ager hounds,
and swung it into the wagon out of the dogs' reach.

"My word!" exclaimed the young man, leaping from the wagon with
precipitate haste. "What are you doing?"

"He won't hurt you, sir. He is dead."

The young man's red, chubby face, out of which peered his little
round eyes, his red hair standing in a disordered halo about his
head, his strange attire, with trailing braces and tag-ends of his
night-robe hanging about his person, made a picture so weirdly
funny that the girl went off into peals of laughter.

"Marjorie! Marjorie!" cried an indignant voice, "what are ye daein'
there? Tak' shame to yersel', ye hizzie."

Marjorie turned in the direction of the voice, and again her peals
of laughter burst forth. "Oh! Aunt Janet, you do look so funny."
But at once the head with its aureole of curl-papers was whipped
inside the tent.

"Ye're no that fine to look at yersel', ye shameless lassie,"
cried Aunt Janet.

With a swift motion the girl put her hand to her head, gathered
her garments about her, and fled to the cover of her tent,
leaving Kalman and the young man together, the latter in a state
of indignant wrath, for no man can bear with equanimity the
ridicule of a maiden whom he is especially anxious to please.

"By Jove, sir!" he exclaimed. "What the deuce did you mean, running
your confounded dogs into a camp like that?"

Kalman heard not a word. He was standing as in a dream, gazing upon
the tent into which the girl had vanished. Ignoring the young man,
he got his horse and mounted, and calling his dogs, rode off up the
trail.

"Hello there!" cried Harris, the engineer, after him. Kalman reined
up. "Do you know where I can get any oats?"

"Yes," said Kalman, "up at our ranch."

"And where is that?"

"Ten miles from here, across the Night Hawk Creek." Then,
as if taking a sudden resolve, "I'll bring them down to
you this afternoon. How much do you want?"

"Twenty-five bushels would do us till we reach the construction camp."

"I'll bring them to-day," said Kalman, riding away, his dogs
limping after him.

In a few moments the girl came out of the tent. "Oh!" she cried to
the engineer, "is he gone?"

"Yes," said Harris, "but he'll be back this afternoon. He is going
to bring me some oats." His smile brought a quick flush to the girl's
cheeks.

"Oh! has he?" she said, with elaborate indifference. "What a lovely
morning! It's wonderful for so late in the year. You have a
splendid cou