. He
glared back at the woman, and his cheeks grew hot. Meanwhile the little
girl continued her unwinking examination.

She wore a ridiculous fur parka, scarcely larger than Daniels's cap, and
tiny mukluks that made her legs look shorter and fatter than they were.
Her mittens were the littlest things he had ever seen and he was
regarding them wonderingly when she amazed him by approaching and laying
one in his hand.

Now, this frank and full declaration of friendship reduced Daniels to a
helpless condition; he had never been more troubled in his life. He was
vaguely frightened, and yet he thrilled in an unaccountable manner at
the touch. He was half minded to withdraw his hand from his glove and
retreat, leaving it in her possession, but thought again of these evil
surroundings, and of the responsibility that had devolved upon him with
her surrender. In the midst of his dumbness the young lady burst into a
bubbling and intimate recital of her adventures, which doubtless would
have been perfectly intelligible to her mother, but which left the
discoverer of John Daniels Creek floundering for a translation.

He concealed his disgraceful ignorance by an easy assumption of
understanding. He nodded, he winked, he grinned. He eyed the
infinitesimal hand that lay in his, then gingerly removed his own glove
the better to safeguard its treasure, whereupon the small mitten
promptly closed over one of his big knuckled fingers. Daniels gasped and
held his digit as rigid as a pick-handle. Escape was no longer possible.

Having finished her recital the tot burst into a funny gurgle which
plainly established a deep and undying intimacy between them, then, like
all maidens who have pledged their affections, she made plain her
readiness to accompany her protector to the end of the world.

But the puppy held back and delayed progress as effectively as a ship's
anchor, so, fearing to exert too great a strain upon his extended
finger, Daniels gave the animal bodily into her embrace. One short arm
encircled the dog's neck, whereupon, as if by habit, it limply resigned
itself to misery. The three went slowly out of that sin-ridden place,
the man dazed and delighted, the child loquacious and trustful, the
puppy with lolling tongue and legs protruding stiffly.

Daniels had mastered many dialects in his time, from Chinook to Pidgin
English, but to save himself he could make nothing out of this language.
Some words were plain, but they were