"Breakfast?" exclaimed Elfreda. "Not a mouthful until the doctor gets here and advises what is to be done. They may have all the water they wish, but nothing of solid food. You won't forget, will you?" Julie shook her head. "This is the first opportunity I have had to speak with you quietly since last night, Julie," said Grace. "You made a remark as we were about to leave the dance, indicating that you knew something had occurred at our camp. Julie, you knew what had been done there, didn't you?" The mountain girl nodded. "How did you know?" "Er feller an' girl comin' t' the dance seen it," she answered with some hesitation. "And you know who did it?" "Uh-huh," nodded the girl. "Who was it?" "Ah shan't tell you-all!" exclaimed Julie, a challenge snapping in her black eyes. "That is all right, my dear, if you do not wish to speak. How is your friend, Lum Bangs, to-day?" "He ain't no friend of mine. Ah don't know nothin' 'bout how he is, an' Ah don't care." Julie blazed as she said it. The Overland girls smiled. Grace's question, they thought, had been answered. "Thar comes somebody," cried Julie, distracting the attention of all from the subject. A man on horseback was seen pounding up the trail at a fast pace. "It's the doc!" announced the mountain girl. "Hippy! Where's Hippy?" gasped Nora. "Keep steady," urged Grace, as they got up and walked out to meet the doctor in front of the cabin. "Are you the doctor?" asked Elfreda as he rode up and swung a hand to them. "Yes." "Where did you leave Lieutenant Wingate?" asked Grace. "About ten miles down the trail. I got here as quickly as possible. To be brief, we were attacked from ambush. The lieutenant's horse was shot from under him. We both began shooting, but he yelled to me, 'Go on, Doc. They need you at Thompson's. I'll get out of it somehow.' "Well, I saw that he was right, so I rode for keeps till I got out of range of the bullets. Lively neighborhood up here, eh? I'll see the patients, if you please." Elfreda conducted the doctor into the cabin, Grace remaining to comfort Nora and to consider what was best to be done in the circumstances. Nora was urging her to start out in search of Hippy, but Grace pointed out that they were as likely to miss as to find him, and that the best course appeared to be to wait until later in the day, then, should Lieutenant Wingate not return, a searching party must be organized to go out for him. Grace then entered the cottage and the girls led Nora out to the shady side of the barn where they consoled her as best they could. "I will sit right down here and con-centrate," promised Emma. "You will see that it will fetch him back. If it doesn't never, never again will I con-centrate on Hippy. The trouble is that he resists the instant he feels the magnetic current, which makes con-centrating very difficult and takes so much of the imponderable quality out of one--"