en I'm gone ther woman in ye'll come
uppermost an' ye'll think hardly of me fer what I did."

"Think hard of ye fer tryin' ter make a man of me!" Her voice was as
full of scornful protest as though a soldier had said, "Think hard of
you because you taught me valor!"

He smiled before he spoke again. "I've done warned young men off from
co'tin' ye on pain of harm an' death--an' when I'm dead they'll come in
lavish numbers seekin' ter make up fer lost time."

"I reckon I kin warn 'em off too," she protested, "an' by ther same
means."

Once more a smile flickered in the wearied eyes that looked up from the
pillow. "Thet's fer ye ter decide yore own self, but ef ther day ever
comes when ye'd ruther welcome a lover then ter drive him off, I don't
want ye ter feel thet my memory's standin' in ther way of your
happiness."

"Thet day won't never come," she vehemently declared, and her father
nodded indulgently.

"Let thet matter lay over fer ther future ter decide," he suggested.
"Only ef ye does sometime alter yore way of thinkin' I wants thet men
children shell come atter me, bearin' my own name. Joe's children are
apt ter take atter him. I don't see how ye kin compass hit, but I
wishes thet ef ye ever did wed, yore babies could still be McGivinses."

Despite her announcement of a masculinity which should not mantle into
a flooding of the temples and cheeks with blushes of modesty, Alexander
turned pink to the roots of her hair. Her voice was a little strained.

"A feller kain't promise thet he won't go crazy," she declared. "But
ef ever I does go so crazy es ter wed with a man, thet man'll tek my
surname an' our children 'll tek hit too, an' w'ar hit 'twell they
dies."

CHAPTER IV

Brent had wondered how the Parson and his exhausted companions would,
in the short time at their disposal, be able to call out a new force of
volunteers. If the dam gave way and the rafts were swept out the thing
would probably happen by noon and there were few telephones in this
sparsely peopled community. Yet the device was simple and one of
pioneer directness. In many of those households to which the tired
workers returned, there were brothers or sons who had heretofore stayed
at home. Those who had responded to the first call were all men who
were not afraid of toil, but those who might answer the second would be
men who courted the hazards of adventure. Sheer dare-deviltry would
arouse in them a responsiveness w