f this trouble."

Having learned not to expect any response to remarks not absolutely
demanding one, and not wishing the silence to dominate, David talked on,
as he led Frale into the cabin and carefully closed the door behind
them.

Thryng's intuition was subtle and his nature intense and strong. He had
been used to dealing with men, and knew that when he wished to, he
usually gained his point. Feeling the antagonism in Frale's heart toward
himself, he determined to overcome it. Be it pride, jealousy, or what
not, it must give way.

He had learned only that morning that circumlocution or pretence of any
sort would only drive the youth further into his fortress of silence,
and close his nature, a sealed well of turbid feeling, against him;
therefore he chose a manner pleasantly frank, taking much for granted,
and giving the boy no chance to refuse his help, by assuming it to have
been already accepted.

"We are about the same size, I think? Yes. Here are some things I laid
out for you. You must look as much like me as possible, and as unlike
yourself, you know. Sit here and we'll see what can be done for your
head."

"You're right fair, an' I'm dark."

"Oh, that makes very little difference. It's the general appearance we
must get at. Suppose I try to trim your hair a little so that lock on
your forehead won't give you away."

"I reckon I can do it. Hit's makin' you a heap o' trouble."

David was pleased to note the boy's mood softening, and helped him on.

"I'm no hand as a barber, but I'll try it a little; it's easier for me
to get at than for you." He quickly and deftly cut away the falling
curl, and even shaved the corners of the forehead a bit, and clipped the
eyebrows to give them a different angle. "All this will grow again, you
know. You only want it to last until the storm blows over."

The youth surveyed himself in the mirror and smiled, but grimly. "I do
look a heap different."

"That's right; we want you to look like quite another man. And now for
your chin. You can use a razor; here is warm water and soap. This suit
of clothes is such as we tramp about in at home, different from anything
you see up here, you know. I'll take my pipe and book and sit there on
the rock and keep an eye out, lest any one climb up here to look around,
and you can have the cabin all to yourself. You see what to do; make
yourself look as if you came from my part of the world." Thryng glanced
at his watch. "Work fast,