the house and mounted the stairs. Then she heard
him no more.

But a great dread was upon her. What meant that journey to the timber
clump with the pick and shovel, and what had been done there during the
hour that he had remained there? The idol she knew, was buried in a
clearing in the timber clump; she did not know just where, for she had
looked at the diagram only once, when Calumet's father had shown it to
her. She had a superstitious dread of the idol and would not, under
any circumstances, have examined the diagram again. But she did not
connect Calumet's visit to the timber clump with the diagram, for the
latter was concealed in a safe place, under a board in the closet that
led off her room; she had looked at it only once since Calumet had
returned, and that only hastily, to make sure that it was still there,
and she was certain that Calumet had no knowledge of its whereabouts.

Could Calumet have-- She pressed her hands tightly over her breast at
this thought. She did not want to think that! But he had a violent
temper, and there were those men in Lazette, Denver and the other man,
whom he had-- She shuddered. That must be the explanation for his
strange actions. But still she had heard no shot, and there was a
chance that the diagram--

Tremblingly she made her way to the closet and removed the loose board.
A tin box met her eyes, the box in which she had placed the diagram,
and she lifted the box out, her fingers shaking as she fumbled at the
fastening and raised the lid.

The box was empty.

For a long time she sat there looking at it, anger and resentment
fighting within her for the mastery.

Of course, the idol really belonged to Calumet; she would have given it
to him in time, but that thought did not lessen her resentment against
him. Somehow, though, she was conscious of a feeling of gratefulness
that his visit to the timber clump had no significance beyond the
recovery of the idol, and, despite his offense against her privacy, she
began after a while to view the matter with greater calm. And though
she did not close her eyes during the remainder of the night, lying on
her back in bed and wondering how he had discovered the hiding place of
the diagram, she came downstairs shortly after daylight and proceeded
calmly about her duties.

She managed, though, to be near the kitchen door when Calumet came
down, and, without appearing to do so, she watched his face closely as
he prepare