' as you call it, Billy? And kill his
dog? It was a _nice_ dog; I love dogs, and I don't see how any man--"

Billy flushed hotly. "I hazed him away because he insulted you," he
said bluntly, not quite believing in her ignorance.

Flora, her hands buried deep in the soapsuds, looked at him
round-eyed. "I never heard of that before," she said slowly. "When,
Billy? And what did he--say?"

Billy stared at her. "_I_ don't know what he said! I wouldn't think
you'd need to ask. When I came in the cabin--I lied about getting lost
from the trail--I turned around and came back, because I was afraid
he might come before I could get back, and--when I came in, there was
_something_. I could tell, all right. Yuh sat there behind the table
looking like yuh was--well, kinda cornered. And he was--Flora, he
_did_ say something, or do something! He didn't act right to yuh. I
could tell. _Didn't_ he? Yuh needn't be afraid to tell me, Girlie. I
give him a thrashing for it. What was it? I want to know." He did not
realize how pugnacious was his pose, but he was leaning toward her
with his face quite close, and his eyes were blue points of intensity.
His hands, doubled and pressing hard on the table, showed white at the
knuckles.

Flora rattled the dishes in the pan and laughed unsteadily. "Go to
work, Billy Boy, and don't act stagey," she commanded lightly. "I'll
tell you the exact truth--and that isn't anything to get excited over.
Fred Walland came about three minutes before you did, and of course I
didn't know he belonged there. I was afraid. He pushed open the door,
and he was swearing a little at the ice there, where we threw out the
dish water. I knew it wasn't you, and I got back in the corner. He
came in and looked awfully stunned at seeing me and said, 'I beg your
pardon, fair one'." She blushed and did not look up. "He said, 'I
didn't know there was a lady present,' and put down the sack of stuff
and looked at me for a minute or two without saying a word. He was
just going to speak, I think, when you burst in. And that's all there
was to it, Billy Boy. I was frightened because I didn't know who he
was, and he _did_ stare--but, so did you, Billy Boy, when I opened
the door and walked in. You stared every bit as hard and long as Fred
Walland did."

"But I'll bet I didn't have the same look in my face. Yuh wasn't
scared of _me_," Billy asserted shrewdly.

"I was too! I was horribly scared--at first. So if you fought Fred
Walla