without her knowing it, then the only
thing you could do would be to take her to the railway."

"Yes. Well, you try that an' you'll find out who's runnin' this
outfit. I'll trail out after you an' when I catch you, I'll just
naturally knock hell out of you, an' that's all there'll be to it. You
had the edge on me in the water but you ain't on land. An' now that's
settled to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, suppose me an'
you slip over to camp an' cook supper so we can pull out right after
sundown."

The two made their way through the timber to find Alice blowing herself
red in the face in a vain effort to coax a blaze out of a few
smouldering coals she had scraped from beneath the ashes of the fire.

"Hold on!" cried the Texan, striding toward her, "I've always
maintained that buildin' fires is a he-chore, like swearin', an'
puttin' the baby to sleep. So, if you'll just set to one side a minute
while I get this fire a-goin' an' Win fetches some water, you can take
holt an' do the cookin' while we-all get the outfit ready for the
trail."

Something in the man's voice caused the girl to regard him sharply, and
her eyes shifted for a moment to his companion who stood in the
background. There was no flash of recognition in the glance, and
Endicott, suppressing a laugh, turned his face away, picked up the
water pail, and started toward the creek.

"Who is that man?" asked the girl, a trifle nervously, as he
disappeared from view.

"Who, him?" The Texan was shaving slivers from a bull pine stick.
"He's a friend of mine. Win's his name, an' barrin' a few little
irregularities of habit, he ain't so bad." The cowboy burst into
mournful song as he collected his shavings and laid them upon the coals:

"It's little Joe, the wrangler, he'll wrangle never more,
His days with the _remuda_ they are o'er;
'Twas a year ago last April when he rode into our camp,
Just a little Texas stray, and all alo-o-o-n-e."

Alice leaned toward the man in sudden anger:

"You've been drinking!" she whispered.

Tex glanced at her in surprise: "That's so," he said, gravely. "It's
the only way I can get it down."

She was about to retort when Endicott returned from the creek and
placed the water pail beside her.

"Winthrop!" she cried, for the first time recognizing him. "Where in
the world did you get those clothes, and what is the matter with your
face?"

Endicott grinned: "I shaved myself for the first time.