e all right, I
think." He held open the gate for them to ride through and gave them a
comradely look and smile as they passed.

Ward took in the details of the heavy gate that barred the gorge. He
did not know that he betrayed the fact even to the sharp eyes of Billy
Louise, but he could not quite bring himself to the point of meeting
Charlie Fox anywhere near half-way in his overtures for friendship.

"The weight is so heavy that the gate shuts and latches itself, you
see," Charlie went on, mounting on the inside of the barrier and
following cheerfully after them. "But that doesn't satisfy Aunt
Martha. She and Surbus make a special pilgrimage up here every night."

"She must be pretty nervous." Ward could not quite see why such
precautions were necessary in a country where no man locked his door
against the world.

"Well, she is, though you wouldn't suspect it, would you? When one
thinks of the life she has lived, and how she pioneered in here when
the country was straight wilderness, and all that. Of course, I didn't
know her before Uncle Jason died--do you think she has changed since,
Miss Louise?"

"Lots," Billy Louise assured him briefly. She was wondering why Ward
was so stiff and unnatural with Charlie Fox.

"I think myself that the shock of losing him must have made the
difference in her. There's Surbus; how's that for a voice? And he's
just as blood-thirsty as he sounds, too. I'd hate to have him tackle
me in the gorge, on a dark night. He's too savage, though it's only
with strangers, and we don't see many of them. He almost ate Peter up,
when he first came. And he gave you quite a scare last spring, didn't
he, Miss Louise?"

"He came within an ace of getting his head shot off," Billy Louise
qualified laconically. "Marthy came out just in the nick of time. I
absolutely refuse to be chewed up by any dog; and I don't care who he
belongs to."

"Same here, William," approved Ward.

Charlie laughed. "I see Surbus is not going to be popular with the
neighbors," he said easily. "I do feel very apologetic over him. But
Marthy wanted me to get a dog, and so when a fellow offered me this
one, I took him; and as Surbus happened to take a fancy to me, I didn't
realize what a savage brute he is, till he tackled Peter--and then Miss
Louise."

"Well, Miss Louise was perfectly able to defend herself, so you needn't
feel apologetic about that," said Billy Louise a trifle sharply. She
hated Sur