no farther
than timber line. If the idea that lay deep in the back of her mind
had grown since its inception some hours before, it was yet formless
and unrecognized; if her purpose now had her firmly gripped, she was
as yet unconscious of it, obeying it subconsciously, while she told
herself, as she told Mrs. Murray, that she wanted only to satisfy her
aching heart by doing merely all that a girl could do. To make sure
that Philip had not already failed--that he had not been thrown back
from the very edge of the fatal crest--that he did not now lie
somewhere on the last steep slope above timber line, where she might
see and save him: this was the utmost of her design in setting out
that morning against the protests of her hosts.

Yielding at last, where she could avail no more, the ranchwife fixed
up a simple luncheon of bread and butter and jam, which she tied in a
little package at Marion's saddlebow. And then, with a final word of
warning that she must stop at timber line, an' be back at the house
'fore dark, or she, Mrs. Murray, would be wild, and he, Murray, would
have to go searching for her, the good woman let her go, and waved a
fat farewell to her until Marion was out of sight among the trees.

Once more the forest enfolded her. Though the wagon road ended at
Murray's, the trail was still for some distance plainly marked, and
offered few difficulties. Even when it began to be less distinct she
was not alarmed. Smythe had told her, and Murray had confirmed his
description, that Thunder Mountain was not formidable as far as the
foot of the final scarp. Seth had taught her something of the lore of
trails, and she was confident that she would be able to find her way
even if the underfoot marks should fail. There would be blazes on
trees, and broken limbs and twigs, and many subtle signs that she now
sought to marshal in her mind against a possible perplexity. With eyes
alert, she rode slowly and resolutely on, ever higher and higher, hour
after hour, most of the time through dense woods, but now and then
across a rocky slope, or down into a shallow gulch, and out again. By
imperceptible degrees the trail grew fainter; and once it failed her
utterly, in a small open space in the woods.

For a moment she was on the very point of panic; the forest seemed to
be closing in on her with sudden malignity; and the terror of Thunder
Mountain held her in its cold grip. But desperation called up her
courage. She walked Tues