as complete in its way as
ours, and they are wonderfully sure of direction even now. They seldom
make a mistake in the correlative positions of streams or mountains,
even when confused by a white man's map."

"It _is_ wonderful, isn't it--that they should have lived here all those
years without knowing or caring for the white man's world?"

"They don't care for it now--but I see Two Horns signalling that
breakfast is ready, so we had better go."

"Let's run down!"

"Wait!" He caught her. "It will lame you frightfully, I warn you."

"Oh no, it won't."

"Very well, experience is a fine school. If you must run down, we'll go
down the shadowed side. Now I'll let you get half-way down and beat you
in, after all. One, two, three--go!"

With her skirt caught up in her hand, she started down the hill in
reckless flight. She heard his shout and the thud of his prodigious
leaps, and just as she reached the level he overtook her and
relentlessly left her far behind. Discouraged and panting, she fell
into a walk and waited for him to return, as she knew he would.

"Oh, these skirts!" she said, resentfully. "What chance has a woman with
yards of cloth binding her? I nearly tumbled headlong."

He did not make her suffer for her defeat, and they returned to camp gay
as a couple of children. Lawson smiled benevolently, like an aged uncle,
while Elsie told him of their climb. Said he: "When you're as old as I
am you will wait for wonders to come your way; you will not seek them."

The breakfast was made merry by Jennie, who waged gentle warfare on
Parker, whose preconceived ideas of the people resident on an Indian
reservation had been shaken.

"Why, you're very decent," he admitted at last.

"They are all like us--nit," replied Jennie. "We're marked 'special.'"

"Couldn't be any more like you, sis," said Curtis.

"_You_ shouldn't say that."

"Well, it needed saying, and no one else seemed ready to do it. If
Calvin had been here!"

"Who is Calvin?" asked Mrs. Parker.

"I know!" cried Elsie. "He's one of the handsomest young cowboys you
ever saw. If you want to do a cow-puncher, Parker, he's your model."

"I certainly must see him. If I don't do a cowboy or a bucking bronco
I'm a failure."

As they were ready to start, Elsie again took her place beside Curtis,
but Lawson insisted on sitting behind with Jennie. "It's hard luck,
Parker, to have to sit with your wife," he said, compassionately.

"Oh, well! I'm used