The sound of footsteps told them some one was approaching. "Back!" whispered the guide, leading the way. "We must see who ther critter is, an' he musn't see us." Hastily they drew into the deep shadows, holding their rifles ready for use in case they should need them. Nearer and nearer came the footsteps, and then the dark figure of a man appeared, advancing through the dusky darkness. The man was alone, and he halted on the shore of the lake, within a short distance of the crouching man and boy. They saw him bow his head on his breast and stand there in silence. Several minutes passed. At last, the unknown lifted his head, stretched out his arms, and uttered a long, mournful cry that seemed to come from a breaking heart. Old Rocks rose and glided swiftly and silently toward the stranger, who did not hear him approach. The guide's hand dropped on the man's shoulder, and he said: "Hello, Hermit. Whatever be yer doin' hyar?" The strange man turned, and Frank saw that it was indeed the Hermit of the Yellowstone. "Doing?" he said, hoarsely. "I am seeking rest--seeking rest! I'll never find it till I rest in the grave!" "You must hev a derned bad liver, or somethin' o' ther sort," sneered Old Rocks. "I don't understand a critter like you none whatever." "I do not expect you to understand me. You do not know my story. If I were to tell you----" "We ain't got time ter listen; but I'll tell you a leetle story. You know ther babby-gal whut yer saw at our camp?" The hermit bowed, and then, as if a suspicion of the truth had flashed over him, he fiercely grasped the guide with both hands, hoarsely demanding: "Has anything happened to her? Tell me--tell me quick!" With a few well-chosen words, Old Rocks told exactly what had happened. The hermit seemed overcome with horror and dismay. "She must be saved!" "You're right; but how wuz we ter foller ther red varmints 'thout a canoe. Now they hev got clean away." "I will find her!" cried the hermit, with one hand uplifted, as if registering a vow. "I will find her and restore her to--hold! How did she happen to be with you?" A further explanation was in order. Frank told how Fay had appeared in time to save himself and Barney from being attacked by Half Hand and the Blackfeet, what she had told them, how they had taken her to the camp, and how Old Rocks had agreed to find her mother with the coming of another day. The guide and the boy believed the Hermit must be little Fay's father, and they watched him closely as he listened. When Frank had finished, the strange man eagerly asked: "Her name--her full name--did you learn it?" "No. She told us her name was Fay, and that her mother sometimes called her Fairy Fay; but we were unable to learn her last name." "From whut we saw in ther camp, we allowed as how it wuz likely you hed seen ther babby afore, an' you knowed her proper name," insinuated Old Rocks. The Hermit did not answer the implied question.