roken snowshoe in a branch of the tree, to mark
the place, and I shall go over quite early to-morrow to bring the
goods home."

Directly she had spoken she repented her words; for she saw,
without appearing to see, a look full of meaning which passed
between Oily Dave and the customer who had been disappointed. It
was only a glance, and might stand for nothing, but she had seen it
and was angry with herself for the indiscretion which had made her
utter words which had better not have been spoken. The men came
out of the bedroom then, so she and Nellie were able to go in.

'Duke Radford was considerably battered. He had a broken collar
bone; one shoulder was bruised so badly that it looked as if it had
been beaten with a hammer; and one side of his face had a deep
flesh wound. Mrs. Burton was a capital nurse: she and Katherine
between them soon had the sufferer as comfortable as it was
possible to make him; then they fed him with strong hot broth,
after which Mrs. Burton remembered that Katherine had had no
supper, and hustled her off to the other room in search of food.
Katherine noticed as she went back through the store that Oily Dave
had gone, also the man who had wanted to buy the Black Crow tobacco.

"Miles, can you leave Phil to look after things, and come with me
for five minutes?" she said, with a thrill of anxiety in her tone.
She was faint and spent with hunger and fatigue, the prospect
before her seemed too dreadful to be faced, yet deep down in her
heart was the stern determination not to be outwitted if she could
help it. But she must first of all get rid of this stupid
trembling, which made her feel as if her limbs were not strong
enough to bear the weight of her body; so sitting down at the table
she prepared to get a good square meal as the first step towards
the successful accomplishment of what was to come after. Miles was
a minute later in coming, because he had been attending to a
customer. "What is the matter; is Father very bad?" he asked, with
a quaver of fear in his tone. Accidents, or sickness of any kind,
always seemed so much worse in winter, and then death and disaster
had already worked havoc in the family.

"Poor Father is bad enough, but I dare say he will do very well
with care, and Nellie is a famous one for looking after sick
folks," Katherine answered, as cheerfully as she could, quick to
understand what was in the mind of Miles, and feeling genuinely
sorry for him. Then