Well?" said he. He allowed his horse to come within about ten yards.

"Astonishment makes a man say anything," I proceeded. "And I'll say
again you're too good for her--and I'll say I don't generally believe in
the wife being older than the husband."

"What's two years?" said Lin.

I was near screeching out again, but saved myself. He was not quite
twenty-five, and I remembered Mrs. Taylor's unprejudiced computation
of the biscuit-shooter's years. It is a lady's prerogative, however, to
estimate her own age.

"She had her twenty-seventh birthday last month," said Lin, with
sentiment, bringing his horse entirely abreast of mine. "I promised her
a bear-skin."

"Yes," said I, "I heard about that in Buffalo."

Lin's face grew dusky with anger. "No doubt yu' heard about it," said
he. "I don't guess yu' heard much about anything else. I ain't told
the truth to any of 'em--but her." He looked at me with a certain
hesitation. "I think I will," he continued. "I don't mind tellin' you."

He began to speak in a strictly business tone, while he evened the coils
of rope that hung on his saddle.

"She had spoke to me about her birthday, and I had spoke to her about
something to give her. I had offered to buy her in town whatever she
named, and I was figuring to borrow from Taylor. But she fancied the
notion of a bear-skin. I had mentioned about some cubs. I had found the
cubs where the she-bear had them cached by the foot of a big boulder in
the range over Ten Sleep, and I put back the leaves and stuff on top o'
them little things as near as I could the way I found them, so that the
bear would not suspicion me. For I was aiming to get her. And Miss Peck,
she sure wanted the hide for her birthday. So I went back. The she-bear
was off, and I crumb up inside the rock, and I waited a turruble long
spell till the sun travelled clean around the canyon. Mrs. Bear come
home though, a big cinnamon; and I raised my gun, but laid it down to
see what she'd do. She scrapes around and snuffs, and the cubs start
whining, and she talks back to 'em. Next she sits up awful big, and
lifts up a cub and holds it to her close with both her paws, same as a
person. And she rubbed her ear agin the cub, and the cub sort o' nipped
her, and she cuffed the cub, and the other cub came toddlin', and away
they starts rolling all three of 'em! I watched that for a long while.
That big thing just nursed and played with them little cubs, beatin' em
for a chan