curtains swayed; and the cabin itself rocked uncertainly
until it seemed as if it would be uprooted. It was all over in a minute.
In fact, the wind had died away almost simultaneously with the Girl's
loud cry of "Wowkle, hist the winder!"

It is not to be wondered at, however, that Johnson looked apprehensively
about him with every fresh impulse of the gale. The Girl's description
of the storms on the mountain was fresh in his mind, and there was also
good and sufficient reason why he should not be caught in a blizzard on
the top of Cloudy Mountain! Nevertheless, as before, the calm look which
he saw on the Girl's face reassured him. Advancing once more towards
her, he stretched out his arms as if to gather her in them.

"Look out, you'll muss my roses!" she cried, waving him back and dodging
Wowkle who, having cleared the table, was now making her last trip to
the cupboard.

"Well, hadn't you better take them off then?" suggested Johnson, still
following her up.

"Give a man an inch an' he'll be at Sank Hosey before you know it!" she
flung at him over her shoulder, and made straightway for the bureau.

But although Johnson desisted, he kept his eyes upon her as she took the
roses from her hair, losing none of the picture that she made with the
light beating and playing upon her glimmering eyes, her rosy cheeks and
her parted lips.

"Is there--is there anyone else?" he inquired falteringly, half-fearful
lest there was.

"A man always says, 'who was the first one?' but the girl says, 'who'll
be the next one?'" she returned, as she carefully laid the roses in her
bureau drawer.

"But the time comes when there never will be a next one."

"No?"

"No."

"I'd hate to stake my pile on that," observed the Girl, drily. She blew
up each glove as it came off and likewise carefully laid them away in
the bureau drawer.

By this time Wowkle's soft tread had ceased, her duties for the night
were over, and she stood at the table waiting to be dismissed.

"Wowkle, git to your wigwam!" suddenly ordered her mistress, watching
her until she disappeared into the cupboard; but she did not see the
Indian woman's lips draw back in a half-grin as she closed the door
behind her.

"Oh, you're sending her away! Must I go, too?" asked Johnson, dismally.

"No--not jest yet; you can stay a--a hour or two longer," the Girl
informed him with a smile; and turning once more to the bureau she
busied herself there for a few minutes lon