“I love this place and Mrs. Sherley is contented, but I feel as if there were something more in the world for us. I long for companionship of my own age--sweet girls who would put their soft arms around me and love me. “Oh! Mr. Cody, when I think of these things it seems I cannot wait. And yet, where should I go and what should I do? Neither Mrs. Sherley nor I have a relative in the world of whom we know or can ever expect to find. What shall I do?” The girl had worked her feelings up to the point of tears, when the scout interposed to give her opportunity to control herself. “If you had means to go direct to some Eastern school, with Mrs. Sherley to accompany you and remain with you, it would be well enough for you to start out for an education; but the pitfalls of civilization, before a young lady of your beauty, are far more numerous and dangerous than those of the Bad Lands, because of the attractiveness of one and the repulsiveness of the other.” The girl looked at him, not half understanding his meaning. “There are thousands of men with much money and little honor who are on the watch for such innocents as you are. If you had friends with whom you could remain and attend school, Mrs. Sherley could readily find employment that would pay the way for both of you. Perhaps we can bring it about through the families of some of the military men. Keep up your courage and I will see what can be done; but I cannot allow this opportunity to pass and neglect to warn you, if you go out in the world, to be suspicious of everything, and place yourself under the guidance of an experienced and reliable female friend.” He would have gone on, but the girl, whose eyes had fixed upon him in wrapt attention, turned away for a moment, and then she sprang up and extended her hands in mute greeting toward a pitiful little figure making its way across the plain toward them. The scout instantly recognized the little daughter of Black Coyote. “Poor little thing!” said the girl, with tears in her eyes and her heart full of pity. “Black Coyote is dead. He wished to die there where his tribe deserted him. He would not come here and the child would not leave him. I told her to come to me when the Great Spirit came for her father. She is coming.” She watched the child for a moment, and turning to the scout, said: “There are three of us now, but the case is not hopeless. I have much more to talk to you about to-morrow--or by this evening’s moonlight. Let us go down and meet Laughing Water.” CHAPTER XLII. LITTLE CAYUSE MISSING.