ight whiskey, an' after that I ain't
partic'ler whether I get patty-de-foy-graw or hummin'-bird tongues."

His good-humor was infectious, and they were thankful, too, for the
shelter, desolate though the place was. All the wood had been stripped
away except the floors, and the brick walls were bare. In the great
parlor they had nothing to sit on save their saddles, but it was a noble
apartment, many feet square, built for a time when there was life in
Queen City.

"I've heard the Governor of Montana speak to more than two hundred
people in this very room," said Jim, reminiscently. "He was to have
spoke in the public square, but snow come up, an' Bill Fosdick, who run
the hotel, and run her wide open, invited 'em all right in here, an'
they come."

Harley could well believe it, knowing, as he did, the miners and the
mountains, and, by report, early Montana.

At one end of the room was an immense grate, and in this Jim heaped the
wood so generously left by the unknown tramp or miner, igniting it with
a ready match. The ruddy blaze leaped upward and threw generous shadows
on the floor. The travellers, sitting close to it, felt the grateful
warmth and were content.

All the saddle blankets also had been brought in and piled on one of the
saddles. On these Sylvia sat and spread out her hands to the ruddy
blaze. To Harley, with the flame of the firelight on her face and the
glow of the coals throwing patches of red and gold on her hair, she
seemed some brilliant spirit come to light up the gloomy place. Here all
was warmth and brightness; outside, the storm moaned through the
mountains and the darkness.

"Do you know, I enjoy this," she said, as she looked into the crackling
fire.

"So Queen City ain't so bad, ma'am?" said the guide, with dry
satisfaction.

"Not bad at all, but very good," she replied, gayly. "Don't you think
so, Mr. Harley?"

"I certainly agree with you," replied Harley, devoutly, "but I'm glad
that Queen City is just where it is."

She laughed.

"Daddy has been many a time in the mountains without his Queen
City--haven't you, daddy?"

"Often," said "King" Plummer, looking at her with a pleased smile. But
he wished that she would not call him "daddy," at least before Harley;
it seemed that she could never remember his request; but she had warned
him.

"An old hand travellin' in the mountains always purvides for a snowy
day," said the guide, and he took from his saddle-bags much food and a