e up to-morrow and think he dreamed about Ragtown," chuckled
Drummond.

"He sure will know he's nutty then," said Stool.

They climbed once more into the truck, and before dawn were back in the
city of tents and new pine shacks.

CHAPTER XXIV

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE LAKE

Shortly before dusk on the night following Jerkline Jo's revel in
Ragtown, the empty wagons of her train rumbled to the highest point in
the mountain pass and were drawn up side by side, like an artillery
organization in "battery-front" formation, on the shores of the
mountain lake.

Jo's fireless cooker had been working for her throughout the trip, and
while her bantering skinners cared for the teams and greased the great
axles in preparation for the morrow's journey, the girl made ready the
evening meal.

At last supper was over, and, as was their custom, the men helped her
wash the dishes. Thus the task became a short one. The men settled
down to their smoking about the crackling camp fire, and as light still
remained at this high altitude, Jo decided on a stroll along the lake
shore.

All about stood the tall peaks, their crests snow-mantled. Over the
level lowlands about the lake the silent forests of pine and fir swept
away on all sides. The lake, some two miles in length, lay like an
opal in the palm of the mountains, flashing fiery colors that it stole
from the sunset clouds above it.

The air was chill and quiet. Not a ripple disturbed the surface of the
tranquil lake, so cold and remote. Jo buttoned her coat for warmth and
trudged on away from the camp, watching flocks of chattering mudhens
and mallards that fed on a long spaghettilike growth which grew on the
lake bottom and floated to the surface.

She walked for a mile before she turned. She was thinking of the
previous night, and of the banker's unexpected proposal of marriage
when she had accepted his invitation for supper after the dance. She
had known Dalworth only a short time, and his ardent wooing had come as
a distinct surprise.

Now she had turned back toward the winking eye of the camp fire, which
threw a brilliant dagger of light across the now dark lake. In the
stream of fiery color, water fowl bobbed about grotesquely. Close at
hand was a grove of pines, a few trees extending down to the shore,
though for the most part the land immediately about the lake was an
open, grassy meadow. She heard a slight rustling in among the pines as
she passed them