o beat. I am very much inclined to the belief that in a
month or so you'll be about as good as new."

Norton expelled a deep breath of relief; he realized suddenly that
whatever this gray-eyed, strong-handed girl had said would have had his
fullest credence. Brocky's grin grew a shade less strained.

"When you add to that combination," he muttered, "a sure-enough angel
come to doctor a man. . . ."

"Growing delirious again," laughed Virginia. "Give him a little
brandy, Mr. Norton. Then a smoke if he's dying for one. Then we'll
try to get a little sleep, all of us. You see, I had virtually no
sleep on the train last night and to-day has been a big day for me. If
I'm going to do your friend any good I've got to get three winks. And,
unless you're made out of reinforced sheet-iron, it's the same for you.
You can lie down close to Mr. Lane so that he can wake you easily if he
needs us. Now," and she rose, still smiling, but suddenly looking
unutterably weary, "where is the guest-chamber?"

She did not tell them that not only last night, but the night before
she had sat up in a day coach, saving every cent she could out of the
few dollars which were to give her and her brother a new start in the
world; there were many things which Virginia Page knew how to keep to
herself.

"This way," said Norton, taking up the lantern. "We can really make
you more comfortable than you'd think."

At the very least he could count confidently on treating her to a
surprise. She followed him for forty or fifty feet toward the end of
the cave and to an irregular hole in the side wall, through this, and
into another cave, smaller than the first, but as big as an ordinary
room. The floor was strewn with the short needles of the mountain
pine. As she turned, looking about her, she noted first another
opening in a wall suggesting still another cave; then, feeling a faint
breath of the night air on her cheek she saw a small rift in the outer
shell of rock and through it the stars thick in the sky.

"May you sleep well in Jim Galloway's hang-out," said Norton lightly.
"May you not be troubled with the ghosts of the old cliff-dwellers
whose house this was before our time. And may you always remember that
if there is anything in the world that I can do for you all you have to
do is let me know. Good night."

"Good night," she said.

He had left the lantern for her. She placed it on the floor and went
across her strange bedroom