at much the woman had confided in her, for she was only
six when it happened. And she had not dared to look at Jolly Roger when
she told him of what had passed since then, so she saw little of the
hardening in his face as he listened. But he had blown his nose--hard.
It was a way with Jolly Roger, and she had not known him long enough
to understand what it meant. And a little later he had asked her if
he might touch her hair--and his big hand had lain for a moment on her
head, as gently as a woman's.

Like a warm glow in her heart still remained the touch of that hand.
It had given her a new courage, and a new thrill, just as Peter's
vanquishment of unknown monsters that day had done the same for him.
Peter was no longer afraid, and the girl was no longer afraid, and
together they went along the slope of the ridge, until they came to
a dried-up coulee which was choked with a wild upheaval of rock. Here
Peter suddenly stopped, with his nose to the ground, and then his legs
stiffened, and for the first time the girl heard the babyish growl in
his throat. For a moment she stood very still, and listened, and faintly
there came to her a sound, as if someone was scraping rock against
rock. The girl drew in a quick breath; she stood straighter, and
Peter--looking up--saw her eyes flashing, and her lips apart. And then
she bent down, and picked up a jagged stick.

"We'll go up, Peter," she whispered. "It's one of his hiding-places!"

There was a wonderful thrill in the knowledge that she was no longer
afraid, and the same thrill was in Peter's swiftly beating little heart
as he followed her. They went very quietly, the girl on tip-toe, and
Peter making no sound with his soft footpads, so that Jed Hawkins was
still on his knees, with his back toward them, when they came out into a
square of pebbles and sand between two giant masses of rock. Yesterday,
or the day before, both Peter and Nada would have slunk back, for
Jed was at his devil's work, and only evil could come to the one who
discovered him at it. He had scooped out a pile of sand from under the
edge of the biggest rock, and was filling half a dozen grimy leather
flasks from a jug which he had pulled from the hole. And then he paused
to drink. They could hear the liquor gurgling down his throat.

Nada tapped the end of her stick against the rock, and like a shot the
man whirled about to face them. His face turned livid when he saw who
it was, and he drew himself up un