reer as hunter and explorer. All that he had done up to this
moment was but careful preparation for great journeys. He resolved to
fling himself into unknown trails--to know the mountains as no other man
knew them.

Again he rode down into the valley of the Arickaree, and as the boys
came rolling out with cordial shouts of welcome, his eyes smarted a
little. He slipped from his horse and shook hands all around, and ended
by snatching Pink and pressing her soft cheek against his
lips--something he had never done before.

They bustled to get his breakfast, while Reynolds took care of Kintuck.
Cora, blushing prettily as she set the table for him, said: "We're
mighty glad to see you back, Mose. Daddy said you'd never turn up again,
but I held out you would."

"Oh, I couldn't stay away from Kintuck and little Pink," he replied.

"How'd they feed ye back there?" inquired Mrs. Reynolds.

"Oh, fair to middlin'--but, of course, they couldn't cook like Ma
Reynolds."

"Oh, you go hark!" cried Mrs. Reynolds, vastly delighted. "They've got
so much more to do with."

It was good to sit there in the familiar kitchen and watch these simple,
hearty women working with joy to feed him. His heart was very tender,
and he answered most of their questions with unusual spirit, fending
off, however, any reference to old sweethearts. His talk was all of
absorbing interest to the women. They were hungry to know how people
were living and dressing back there. It was so sweet and fine to be able
to return to the East--and Mrs. Reynolds hoped to do so before she died.
Cora drew from Mose the information that the lawns were beautifully
green in Marmion, and that all kinds of flowers were in blossom, and
that the birds were singing in the maples. Even his meagre descriptions
brought back to the girl the green freshness of June.

"Oh, I'm so tired of these bare hills," she said wistfully. "I wish I
could go East again, back to our old home in Missouri."

"I wish now I'd stayed here and sent you," said Mose.

She turned in surprise. "Why so, Mose?"

"Because I had so little fun out of it, while to you it would have been
a picnic."

"You're mighty good, Mose," was all she said in reply, but her eyes
lingered upon his face, which seemed handsomer than ever before, for it
was softened by his love, his good friends, and the cheerful home.

In the days that followed Cora took on new youth and beauty. Her head
lifted, and the swell of her boso