st upon
the student.

"I air goin' to sleep here," explained Tess with no mention of the
lately exposed dirt. "I only slep' in Daddy's bed cause he wasn't
here.... Ye go to bed while I gets the sticks fer the mornin'."

Frederick placed his hand on her arm almost timidly. She was so
different from any girl he had ever known!

"Please allow me to get the wood for you."

Two rows of white teeth bared themselves in a frank smile.

"I's a squatter," she said, "and squatter women allers gets the wood.
Scoot to bed."

When Tessibel came in from the mud cellar, Frederick lay with his face
toward the wall, Orn Skinner's soiled blankets wrapped closely about his
shoulders. Tessibel placed the leather strap over the staple in the
door, and barred up for the night.

CHAPTER XXIII

For almost an hour Tessibel lay thinking deeply, her brain alive with
the past rapid happening of events. That the student would ever sleep
under her roof was more than she had dreamed. She could hear him
breathing evenly; he was asleep with "Daddy's" blankets wrapped tightly
about his finely shaped head. Through the dim light Tessibel could
follow the outline of the great form stretched out on the roped bed. A
feeling of thanksgiving swept over her--she was his protector. She had
not thought of asking about his crime. Of course he was fleeing from the
law, but he could have done nothing that would lessen her desire to aid
him. If he had murdered, then it was necessary that he should; if he had
stolen, it was the common lot of all men in need. The one thing to do
was to keep him from the clutches of the law. She felt herself getting
drowsy, and soon the even breathing of the squatter and the student told
that both slept.

Tess would never know what time it happened. Suddenly her eyes flew open
and through the light of a lantern she saw Ben Letts leering into her
face. The frosty air was blowing in gusts through the window which the
squatter Ben had forced open. The horror of the situation came slowly
over her. For the instant she forgot the student sleeping in her
father's bed, and Ben Letts had not noticed him.

Ben began to speak in low tones:

"If ye wants to live, don't holler ... Get up!"

Tess crawled out of bed, fully dressed. Frederick slept on, hearing no
sound, for the cold room had compelled him nearly to cover his head.
Suddenly the presence of the student came into the girl's mind; but she
only threw a furtive glance