upon their faces, and the one who had
addressed her held in his hands the gun which Douglas
had placed against the wall so that it might be handy
for his daughter in any emergency.

CHAPTER XIV

A THREE-CORNERED GAME

It was now a case of being between the devil and the deep
sea with a vengeance, and Dorothy, as she surveyed the
two vindictive rebels on one side and the hungry bear on
the other, was almost at a loss to determine which enemy
was the more to be dreaded. Upon the whole she thought
she would have the better chance of fair play with the
bear. If the latter succeeded in clambering on the roof,
at a pinch she could get down the wide chimney, a feat
which it was not likely the bear would care to emulate.
True, it would be a sooty and disagreeable experiment,
not to speak of the likelihood of being scorched on
reaching the fire-place, but then she could at once heap
more fuel on the fire, which would make it impossible
for Bruin to descend, and barricade herself in until the
others returned.

It was fortunate that the girl's presence of mind did
not desert her. Her policy was to temporise and keep the
foe waiting until the others returned with the horses.
Moreover, she noticed that Bruin sat on his haunches,
listening, with his head to one side, as if this new
interruption were no affair of his.

A brilliant idea occurred to her, and already she almost
began to look upon Bruin as an ally. As yet the half-breeds
were unaware of the bear's proximity.

The girl, without rising, picked up the pole and placed
it across her knees.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked the taller of
the two rebels. "Don't you want to return to Battleford?"

"Eet is too late how, and we want you," explained the
first villain. "Come down queeck. Eet is no time we have
to waste. Eef we have to fetch you eet will be ver' bad
for you."

"Dear me!" remarked Dorothy, outwardly keeping cool, but
not without serious misgivings. "I can't think what you
can want with me. But, as you're so anxious, I'll come
down--in a few minutes--when my father and the others
return."

"Ze horses they in big snowdreeft stuck and ze man cannot
leaf. Come down now--we want you!"

It was obvious to Dorothy that the two rebels, in taking
a circuitous route to the hut, had come upon the horses
stuck fast in a snowdrift, and that her father and Jacques
and Bastien were busily engaged in trying to extricate
them. Knowing that the girl m