n that rough
table, were quietly pushed to me, one after the other, without one word
being said. That was their way of showing their approval of me. It was
unpolished, but truly sincere.

I was not at all afraid that night, for I suspected that the horsemen at
the supper-table were the "boys" referred to by Mrs. Gates. But it was
impossible to sleep. The partition between the two rooms must have been
very thin, for the noises that came through were awful. It seemed as
though dozens of men were snoring at the same time, and that some of
them were dangerously "croupy," for they choked and gulped, and every
now and then one would have nightmare and groan and yell until some one
would tell him to "shut up," or perhaps say something funny about him
to the others. No matter how many times those men were wakened they were
always cheerful and good-natured about it. A statement that I cannot
truthfully make about myself on the same subject!

It was not necessary for me to leave my room through the window the next
morning, although my breakfast was early. The house seemed deserted,
and I had the long table all to myself. At six o'clock we started on
our ride to Helena. I sat with the driver going through the long
Prickly-Pear canon, and had a fine opportunity of seeing its magnificent
grandeur, while the early shadows were still long. The sun was on many
of the higher boulders, that made them sparkle and show brilliantly in
their high lights and shadows. The trees and bushes looked unusually
fresh and green. We hear that a railroad will soon be built through that
canon--but we hope not. It would be positively wicked to ruin anything
so grand.

We reached Helena before luncheon, and I soon found Miss Duncan, who was
expecting me. We did not start back until the second day, so she and
I visited all the shops and then drove out to Sulphur Spring. The way
everybody and everything have grown and spread out since the Northern
Pacific Railroad has been running cars through Helena is most amazing.
It was so recently a mining town, just "Last Chance Gulch," where
Chinamen were digging up the streets for gold, almost undermining the
few little buildings, and Chinamen also were raising delicious
celery, where now stand very handsome houses. Now Main street has many
pretentious shops, and pretty residences have been put up almost to the
base of Mount Helena.

The ride back was uneventful, greatly to Miss Duncan's disappointment.
It is h