that name had never passed her lips before
in my hearing.

Then, while Calvert looked hard at me and the elder lady bowed, she patted
the bay horse's neck, saying frankly:

"It's an unexpected pleasure, and I have often been thinking about you,
but never expected to meet you here. What a handsome beast you have
brought me!"

Grace seldom showed all her feelings, for a sweet serenity characterized
her, but this time I fancied that our relative positions both puzzled and
troubled her, and I regretted my own stupidity in not asking who the
ladies were. Still, I managed to answer that Caesar should be proud of his
burden.

That was a memorable journey in various ways. In places, beaten by the
hoofs of many pack-horses, the trail was knee-deep in mire, and in others
it was lost under beds of treacherous shale. But Caesar was used to the
mountains, and I strode beside his head, heeding neither slippery shingle
nor plastic mud, for Grace chatted about her English visit, and with such
a companion I should have floundered contentedly over leagues of ice and
snow.

The valleys were filled with freshness, and the air was balmy with scents,
while every bird and beast rejoiced with the vigor of the spring. Now and
then a blue grouse broke out drumming from the summit of a stately fir,
white-headed eagles and fish-hawks wheeled screaming above the frothing
shallows on slanted wing, and silently, like flitting shadows, the little
wood-deer leaped across the trail, or amid a crash of undergrowth a
startled black bear charged in blind panic through the dim recesses of the
bush. Once, too, with a snarl, a panther sprang out from a thicket, and
Calvert's rifle flashed; but the only result was that Caesar tried to rear
upright. With fear I clutched at his rein, and it was a pretty sight to
see the big, rough-coated horse settle down as if ashamed of his fright
when the fair rider spoke soothingly to him. All dumb creatures took
kindly to Grace, and, though Caesar could show a very pretty temper in
ungentle hands, he yielded to the caressing touch of her soft fingers.
Then he turned his eyes upon me with a look that seemed an apology for
dividing his allegiance, while Grace smiled under lowered lashes, as
though she did not wish to meet my gaze. It was a trifling incident, but
inwardly I thanked the good horse for it. Later, when we came up out of a
roaring ford, through which I carefully led Caesar, with the stream boiling
about my w