caught the fellow's jaw
so that he pitched backward and collapsed like an empty bag. Then the
engineer caught sight of the Blight's bewildered face, flushed, gripped
his hands in front of him and simply stared. At last he saw me:

"Oh," he said, "how do you do?" and he turned to his prisoner, but the
panting sergeant and another policeman--also a volunteer--were already
lifting him to his feet. I introduced the boy and the Blight then, and
for the first time in my life I saw the Blight--shaken. Round-eyed, she
merely gazed at him.

"That was pretty well done," I said.

"Oh, he was drunk and I knew he would be slow." Now something curious
happened. The dazed prisoner was on his feet, and his captors were
starting with him to the calaboose when he seemed suddenly to come to
his senses.

"Jes wait a minute, will ye?" he said quietly, and his captors, thinking
perhaps that he wanted to say something to me, stopped. The mountain
youth turned a strangely sobered face and fixed his blue eyes on the
engineer as though he were searing every feature of that imperturbable
young man in his brain forever. It was not a bad face, but the avenging
hatred in it was fearful. Then he, too, saw the Blight, his face calmed
magically and he, too, stared at her, and turned away with an oath
checked at his lips. We went on--the Blight thrilled, for she had heard
much of our volunteer force at the Gap and had seen something already.
Presently I looked back. Prisoner and captors were climbing the little
hill toward the calaboose and the mountain boy just then turned his head
and I could swear that his eyes sought not the engineer, whom we left
at the corner, but, like the engineer, he was looking at the Blight.
Whereat I did not wonder--particularly as to the engineer. He had been
in the mountains for a long time and I knew what this vision from home
meant to him. He turned up at the house quite early that night.

"I'm not on duty until eleven," he said hesitantly, "and I thought
I'd----"

"Come right in."

I asked him a few questions about business and then I left him and the
Blight alone. When I came back she had a Gatling gun of eager questions
ranged on him and--happy withal--he was squirming no little. I followed
him to the gate.

"Are you really going over into those God-forsaken mountains?" he asked.

"I thought I would."

"And you are going to take HER?"

"And my sister."

"Oh, I beg your pardon." He strode away.

"Com