.

"I'm goin' to let you hear me my prayers," she said, her clear, baby
voice carrying every syllable to the furthest corner of the room.

An ugly light flamed into McWha's eyes, and he sprang to his feet,
brushing the child rudely aside.

"That's some o' Jimmy Brackett's work!" he shouted. "It's him put 'er
up to it, curse him!"

The whole room burst into a roar of laughter at the sight of his
wrath. Snatching his cap from its peg, he strode furiously out to the
stable, slamming the door behind him.

In their delight over McWha's discomfiture the woodsmen quite forgot
the feelings of Rosy-Lilly. For a second or two she stood motionless,
her lips and eyes wide open with amazement. Then, hurt as much by the
laughter of the room as by McWha's rebuff, she burst into tears, and
stood hiding her face with both hands, the picture of desolation.

When the men realized that she thought they were laughing at her, they
shut their mouths with amazing promptitude, and crowded about her. One
after another picked her up, striving to console her with caresses and
extravagant promises. She would not uncover her eyes, however, for any
one, and her heart-broken wailing was not hushed till Brackett thrust
his way through the crowd, growling inarticulate blasphemies at them
all, and bore her back to her room. When he emerged twenty minutes
later no one asked him about Rosy-Lilly's prayers. As for Rosy-Lilly,
her feelings were this time so outraged that she would no longer look
at McWha.

III

The long backwoods winter was now drawing near its end, and the snow
in the open spaces was getting so soft at midday as to slump heavily
and hinder the work of the teams. Every one was working with feverish
haste to get the logs all out to the "landings," on the river banks
before the hauling should go to pieces. At night the tired lumbermen
would tumble into their bunks as soon as supper was over, too greedy
of sleep to think of songs or yarns. And Rosy-Lilly began to feel a
little aggrieved at the inadequate attention which she was now
receiving from all but Jimmy Brackett and the ever-faithful Johnson.
She began to forgive McWha, and once more to try her baby wiles upon
him. But McWha was as coldly unconscious as a stone.

One day, however, Fate concluded to range herself on Rosy-Lilly's
side. A dead branch, hurled through the air by the impact of a falling
tree, struck Red McWha on the head, and he was carried home to the
cabin un