"I reckon I've been, a few times," replied McCullen. "Why, you ain't _nervous_, be you, Hopie? There ain't nothin' goin' to bother you out here to-night. Mebby you ain't feelin' well." She smiled at his consternation. "No, I don't think I'm nervous, Jim; just a little restless, that's all." "I expect that woman's comin' has sort o' upset you. I didn't want to bring her, but she managed to overrule all o' my objections." He finished driving the last peg, which made the tent secure against the strongest wind, then straightened himself up with his hands upon the small of his back as though the movement was a difficult one. "Well, I reckon I'll bring in the beddin', an' you can fix it up to suit yourself," he said, looking down at the girl, who had seated herself on the grass before the tent. "Listen," she whispered, holding up a warning hand, "I hear horsebackers." "Sure enough," he replied after a moment's silence. "I reckon it's them breed boys o' yourn. Hungriest outfit I ever seen!" "Yes," she said, rising suddenly to her feet and peering into the gathering dusk, "that's who it is. Go get the blankets, Jim." "Where're you goin'!" asked McCullen, as she moved quickly away down the bank of the creek toward the dark brush of the bottom. "To tell them school's out," she replied with a short laugh, then disappeared from his sight. "I reckon she's afraid them boys'll annoy that Van Rensselaer woman. You'd think she'd never seen an Injun before, from the fuss she made back there at Harris'," soliloquized McCullen as he brought a great armful of blankets and deposited them inside the new tent. But Hope was not thinking of Mrs. Van Rensselaer as she stood in the narrow brush trail holding the bridle of an impatient Indian pinto, while the soft-voiced twin looked at her through the semi-darkness. "There's a bright moon to-night till three in the mornin', then it's as dark as pitch," he was saying. "Who figured out all that?" demanded the girl. The breed boy moved uneasily in his saddle. "I reckon Shorty Smith er some o' 'em did," he replied. "And they're going to meet in the sheep-shed at the foot of the big hill," she said deliberately. "Yes," replied Dan reluctantly, "the one just inside the pasture fence over there on this side. It's the nearest place to meet." "How many men?" demanded Hope. "'Bout a dozen, I reckon," replied the twin. "Mebby not so many." He leaned forward until his face was close beside the girl's. "Say," he whispered nervously, "if they ever found out I put you onto this, they'd finish me mighty quick." "Are they aware you know about it?" she asked quickly. "Do they know?" "You can't never tell," replied the boy deliberately, sweetly. The bushes rattled and another horse pushed its way alongside the pinto.