ess was impossible for any beast of burden.

As Hervey entered the valley and became lost to view in the sombre
woods, he was greeted by the woeful cry of a screech-owl. So sudden
and unexpected was the ear-piercing cry that both horse and rider
started. The horse threw up its head and snorted, and stood for an
instant trembling with apprehension. Hervey looked about him keenly.
He could see nothing but the crowd of leafless tree-trunks, and a bed
of dry pine-cones which covered the surrounding earth. The owl was
probably hidden in the hollow of some dead tree, for there were many
about. He pressed his horse forward. The animal moved cautiously,
dancing along in its nervous apprehension.

Presently another cry split the air. Again some owl had protested at
his intrusion.

So suddenly did the cry come that Hervey felt a slight superstitious
quiver pass down his back, but he rode on. He had nearly a mile of the
valley to travel before he came to the house, and, during the journey,
seven times came the hideous screech of the owls. Now he began to
understand why this place was called "Owl Hoot."

It was with a feeling of relief that he at length saw the ranch
through the trees, and he greeted Iredale, who was standing in his
doorway when he dismounted, with genuine pleasure.

"Well," he said, after shaking his host by the hand, "another mile of
this d----d valley and I should have turned tail and fled back to the
open. Why, you must have a regular colony of owls in the place. Man, I
never heard such weird cries in my life. How is it that I haven't
heard them before when I came here?"

Iredale took his visitor's horse. He was dressed in moleskin.
Underneath his loose, dun-coloured vest he wore a soft shirt, and in
place of a linen collar he had a red bandana tied about his neck. His
headgear was a Stetson hat. In this garb he looked much more burly and
powerful than in the tweeds he usually wore when visiting at the farm.
His strong, patient face was lit by a quiet smile. He was a man whose
eyes, and the expression of his features, never betrayed his thoughts.
A keen observer would have noticed this at once, but to such people as
he encountered he merely appeared a kindly man who was not much given
to talking.

"Colony of owls, eh?" he said, leading the horse in the direction of
the barn. "Those cries you have heard are what this cheerful place
takes its name from. It only needs one cry to set the whole valley
ringi