that she would stay where she was. The woods were dark, the firelight
and the warmth enticed her. The sight of the supper preparations made
her hungrier than she had ever been in her life before. When one has
breakfasted on one cup of coffee at dawn and has ridden all day with
nothing to eat, running away from food, even though that food is in the
hands of one's captor, requires courage. Lorraine was terribly tempted
to stay, at least until she had eaten. But Al might not give her
another chance like this. She crept on her knees to the slicker and
seized one piece of bannock, crawled out of the firelight stealthily,
then sprang to her feet and began running straight across the meadow
toward Skinner.

Twenty yards she covered when a bullet sang over her head. Lorraine
ducked, stumbled and fell head-first over a hummock, not quite sure
that she had not been shot.

"Thought maybe I could trust yuh to play square," Al said disgustedly,
pulling her to her feet, the gun still smoking in his hands. "You
little fool, what do you think you'd do in these hills alone? You sure
enough belittle me, if you think you'd have a chance in a million of
getting away from me!"

She fought him, then, with a great, inner relief that the situation was
at last swinging around to a normal kidnapping. Still, Al Woodruff
seemed unable to play his part realistically. He failed to fill her
with fear and repulsion. She had to think back, to remember that he
had killed men, in order to realise her own danger. Now, for instance,
he merely forced her back to the campfire, pulled the saddle strings
from his pocket and tied her feet together, using a complicated knot
which he told her she might work on all she darn pleased, for all he
cared. Then he went calmly to work cooking their supper.

This was simple. He divided the grouse so that one part had the meaty
breast and legs, and the other the back and wings. The meaty part he
larded neatly with strips of bacon, using his hunting knife,--which
Lorraine watched fascinatedly, wondering if it had ever taken the life
of a man. He skewered the meat on a green, forked stick and gave it to
her to broil for herself over the hottest coals of the fire, while he
made the coffee and prepared his own portion of the grouse.

Lorraine was hungry. She broiled the grouse carefully and ate it, with
the exception of one leg, which she surprised herself by offering to
Al, who was picking the bones of