en, I am almost ready to propose to Elijah myself. I love
him so much. Isn't that dreadful for a schoolma'am and a college
graduate, and especially after she has refused him twice? What would he
say?"

"I think he would say yes," replied Helen, delighted to be the confidant
in this desert romance.

"I didn't mean that. I mean what would he say if he knew what I have
been confessing to you? I would lose his respect."

"And gain his love," laughed Helen. "Lucy, I don't believe it is all
hopeless. And you don't need to fear that you are too intellectually
superior to Mr. Clifford. After you are married you will find that he
will go on developing mentally."

"He is my superior now in nearly every true thing," said Miss Gray. The
blush was still on her cheek and the love light in her eye. At that
moment she was recalled to the mission building by one of the children.
As she left Helen she said to her, "I trust you to respect my
confidence."

Helen sat on the old cottonwood, her eyes on the river, her thoughts
musing over her friend's story. She was so absorbed in it that she did
not notice Bauer until he was near the end of the log.

"Oh!" she said a little nervously and then quickly, "Won't you sit down?
This seems to be the only seat in the park."

Bauer sat down gravely and Helen asked him politely how he was feeling.

Bauer's face lightened so that for a second he looked almost handsome.

"That is partly what I came down to tell you. Dr. West has given me a
very careful examination. He says any hemorrhages are not permanent.
There is no reason, he says, why I may not entirely recover, even to the
extent of going back to school again."

"Will you go back soon?"

"No, he advises me to stay here this winter. I can help Mr. Masters with
the trading, handling the rugs that are sold for profit for the mission
work. I begin to feel quite strong again."

He sat there silently watching the thick muddy flow of the stream. His
face in repose was almost stern. Helen glanced at it timidly and could
hardly realise that she was sitting so near to a real hero, one who had
risked his life to save an enemy.

"I haven't ever told you, Mr. Bauer, what admiration I feel for your act
that night, I think it was the most courageous thing I ever knew."

Bauer turned his head and looked full at her. His eyes were, as Helen
had once said, the most splendid she had ever seen. This time they
looked at her with a calm sadness that co