which she must deal. In the dining room she had felt
recklessly intrepid and the utter mystification of Buck Crowley had
amused her. But she had had plenty of opportunity in her Vose-Mern work
to know the nature of Crowley--he had the shell of an alligator and the
scruples of a viper and would double-cross a twin brother if the project
could help the fortunes of Buck himself.

Once more she admitted that she was afraid. It was if she had touched
levers and had started machinery which she could not stop; she had
launched two men at each other and had observed the first ominous
clinches--and Crowley had warned her that she was in the region of
"he-men." But Crowley was not of a sort to use the manly weapons of the
frank fighters of the north.

With the sense of hiding away from impending trouble, sorry for her
share in starting it, she sat by the window, put her forehead on her
arms, wept weakly, and told herself that she was a very poor article of
a heroine.

However, the sunset soothed and invited her when she wiped her eyes. She
beheld the honest outdoors of the forest country. She was hungry for
those open places of earth. She knew that her resolution was ebbing the
longer she hid herself in that hole of a room, like a terrified animal.
She put on a hat and a wrap and started out.

She was perfectly well aware of the gantlet she must run.

Crowley was patrolling the porch; she issued from a side door of the
tavern, but she was obliged to pass him in order to get into the street.
His high sign to her was peremptory and unmistakable--Mr. Crowley had
business with her! Right then, in spite of her planned intent to bluff
out the situation just as long as she could at that distance from Mern,
she was not in a state of mind to meet Crowley.

She heard steps behind her and was accosted, but her frown of
apprehensiveness became a smile of welcome when she turned and beheld
Latisan; the welcome was not so much from interest in Latisan as from
the sense that she would have a respite from Crowley.

"If you're going to look the place over, won't you allow me to go
along?" he pleaded. "I'll follow behind like a terrier, if you tell me
to. I want to keep you from being bothered by anybody."

She showed concern and looked about her.

"Oh, by that cheap drummer, I mean. You needn't ever be afraid of
woodsmen up here. I was watching him when you came out. If it wasn't for
starting a lot of tattle I'd beat him up on the stree