,
and went in and opened the windows. He milked one of the cows, and
gathering some green stuff in the garden started back with the team
and the sleds. Once down the steep decline, and over the rocks at the
south, they went on rapidly.

Although he had wasted no time, it was past one o'clock when he saw
her familiar figure afar off. She hurried to meet him. They had not
been separated so long before that year, and realized the unconscious
strain in the sudden revulsion. They said nothing of this, however,
though they clasped hands for a moment. Then Robin spoke to the
horses, and stroked their necks, as they bent their heads and rubbed
against her affectionately.

She had spread their table on a broad, flat rock, but before they had
their own meal, she warmed some of the milk, and they gave the kids
their first lesson in drinking out of a bucket. Afterward it took but
a few moments to strike camp. The burros were already packed, and the
goat with her kids, all hobbled, were placed in the sled, and the
cavalcade started on its way.

X

Cling to thy home! If there the meanest shed
Yield thee a hearth and a shelter for thy head,
And some poor plot, with vegetables stored,
Be all that Heaven allots thee for thy board,
Unsavory bread, and herbs that scatter'd grow
Wild on the river-brink, or mountain-brow;
Yet e'en this cheerless mansion shall provide
More heart's repose than all the world beside.

LEONIDAS.

"Do you know, Adam," said Robin, when they had walked a mile in
silence, "do you know that you are a fraud?"

"Well, yes," he responded, "but I didn't know you knew it. Is the
discovery recent?"

"Never mind about dates, but tell me why you didn't use the rifle
instead of the lariat? What did you take it for?"

"I took it for your peace of mind. I didn't use it for several good
and substantial and sentimental reasons. To reverse them, this last
year I have grown to understand your horror of killing things. We have
done very well without sacrificing any of our dependents; in fact, it
would seem like murder to slaughter the animals about us. And it's
such a little world it seems a pity to kill off any of its
inhabitants. To tell the truth, I hope the bear got away all right.
This is maudlin, I know, but I don't want my hand first to bring death
on all there is left of earth. Incidentally,--there are no
cartridges."

He stopped the horses, while Robin readjuste