r usually merry eyes were watchful and
sober. It may have been the gradient of the hills, but somehow her
gait had lost something of its buoyancy. Her steps were lagging, even
hesitating, and, when she finally halted, it was almost with an air of
relief.

There were several fallen tree trunks about, and, though they must
have been sufficiently inviting if she were weary with her effort, she
quite ignored them. She stood quite still, looking first ahead at her
goal, and then back over the valley toward the little house where her
sister was probably still watching her. Her eyes slowly became
expressive of doubt and indecision. It seemed as though she found it
hard to make up her mind about something.

After a moment or two she removed the two books from under her arm,
and idly read their titles. She knew them quite well, and promptly
returned them to their place with an impatient sigh.

Again her look had changed. Now her cheeks suddenly flushed a burning,
shamefaced crimson. Then they paled, and something like a panic grew
in her eyes. But this, too, passed, all but the panic, and, with a
little vicious stamp of her foot, she half determinedly faced the
ranch house on the hill. Her determination, however, was evidently
insufficient, for she did not move on, and, presently, she laughed a
short mirthless laugh. It was her belated sense of humor mocking her.
Her courage, she knew, had failed her. She could not live up to her
boasted claims as a man hunter.

But her laugh died almost at its birth. Something moving down the hill
among the trees caught her troubled eyes. Then, too, the sound of a
whistle reached her. Some one was approaching from the direction of
Charlie's house, whistling a tune which somehow seemed familiar. She
promptly warned herself it could not be Charlie. She never remembered
to have heard Charlie whistling so blithe an air.

Now she distinctly heard the sound of heavy, rapid footsteps drawing
nearer. The panic in her eyes deepened. They were staring intently at
the surrounding bush, searching for a definite sight of the intruder.
Nor had she to wait long. The path was just beyond the clearing, and
she had fixed her gaze upon a narrow gap in the foliage. She felt
almost safe in doing so, for the stranger must pass that way if he
were on the path, and the gap was so narrow that it would probably
escape his notice.

The whistling came nearer, so, too, the rapid footsteps. Then followed
realization