your hair
to prove to your sister I have been a guest of the caravan party?" he
asked. "Though, of course, I don't believe she would be so obstinate."

Frieda solemnly unwound the band of ribbon which she used to keep her
hair out of her eyes, and Ralph tied it in his buttonhole, where the
ends floated out like blue pennants; but understanding their impatience,
Ruth let Olive and Jean go to assist in the search for Jack.

It was now broad daylight; the birds were singing and the sun shining
with the peculiar brilliancy that follows a rain-washed night. Ruth put
Frieda to bed, as the little girl was exhausted; then she persuaded
Carlos to lie down on her own cot. The boy had said nothing, only he
never let go the gray ball of fur which he had brought home from the
woods, but kept it pressed close to him. Ruth had no idea what animal
Carlos had found, though it had a sharp, pointed nose, restless eyes,
and every now and then tore at something with its baby teeth. Hidden
near an old tree in the woods back of the gold mine, Carlos had run
across a baby wolf cub, and having a curious fellowship with animals,
had brought it back with him, hoping he might be allowed to raise it as
a dog.

The ranch girls knew of Carlos' strange communion with birds and beasts.
They would come at his call and eat out of his brown hand, but it did
not seem remarkable to them, as the boy had lived always in the open and
was only a half-tamed creature himself.

Ruth left the children alone in the tent. Fifteen minutes later she
returned and Carlos had again disappeared. This time she made up her
mind that the Indian boy must be sent back to his own people, since they
could do nothing to stop his disobedience. But Olive had been trying to
teach the little fellow to read and write, and in straightening up her
bed Ruth found a piece of torn yellow paper. On it Carlos had written in
quaint, scrawling letters: "I Go Girl Never Afrid. Find Not, Come Back
Not."

Ruth put the letter away; her heart once more softened toward the lad,
hoping for his sake that he might be the one to bring Jack to them.

But no one need have been troubled about Jack on this wonderful summer
morning. Quite comfortably she awoke in her nest of branches to a
bewildering chorus of song, a little stiff, of course; hungry and
thirsty. But climbing out on the ground, she ran for half a mile until
the soreness was out of her muscles and the surging blood warmed her
heart and c