lips with his own.

For the single instant during which Nell stood transfixed, as if
with surprise, and looking up at Joe, she was dumb. Usually the girl
was ready with sharp or saucy words and impulsive in her movements;
but now the bewilderment of being kissed, particularly within view
of the trader's wife, confused her. Then she heard voices, and as
Joe turned away with a smile on his face, the unusual warmth in her
heart was followed by an angry throbbing.

Joe's tall figure stood out distinctly as he leisurely strolled
toward the incoming wagon-train without looking backward. Flashing
after him a glance that boded wordy trouble in the future, she ran
into the cabin.

As she entered the door it seemed certain the grizzled frontiersman
sitting on the bench outside had grinned knowingly at her, and
winked as if to say he would keep her secret. Mrs. Wentz, the
fur-trader's wife, was seated by the open window which faced the
fort; she was a large woman, strong of feature, and with that calm
placidity of expression common to people who have lived long in
sparsely populated districts. Nell glanced furtively at her and
thought she detected the shadow of a smile in the gray eyes.

"I saw you and your sweetheart makin' love behind the willow," Mrs.
Wentz said in a matter-of-fact voice. "I don't see why you need hide
to do it. We folks out here like to see the young people sparkin'.
Your young man is a fine-appearin' chap. I felt certain you was
sweethearts, for all you allowed you'd known him only a few days.
Lize Davis said she saw he was sweet on you. I like his face. Jake,
my man, says as how he'll make a good husband for you, and he'll
take to the frontier like a duck does to water. I'm sorry you'll not
tarry here awhile. We don't see many lasses, especially any as
pretty as you, and you'll find it more quiet and lonesome the
farther West you get. Jake knows all about Fort Henry, and Jeff
Lynn, the hunter outside, he knows Eb and Jack Zane, and Wetzel, and
all those Fort Henry men. You'll be gettin' married out there, won't
you?"

"You are--quite wrong," said Nell, who all the while Mrs. Wentz was
speaking grew rosier and rosier. "We're not anything---"

Then Nell hesitated and finally ceased speaking. She saw that
denials or explanations were futile; the simple woman had seen the
kiss, and formed her own conclusions. During the few days Nell had
spent at Fort Pitt, she had come to understand that the dwellers on