Without the least embarrassment or even self-consciousness of her appearance, she tossed the end of the reata to me with the curtest explanation as she passed by. Some prowling bear or catamount had frightened the mule. I had better tether it before the cabin away from the wind. “But I thought wild beasts never came so near,” I said quickly. “Mule meat's mighty temptin',” said the girl sententiously and passed on. I wanted to thank her; I wanted to say how sorry I was that she had been disturbed; I wanted to compliment her on her quiet midnight courage, and yet warn her against recklessness; I wanted to know whether she had been accustomed to such alarms; and if the gun she carried was really a necessity. But I could only respect her reticence, and I was turning away when I was struck by a more inexplicable spectacle. As she neared the end of the extension I distinctly saw the tall figure of a man, moving with a certain diffidence and hesitation that did not, however, suggest any intention of concealment, among the trees; the girl apparently saw him at the same moment and slightly slackened her pace. Not more than a dozen feet separated them. He said something that was inaudible to my ears,--but whether from his hesitation or the distance I could not determine. There was no such uncertainty in her reply, however, which was given in her usual curt fashion: “All right. You can trapse along home now and turn in.” She turned the corner of the extension and disappeared. The tall figure of the man wavered hesitatingly for a moment, and then vanished also. But I was too much excited by curiosity to accept this unsatisfactory conclusion, and, hastily picketing Chu Chu a few rods from the front door, I ran after him, with an instinctive feeling that he had not gone far. I was right. A few paces distant he had halted in the same dubious, lingering way. “Hallo!” I said. He turned towards me in the like awkward fashion, but with neither astonishment nor concern. “Come up and take a drink with me before you go,” I said, “if you're not in a hurry. I'm alone here, and since I HAVE turned out I don't see why we mightn't have a smoke and a talk together.” “I dursn't.” I looked up at the six feet of strength before me and repeated wonderingly, “Dare not?” “SHE wouldn't like it.” He made a movement with his right shoulder towards the extension. “Who?” “Miss Karline.” “Nonsense!” I said. “She isn't in the cabin,--you won't see HER. Come along.” He hesitated, although from what I could discern of his bearded face it was weakly smiling. “Come.” He obeyed, following me not unlike Chu Chu, I fancied, with the same sense of superior size and strength and a slight whitening of the eye, as if ready to shy at any moment. At the door he “backed.” Then he entered sideways. I noticed that he cleared the doorway at the top and the sides only by a hair's breadth.