mountain girl was in no wise imperiled. On the contrary, his
imagination busied itself with an effort to picture Plutina thus
splendidly arrayed.

"I 'low she's plumb handsome," he meditated. "But, shucks! Tiny beats
her holler. In them duds, she'd have her skun a mile.... But thet-thar
man-faced dawg! I'd shore hate like pizen to be found daid along with
thet ornery pup."

As he mused, no hint came out of the future as to the time when, in
very truth, he would be close to death, and that same dog an actor in
the drama, one to be deeply esteemed, not contemned. But that time was
not yet. In fact, the immediate future was not destined to remove his
prejudice against the bull-terrier. On the contrary!

The fixity of Zeke's staring penetrated the girl's consciousness. She
turned abruptly, and her blue eyes met his in a cool glance that
seemed to pass through him and on, as if he were something quite
invisible, altogether beneath notice. Zeke felt the rebuke keenly,
though innocent of intentional offense. The instincts of gentlemanly
blood from which he was somewhere distantly descended made him realize
his fault in manners, though he had had no guidance from experience.
The ready blush burned hot on brow and cheeks; he dropped his gaze
confusedly to the dog.

Even the beast, he perceived, reprobated his conduct. It was staring
up at him fiercely from red eyes, and the hackles stood erect, though
it did not growl. Evidently, it resented undue attention to its
mistress.

There was a movement forward of the passengers, as the ferry-boat drew
into its slip. Zeke advanced with the others, following close behind
the girl and the dog, which strained at the leash in order still to
stare menacingly at the young man. Then, without warning, the action
became swift and violent. The ferry-boat crashed against the yielding
walls of the slip. Zeke, unprepared for the shock, was thrown from his
balance. One of the heavy new shoes smashed down on a paw. The dog
sprang and snapped. The jaws missed, because the girl tugged at the
leash in the same second. Zeke instinctively kicked at the brute in
self-defense. His foot took the animal fairly in the jaw, and lifted
it from the floor, just as the girl turned. She cried out in shrill
anger at this rough stranger's wanton attack on her pet, for so she
interpreted the event. She maintained her hold on the leash bravely,
lest worse follow. But her strength was insufficient to restrain the
c