that love him--and the world so beautiful."

"Well, it ain't nice dyin' in the summer, when it's all sun, and there's
plenty everywhere; but there's no one to go down the river with him.
What's his name?"

Her struggle was over. She had urged him, but in very truth she was
urging herself all the time, bringing herself to the axe of sacrifice.

"His name's Dingley. I'm going down the river with him--down to Bindon."

The old man's mouth opened in blank amazement. His eyes blinked
helplessly.

"What you talkin' about, Jinny! Jake's comin' up with the minister, an'
you're goin' to be married at noon to-morrow."

"I'm takin' him"--she jerked her head towards the room where Dingley
was--"down Dog Nose Rapids to-night. He's risked his life for his
friend, thinkin' of her that's dead an' gone, and a man's life is a
man's life. If it was Jake's life in danger, what'd I think of a woman
that could save him, and didn't?"

"Onct you broke off with Jake Lawson--the day before you was to be
married; an' it's took years to make up an' agree again to be spliced.
If Jake comes here to-morrow, and you ain't here, what do you think
he'll do? The neighbours are comin' for fifty miles round, two is comin'
up a hundred miles, an' you can't--Jinny, you can't do it. I bin sick
of answerin' questions all these years 'bout you and Jake, an' I ain't
goin' through it again. I've told more lies than there's straws in a
tick."

She flamed out. "Then take him down the river yourself--a man to do a
man's work. Are you afeard to take the risk?"

He held out his hands slowly and looked at them. They shook a little.
"Yes, Jinny," he said sadly, "I'm afeard. I ain't what I was. I made a
mistake, Jinny. I've took too much whiskey. I'm older than I ought to
be. I oughtn't never to have had a whiskey-still, an' I wouldn't have
drunk so much. I got money--money for you, Jinny, for you an' Jake, but
I've lost what I'll never git back. I'm afeard to go down the river with
him. I'd go smash in the Dog Nose Rapids. I got no nerve. I can't hunt
the grizzly any more, nor the puma, Jinny. I got to keep to common
shootin', now and henceforth, amen! No, I'd go smash in Dog Nose
Rapids."

She caught his hands impulsively. "Don't you fret, Uncle Tom. You've
bin a good uncle to me, and you've bin a good friend, and you ain't the
first that's found whiskey too much for him. You ain't got an enemy in
the mountains. Why, I've got two or three--"

"Shucks! Wo