on an iceberg."

"Oh, well, he has 'ze temperament,'" said Grace, with an elaborate
gesture.

"Seems kind of strange, his living up there all alone," said Amy
thoughtfully. "You would think any one who could play the way he can
would hate to bury himself in the wilderness. Unless----" she paused,
and Mollie jumped joyfully into the opening.

"Unless there is some reason why he has to," said the latter, adding
with an I-told-you-so air, "I thought there was some mystery about that
man, and now you are beginning to think so yourselves. You just keep
your eyes open and watch for a surprise!"

CHAPTER X

THE LANDSLIDE

After their perilous adventure, the Outdoor Girls shunned the forest
unless they were accompanied by one or more of the cowboys at the ranch.
Andy Rawlinson escorted them whenever he could, but his duties as
foreman of the ranch kept him very busy and he sometimes appointed one
of the ranch hands to take his place.

However, these excursions became less and less frequent as the girls
became more interested in the booming mining town of Gold Run.

This they had visited with Mr. and Mrs. Nelson and Andy, and the whole
thing made them feel more than ever as if they were living some motion
picture drama.

There was the regulation general store and the inevitable dance hall
where the lucky miners came to spend their golden nuggets and the
unlucky tried to drown their misery in the companionship of others.

Their eyes wide with interest and pleasure and their tongues busy with
questions, the girls cantered down the narrow, crooked wagon road called
"Main Street." They read the names over the doors of the dingy little
shops, commenting gayly upon their queerness.

"Peter Levine, Attorney," read Betty aloud from a sign just a little
dingier than the rest. Then she drew rein and waited for her mother, who
was riding more slowly with Mr. Nelson. The other girls, who had ridden
on ahead, suddenly missed her, saw that she had stopped, and came back
curiously.

"Look, Mother," Betty was saying as they came up. "This is where dear
Peter Levine hails from. His checked suit and loud tie must look funny
in that dingy little shop," she added, with a chuckle.

"Well, let's ride along," suggested Mrs. Nelson nervously. "He might see
us and take it into his head to come out. And I don't want to have
anything more to do with him until Allen comes."

"Allen," thought Betty, as they turned and cantered on