ssly clean, there was an assortment of
potted meats and picnic knicknacks in the middle of it, and Lucy had
faithfully scoured the dishes; so supper was served with frills.

If the ladies had taken hold a little strong in the first spasms of
house-cleaning, Jeff and Rufus were far too polite to mention it; and
while the dishes were being washed they quietly gathered up their
belongings, and moved them into the storeroom. Their beds being
already spread beneath the _ramada_, it was not difficult to persuade
the girls to accept Hardy's room, which for a man's, was clean, and
the judge fell heir to Jeff's well-littered den. All being quickly
arranged and the beds made, Creede threw an armful of ironwood upon
the fire and they sat down to watch it burn.

Three hours before, Hidden Water had been the hangout of two
sheep-harrying barbarians, bushy-headed and short of speech; now it
was as bright and cheerful as any home and the barbarians were changed
to lovers. Yet, as they basked in the warmth of the fireside there was
one absent from his accustomed place--a creature so fierce and shy
that his wild spirit could never become reconciled to the change. At
the first sound of women's voices little Tommy had dashed through his
cat-hole and fled to the bowlder pile at the foot of the cliff, from
whose dank recesses he peered forth with blank and staring eyes.

But now, as the strange voices grew quiet and night settled down over
the valley, he crept forth and skulked back to the house, sniffing
about the barred windows, peeking in through his hole in the door; and
at last, drawing well away into the darkness, he raised his voice in
an appealing cry for Jeff.

As the first awful, raucous outburst broke the outer silence Kitty
Bonnair jumped, and Lucy and her father turned pale.

"What's that?" cried Kitty, in a hushed voice, "a mountain lion?"

"Not yet," answered Creede enigmatically. "He will be though, if he
grows. Aw, say, that's just my cat. Here, pussy, pussy, pussy! D'ye
hear that, now? Sure, he knows me! Wait a minute and I'll try an'
ketch 'im."

He returned a few minutes later, with Tommy held firmly against his
breast, blacker, wilder, and scrawnier than ever, but purring and
working his claws.

"How's this for a mountain lion?" said Creede, stopping just inside
the door and soothing down his pet. "D'ye see that hook?" he inquired,
holding up the end of Tommy's crooked tail and laughing at Kitty's
dismay. "He