d at him for a
full minute. Al stared back into her eyes. "Oh, I could _kill_ you!"
cried Lorraine for the second time that day and threw herself down on
the bed, sobbing like an angry child.

Al said nothing. The man's capacity for keeping still was amazing. He
knelt beside her, folded the blanket over her from the two sides, and
tied the corners around her neck snugly, the knot at the back. In the
same way he tied her ankles. Lorraine found herself in a sleeping bag
from which she had small hope of extricating herself. He took his
coat, folded it compactly and pushed it under her head for a pillow;
then he brought her own saddle blanket and spread it over her for extra
warmth.

"Now stop your bawling and go to sleep," he advised her calmly. "You
ain't hurt, and you ain't going to be as long as you gentle down and
behave yourself."

She saw him draw the slicker over his shoulders and move back where the
shadows were deep and she could not see him. She heard some animal
squall in the woods behind them. She looked up at the stars,--millions
of them, and brighter than she had ever seen them before. Insensibly
she quieted, watching the stars, listening to the night noises,
catching now and then a whiff of smoke from Al Woodruff's cigarette.
Before she knew that she was sleepy, she slept.

CHAPTER XXII

"YACK, I LICK YOU GOOD IF YOU BARK"

Swan cooked himself a hasty meal while he studied the various
possibilities of the case and waited for further word from
headquarters. He wanted to be sure that help had started and to be
able to estimate within an hour or two the probable time of its
arrival, before he left the wireless. Jack he fed and left on watch
outside the cabin, so that he could without risk keep open the door to
the dugout.

His instrument was not a large one, and the dugout door was thick,--as
a precaution against discovery if he should be called when some visitor
chanced to be in the cabin. Not often did a man ride that way, though
occasionally some one stopped for a meal if he knew that the cabin was
there and had ever tasted Swan's sour-dough biscuits. His aerial was
cleverly camouflaged between the two pine trees, and he had no fear of
discovery there; Jack was a faithful guardian and would give warning if
any one approached the place. Swan could therefore give his whole
attention to the business at hand.

He was not yet supplied with evidence enough to warrant arresting
War