in the summer-time, so that any substitute for
it is eagerly welcomed."

Mrs. Boyd, lost in the recollections of the appetising water-melons, was
clearly forgetting the great point of her story, so I ventured to
suggest it by remarking: "And the highwayman?"

"I am coming to that directly," said Mrs. Boyd.

"Well, we started home just before sundown; and as it was very hot, we
could not drive fast. Indeed, the horses were in a sheet of lather
almost immediately, and the air seemed fairly thick with the heat-rays,
and absolutely breathless. Just as we got to the bluff overlooking the
Big Sugar Creek, the sun set.

[Sidenote: A Dangerous District]

"'I wish we were on the other side of the creek, I know,' said my
brother-in-law.

"'Why so?' said I; 'this part of the country is perfectly safe, is it
not?'

"'Yes,' he replied, 'it is pretty safe now, but there are always some
rough customers about the bush, and there have been one or two shootings
on the Big Sugar. Orlando Morse saw a man on horseback one night just
after he had crossed the ford, waiting for him by the side of the road
under the trees. But Orlando is an old frontier-man, so he is pretty
quick with his trigger. He fired twice at the man, after challenging;
whereupon the scoundrel vanished rapidly, and Orlando got safe home.'

"I felt very uncomfortable at this, as you may imagine; still, as I knew
my brother-in-law had a very poor opinion of the nerves of Englishwomen,
I made an effort to say, as lightly as I could: 'What a very
extraordinary country, to be sure! And do you always shoot anybody you
may happen to see standing by the roadside of a summer's evening?'

"'Oh no,' laughed Louis; 'we're not quite so savage as that. But you may
fire at any suspicious body or thing, after due challenge, if the answer
is not satisfactory. That's the rule of the road.'

"After that I began to peer about in the gloom, rather anxiously trying
to see if I could discover any suspicious body or thing, but I could
make out nothing on account of the gloom, made more complete by the
surrounding trees. Besides, we were going down hill very fast; we were,
in fact, descending the steep bank of the first creek; then there was a
bit of level in the wooded valley, then another stream, the South Fork
it was called, then another steep climb, and we would once more be on
the high and open prairie.

"'Now, then, hold on tight!' said my brother-in-law, as he clutched the
r