ng back from the cliffs. That
had been Dale's voice.

"Nell! Nell! Wake up!" called Bo, wildly. "Oh, some one's come! Horses
and men!"

Helen got to her knees and peered out over Bo's shoulder. Dale, standing
tall and striking beside the campfire, was waving his sombrero. Away
down the open edge of the park came a string of pack-burros with mounted
men behind. In the foremost rider Helen recognized Roy Beeman.

"That first one's Roy!" she exclaimed. "I'd never forget him on a
horse.... Bo, it must mean Uncle Al's come!"

"Sure! We're born lucky. Here we are safe and sound--and all this grand
camp trip.... Look at the cowboys.... LOOK! Oh, maybe this isn't great!"
babbled Bo.

Dale wheeled to see the girls peeping out.

"It's time you're up!" he called. "Your uncle Al is here."

For an instant after Helen sank back out of Dale's sight she sat there
perfectly motionless, so struck was she by the singular tone of Dale's
voice. She imagined that he regretted what this visiting cavalcade of
horsemen meant--they had come to take her to her ranch in Pine. Helen's
heart suddenly began to beat fast, but thickly, as if muffled within her
breast.

"Hurry now, girls," called Dale.

Bo was already out, kneeling on the flat stone at the little brook,
splashing water in a great hurry. Helen's hands trembled so that she
could scarcely lace her boots or brush her hair, and she was long behind
Bo in making herself presentable. When Helen stepped out, a short,
powerfully built man in coarse garb and heavy boots stood holding Bo's
hands.

"Wal, wal! You favor the Rayners," he was saying, "I remember your dad,
an' a fine feller he was."

Beside them stood Dale and Roy, and beyond was a group of horses and
riders.

"Uncle, here comes Nell," said Bo, softly.

"Aw!" The old cattle-man breathed hard as he turned.

Helen hurried. She had not expected to remember this uncle, but one look
into the brown, beaming face, with the blue eyes flashing, yet sad, and
she recognized him, at the same instant recalling her mother.

He held out his arms to receive her.

"Nell Auchincloss all over again!" he exclaimed, in deep voice, as he
kissed her. "I'd have knowed you anywhere!"

"Uncle Al!" murmured Helen. "I remember you--though I was only four."

"Wal, wal,--that's fine," he replied. "I remember you straddled my knee
once, an' your hair was brighter--an' curly. It ain't neither now....
Sixteen years! An' you're twenty now? What a