supper, Ag," she said--never before or since has she called
Aggie "Ag"--"I'm starving."

She said she had heard little or nothing. She had found the farmhouse,
had bought her supplies from a surly woman and had come away again.
Asked by Mr. Muldoon if she had seen any men, she said she had seen a
farmhand milking. That was all, except the outlaw on the hill.

But under her calmness Tish was terribly excited. I could tell it by her
glittering eyes and the red spot in each cheek. Manlike, Mr. Muldoon did
not see these signs; he ate very little and sat watching her,
fascinated. Only once, however, did he broach the subject.

"I had no idea you were such a shot, Miss Letitia," he said. "It--that
was a marvel."

"Oh, I shoot a little," said Tish coolly. "Only for my own amusement, of
course."

Mr. Muldoon made no reply. He was very thoughtful all evening, did not
care to play whist, and watched Tish whenever he could, furtively.

Tish herself was in an exalted mood, but not about the shot--she was
modest enough about that.

And with cause. Months after she told us how it happened. She said she
was carrying the eggs and milk with her left hand and had the gun in her
right, when a shot struck a tree beside her. She was so startled that
her finger pulled the trigger of her own rifle, which was pointed up,
with the result we know of. She would probably never have confessed even
then, had she not taken rheumatic fever and thought she was dying.

When Mr. Muldoon went out to fix Modestine for the night Tish called us
to the back of the cave.

"I bought the milk and eggs," she said hurriedly, "and having a dime
left--your missionary dime, Aggie, I borrowed it--I went back and bought
a glass of jelly. Men like preserves. The woman wrapped it in a
newspaper, and there is a full account of the robbery and of Muldoon
being after the outlaws. He's after the outlaws, but he's after the
reward too. They're quoted at a thousand dollars!"

"He can have the thousand dollars for all of me," said Aggie.

"A thousand dollars!" said Tish. "A thousand dollars to hand in to the
church as the return from your missionary dime! And if we don't get it
Muldoon will! As soon as he can get about on his leg he'll cease being
hunted and begin to hunt. Why should he have it? He has plenty of
chances, and we'll never have another."

That was all she had a chance to say, Muldoon joining us at that moment.

We retired early, but I did not sleep