you say!"

"There was no perforation except from _behind_. In some way the bullet had
spent itself before it reached him. Otherwise it would have killed him."

For a moment Aldous stared in speechless amazement into Blackton's face.

"When did this happen?" he asked then.

"Three days ago. Since then I have not seen old Donald until to-night.
Almost by accident I met him out there in the timber. I delivered the
telegram you sent him. After he had read it I showed him mine. He scribbled
something on a bit of paper, folded it, and pinned it with a porcupine
quill. I've been mighty curious, but I haven't pulled out that quill. Here
it is."

From his pocket he produced the note and gave it to Aldous.

"I'll read it a little later," said Aldous. "The ladies may possibly become
anxious about us."

He dropped it in his pocket as he thanked Blackton for the trouble he had
taken in finding MacDonald. As he climbed into the front seat of the
buckboard his eyes met Joanne's. He was glad that in a large measure she
had recovered her self-possession. She smiled at him as they drove off, and
there was something in the sweet tremble of her lips that made him almost
fancy she was asking his forgiveness for having forgotten herself. Her
voice sounded more natural to him as she spoke to Mrs. Blackton. The
latter, a plump little blue-eyed woman with dimples and golden hair, was
already making her feel at home. She leaned over and placed a hand on her
husband's shoulder.

"Let's drive home by way of town, Paul," she suggested. "It's only a little
farther, and I'm quite sure Miss Gray will be interested in our Great White
Way of the mountains. And I'm crazy to see that bear you were telling me
about," she added.

Nothing could have suited Aldous more than this suggestion. He was sure
that Quade, following his own and Culver Rann's old methods, had already
prepared stories about Joanne, and he not only wanted Quade's friends--but
all of Tete Jaune as well--to see Joanne in the company of Mrs. Paul
Blackton and her husband. And this was a splendid opportunity, for the
night carnival was already beginning.

"The bear is worth seeing," said Blackton, turning his team in the
direction of the blazing light of the half-mile street that was the
Broadway of Tete Jaune. "And the woman who rides him is worth seeing, too,"
he chuckled. "He's a big fellow--and she plays the Godiva act. Rides him up
and down the street with her hair down, col