred yards away, and
only now and then could he hear the thud of a hoof, or the clank of a steel
shoe on rock. He believed that it was impossible for any one to approach
without ears and eyes giving him warning, and he felt a distinct shock when
Donald MacDonald suddenly appeared in the moonlight not twenty paces from
him. With an ejaculation of amazement he jumped to his feet and went to
him.

"How the deuce did you get here?" he demanded.

"Were you asleep, Johnny?"

"I was awake--and watching!"

The old hunter chuckled.

"It was so still when I come to those trees back there that I thought mebby
something had 'appened," he said.

"So, I sneaked up, Johnny."

"Did you see anything over the range?" asked Aldous anxiously.

"I found footprints in the snow, an' when I got to the top I smelled smoke,
but couldn't see a fire. It was dark then." MacDonald nodded toward the
tepee. "Is she asleep, Johnny?"

"I think so. She must be very tired."

They drew back into the shadow of the spruce. It was a simultaneous
movement of caution, and both, without speaking their thoughts, realized
the significance of it. Until now they had had no opportunity of being
alone since last night.

MacDonald spoke in a low, muffled voice:

"Quade an' Culver Rann are goin' the limit, Johnny," he said. "They left
men on the job at Tete Jaune, and they've got others watching us.
Consequently, I've hit on a scheme--a sort of simple and unreasonable
scheme, mebby, but an awful good scheme at times."

"What is it?"

"Whenever you see anything that ain't a bear, or a goat, or a sheep, don't
wait to change the time o' day--but shoot!" said MacDonald.

Aldous smiled grimly.

"If I had any ideas of chivalry, or what I call fair play, they were taken
out of me last night, Mac," he said. "I'm ready to shoot on sight!"

MacDonald grunted his satisfaction.

"They can't beat us if we do that, Johnny. They ain't even ordinary
cut-throats--they're sneaks in the bargain; an' if they could walk in our
camp, smilin' an' friendly, and brain us when our backs was turned, they'd
do it. We don't know who's with them, and if a stranger heaves in sight
meet h