e cold. But presently she "who-whoed" cautiously, and a figure
stepped out from behind a cedar and came toward her.

"Oh, there you--oh!" she cried, and stopped short. It was not Jack
Corey at all, but Hank Brown, grinning at her while he shifted his
rifle from the right hand to the left.

"Guess you thought I was somebody else," he drawled, coming up to her
and putting out his hand. "Pretty cold, ain't it? Yuh travelin' or
just goin' somewheres?" He grinned again over the ancient witticism.

"Oh, I--I was just out for a walk," Marion laughed uneasily. "Where
are you going, Mr. Brown?"

"Me, I'm travelin' fer my health. Guess you aim t' git walkin' enough,
comin' away over here, this kind of a day."

"Why, I hike all over these mountains. It gets lonesome. I just walk
and walk everywhere."

Grinning, Hank glanced down at her feet. "Yes, I've seen lots of
tracks up around this way, and up towards Taylor Kock. But I never
thought they were made by feet as little as what yours are."

"Why, forevermore! I suppose I ought to thank you for that. I make
pretty healthy looking tracks, let me tell you. And I don't claim all
the tracks, because so many hunters come up here."

Hank looked at her from under his slant eyebrows. "Guess they's some
that ain't crazy about huntin' too," he observed shrewdly. "Feller
that had the lookout last summer, guess he hangs out somewhere around
here, don't he? Must, or you wouldn't be calling him. Got a claim,
maybe."

"Why do you think so? I go all over these hills, and I--"

"I was kinder wonderin'," said Hank. "I guess you must know 'im purty
well. I just happened to notice how clost them two sets of tracks are,
over by that big tree. Like as if somebody with kinda little feet had
stood around talking to a feller for quite a spell. I kinda make a
study of tracks, you see--'cause I hunt a good deal. Ever study
tracks?"

"Why, no--" Marion's smile became set and superficial. "I do wish
you'd teach me, Mr. Brown."

"Well, come on over here and I'll show yuh somethin'." He reached over
and laid his hand on her arm, and after an involuntarily shrinking,
Marion thought it wisest to let it pass. Very likely he did not mean
anything at all beyond eagerness to show her the tracks. Why in the
world had they forgotten to be careful, she wondered. But it was hard
to remember that this wilderness was not really so untrodden as it
looked when she and Jack found themselves alone in some remote