Jasper did not come. Isom's eyes began to ache from the steady gaze, and now and then he would drop them to the water swirling beneath. A slow wind swayed the overhanging branches at the mouth of the stream, and under them was an eddy. Escaping this, the froth and bubbles raced out to the gleams beating the air from the sunlit river. He saw one tiny fleet caught; a mass of yellow scum bore down and, sweeping through bubbles and eddy, was itself struck into fragments by something afloat. A tremulous shadow shot through a space of sunlight into the gloom cast by a thicket of rhododendrons, and the boy caught his breath sharply. A moment more, and the shape of a boat and a human figure quivered on the water running under him. The stern of a Lewallen canoe swung into the basin, and he sprang to his feet. “Rome!” The cry cut sharply through the drowsy air. “Thar he is! Hit's Jas!” The old miller rose to his feet. The boy threw himself behind the sacks of grain. Rome wheeled for his rifle, and stood rigid before the door. There was a light step without, the click of a gun-lock within; a shadow fell across the doorway, and a girl stood at the threshold with an empty bag in her hand. V WITH a little cry she shrank back a step. Her face paled and her lips trembled, and for a moment she could not speak. But her eyes swept the group, and were fixed in two points of fire on Rome. “Why don't ye shoot!” she asked, scornfully. “I hev heerd that the Stetsons have got to makin war on women-folks, but I never believed it afore.” Then she turned to the miller. “Kin I git some more meal hyeh?” she asked. “Or have ye stopped sellin' to folks on t'other side?” she added, in a tone that sought no favor. “You kin have all ye want,” said old Gabe, quietly. “The mill on Dead Crick is broke ag'in,” she continued, “'n' co'n is skeerce on our side. We'll have to begin buyin' purty soon, so I thought I'd save totin' the co'n down hyeh.” She handed old Gabe the empty bag. “Well,” said he, “as it air gittin' late, 'n' ye have to climb the mountain ag'in, I'll let ye have that comm' out o' the hopper now. Take a cheer.”