vately that they always had felt there was something queer and not
quite straightforward about Mattie.

Miss Gaskett, who looked like a returned missionary that had had a hard
time of it carrying the Light into the dark places, seemed rather elated
than depressed at the aspersions cast upon her character, and by the
time they reached the "Paint Pots" she was flaunting Mr. Stott
shamelessly, calling him "Harry" before everybody, and in the evening
sitting with him by the camp-fire on the same saddle-blanket.

At Mammoth Hot Springs Mrs. Budlong showed her disapproval by refusing
to speak to Miss Gaskett, and Miss Gaskett replied by putting on a
peek-a-boo blouse that was a scandal.

But Mrs. Budlong herself was not in too high favour, since to the sin of
gluttony she had added that of lying and been caught at it. It was a
small matter, but, as Mrs. Appel declared indignantly, it is trifles
that betray character, and Mrs. Budlong was treated with marked coldness
by the ladies to whom she had prevaricated.

It was known beyond the question of a doubt that Mrs. Budlong had
purchased food and kept it in her teepee. Therefore, when asked for
something to ward off a faint feeling before dinner and she had denied
having anything, they were outspoken in their resentment.

"There she stood and lied to our faces," Mrs. Appel declared to her
husband afterward, "while her mouth was shining. I could smell sardines
on her and a big cracker crumb was lying on her bosom. Indeed, it's a
true saying they have in this country that to know people you must camp
with them. I never would have thought that of Hannah Budlong!"

It was because of this incident, and the strained relations which
resulted from her perfidy, that none of her erstwhile friends responded
to her invitation to join her in a bath in a beaver dam of which Mr.
Hicks told her when they camped early the next afternoon.

Mrs. Budlong's phlegmatic body contained an adventurous spirit, and the
delights of a bath in a beaver dam in the heart of a primeval forest
appealed to her strongly.

To Mr. Hicks, who sought her out purposely to tell her about it, she
confided:

"Hicks, underneath my worldly exterior I am a Child of Nature. I love
the simple, the primitive. I would live as a Wild Thing if I could
choose my environment."

Mr. Hicks nodded sympathetically and understandingly, and returned the
confidence.

"I am convinced that I was a faun when the world was young.