could have got along if we hadn't learned all those
things. For years I never knew the taste of coffee, and only rarely was
able to obtain a pinch of coarse brown sugar; but we did not suffer for
meat, and, with the help of Dinah, we could get a few things out of the
earth, so that, on the whole, I think I had much easier times than my
husband."

"I am not so sure of that," remarked Captain Shirril, rousing himself;
"we had rough days and nights, beyond all doubt, but after all, there
was something about it which had its charm. There was an excitement in
battle, a thrill in the desperate ride when on a scout, a glory in
victory, and even a grim satisfaction in defeat, caused by the belief
that we were not conquered, or that, if we were driven back, it was by
_Americans_, and not by foreigners."

"That's an odd way of putting it," remarked the wife, "but was it not
the high health, which you all felt because of your rough outdoor life?
You know when a person is strong and rugged, he can stand almost
anything, and find comfort in that which at any other time brings only
wretchedness and suffering."

"I suppose that had a good deal to do with it, and that, too, may have
had much to do with sustaining you and Dinah in your loneliness."

The captain raised his eyes and looked at two old-fashioned muzzle-loading
rifles, suspended on a couple of deer's antlers over the fireplace, and
smiling through his shaggy whiskers, said:

"You found them handy in those days, Edna?"

"We never could have got along without them. They served to bring down a
maverick, or one of our own cattle, when we were nearly starving, and
sometimes they helped drive off the Indians."

Captain Shirril shifted his position, as though uneasy over something.
His wife, who was familiar with all his moods, looked inquiringly at
him.

"What troubles you, Dohm?"

"If I hadn't promised Avon that he should go with me northward, I would
make him stay at home."

Wife and nephew stared wonderingly at him.

"The Comanches have been edging down this way for more than a week past;
I believe they mean to make trouble."

It would be supposed that such an announcement as this caused dismay,
but it did not. Even Dinah, who was busy about her household duties, and
who heard the remark, paused only a moment to turn up her nose and say
scornfully:

"If dey've done forgot how we allers sarve de likes ob dem, jes' let 'em
try it agin. Dat's all."

She was a t