d comfortably on the
wolf-skins beside the stove, with a sack of flour for a pillow and
Ward's fur coat for covering. Ward slept more unbrokenly than he had
done for a long time, while Billy Louise lay cuddled under the smelly
fur and thought and thought.

In the morning, if Ward were well enough, she meant to ask him about
those cattle he had mentioned when he thought her Buck Olney. They
were the same ones which she had seen in the Cove, she knew. Ward had
told enough to prove that. He had, in fact, told nearly all she needed
to know--except the mystery of his prosperity. He had not mentioned
that, and Billy Louise was more curious than ever about his "wolf
hunting."

At sunrise she rebuilt the fire and made fresh coffee and a stew from
the pieces of jerky she had soaked overnight for the purpose. She
wanted eggs, and bread for toast, and fresh cream; but she did not have
them, and so she managed a very creditable breakfast for her patient
without these desirables.

"Say, that's great. A fellow doesn't appreciate coffee and warm food
until he's eaten out of cans and boxes for a month or so. You're a
great little lady, Wilhemina. I wish you'd happened along
sooner--about six weeks sooner. I'd have got some pleasure out of my
broken leg then, maybe."

"Was it--did Buck Olney break it?" Billy Louise knew he had not, but
she had been waiting for a chance to open the subject.

"No. I broke it myself, pulling Rattler off a bank into some rocks. I
believe I could walk on it, doctor, if you could rustle me something to
use for crutches. That's what held me in bed so long. Beckon you
could manufacture a pair for me?" His eyes made love. "You've done
everything else." He caught her hand and kissed the palm of it.
"Can't the Billy part turn carpenter?"

"I'll see. Say, Ward, do you think you could shave off those whiskers
if I got everything ready for you? I don't like you to look like old
Sourdough. Or maybe I could do it. I--I used to shave daddy's neck,
sometimes."

Ward ran his fingers thoughtfully over his hairy cheeks. "I expect I
do look like a prehistoric ancestor. I'll see what I can do about it.
I set my own leg; I guess I can shave myself. You're a great doctor,
Wilhemina. You knocked that cold up to a peak, all right. But--I
don't believe you'd better tackle barbering, my dear girl."

Billy Louise pouted her lips at him. She could afford to pout now:
Ward was so like himself tha