n:

"We didn't expect yuh back to-night; Miss Willi'ms said yuh would stay
oveh in Tin Cup. Bud Vaughan was oveh to-day and said as how Miss
Nellie was sick, so Miss Willi'ms allows she'd go oveh an' sit with her
to-night. I'll tell yuh about the hoss lateh," he concluded in an
undertone to Douglass, whose look of keen inquiry changed to one of
concern at Grace's irrepressible exclamation.

"What is it?" His words were sharp and imperative. She was pale, but
perfectly composed. Then, for the first time in her life she
deliberately lied: "The horse crushed my hand against the gate; a mere
trifle, but it startled me."

"What are we going to do for something to eat?" she said in pretended
dismay. "I'm as hungry as a--a--"

"Tom-tit?" suggested Red drolly; she had, much to his abashment, once
caught him feeding one with crumbs of cake, embellishing his service
with profanely quaint ejaculations of delight.

"As a wolf," she averred decidedly, "and I haven't tried to cook since I
was a little girl."

"Oh, that'll be all right," said Douglass cheerfully. "Red, here, is a
wonder at making angel cake, and I can boil water without burning it, at
a pinch. If you can stand camp chuck for once we'll make out to take the
wire edge off your appetite, anyway."

"Oh, I've et," said Red hurriedly, the reference to that angel cake
filling him with apprehension. "Had supper oveh to Vaughan's. You two go
to wras'lin' yuh grub an' I'll take keer o' yuah hosses."

"Doan't yuh let him scoach thet wateh, Miss Cahteh," he volleyed as he
retreated in good order, much relieved at his narrow escape. "He's a
powahful wahm baby."

While she was changing her dress, Douglass got a fire going in the big
Charter Oak stove and filled the kettle with fresh water from the
spring. He brought over from the meat dive a generously big and tender
steak and fossicked about in the pantry until he found the egg basket.
There were a couple of tempting broilers lying on a platter, but he
concluded that Abbie had prepared these with a view to Miss Carter's
breakfast. He was grinding the coffee when she came in and she sniffed
the grateful aroma rapturously.

She was very simply attired in a loose-fitting white dress with short
sleeves, and about her slender waist was tied one of Abbie's huge
gingham aprons. Her riding Hessians had been replaced with a pair of
diminutive sandals which made a clicking little patter as she walked. He
had unconsciously rolle