there was in
the palm. Soon after that Mr. Willoughby stretched out on the ground by
the fire, and before long he was asleep.

During the night I heard Tish moving stealthily about in the tepee and
she stepped on my ankle as she went out. I fell asleep again as soon as
it stopped aching. Just at dawn Tish came back and touched me on the
shoulder.

"Where's the blackberry cordial?" she whispered I sat up instantly.

"Has Percy fallen out of the tree?"

"No. Don't ask any questions, Lizzie. I want it for myself. That dratted
horse fell on me."

She refused to say any more and lay down groaning. But I was too worried
to sleep again. In the morning Percy was gone from the tree. Mr.
Willoughby had more rabbit and prepared to leave the forest. He offered
Tish a dollar for the two meals and a bed, and Tish, who was moving
about stiffly, said that she and her people took no money for their
hospitality. Telling fortunes was one thing, bread and salt was another.
She looked quite haughty, and the Willoughby person apologized and went
into the woods to get his horse.

The horse was gone!

It was rather disagreeable for a time. He plainly thought we'd taken it,
although Tish showed him that the end of the strap had been chewed
partly through and then jerked free.

"If the creature smelled a wildcat," she said, "nothing would hold it.
None of my people ever bring a horse into this part of the country."

"Humph!" said Mr. Willoughby. "Well, I'll bet they take a few out!"

He departed on foot shortly after, very disgusted and suspicious. We
showed him the trail, and the last we saw of him he was striding along,
looking up now and then for wildcats.

When he was well on his way, Percy emerged from the bushes. I had
thought that he had helped Tish to take the Willoughby horse, but it
seems he had not, and he was much amazed when Tish came through the wood
leading the creature by the broken strap.

"I'll turn it loose," she said to Percy, "and you can capture it. It
will make a good effect for you to emerge from the forest on horseback,
and anyhow, what with the rabbit skin, the tent, and the sundial and the
other things, you have a lot to carry. You can say you found it straying
in the woods and captured it."

Percy looked at her with admiration not unmixed with reverence. "Miss
Letitia," he said solemnly, "if it were not for Dorothea, I should ask
you to marry me. I'd like to have you in my family."

* *