"They be dum good blokes, to give their money to a squatter, ain't they?" The professor started perceptibly. She did not understand that all had been done under his supervision; he had tried to impress upon her his great desire to help her, but no words of praise fell from her lips for him. He would have willingly given worlds had she said that he was "a dum good bloke." "They are all sorry for you and your father," he ended lamely. "It was the student, Graves, what brought Daddy the money," she burst out with a vivid blush. "No, the student, Graves, had nothing to do with it," was the grim reply. "He's a-been prayin' since Daddy went away--that air somethin'," Tess said stubbornly. Professor Young rose--then seated himself again. He had come for something else, something that meant work and satisfaction for him. "Now that your father is sure to be saved, will you leave this hut?" he asked peremptorily. "Nope!" "But it's not fit for you to be here alone, Tessibel. Listen ... I'll save your father's squatter rights, if you will study in some good school until he returns." "Aw, cuss! Who air to pay all the money?" Tess got to her feet with effort. "I will," deliberately answered Young. "Nope, I air goin' to stay here," snapped Tess. "I can fish and live likes I have been doin' till Daddy comes. I promised him I'd stay. I can read the Bible now," she ejaculated, promptly producing the book from under the blankets of the bed. "I's a-readin it every day.... If ye don't believes, ye can listen and see." She tossed back the curls from her shoulders as she ended emphatically: "I air a goin' to bring Daddy home through this here book--the student says." Again the terrible jealousy of the handsome student flashed alive in the professor. Tess had opened the Bible to a chapter she had never read before. "And straightway in the morning," she spelled, "the chief priests--Aw, that ain't no good! Wait till I find about Daddy." Then suddenly she threw the Bible down upon the floor. "There air places what says as how Daddy air a comin' home. The student says it air there. I ain't found it yet but I air a-lookin' for it every day. 'Tain't in that place where I just read about them geezers, the priests." The lawyer stood up. A pain seized him. He would save this ignorant girl in spite of herself, marry her in spite of Frederick Graves. It would be as difficult as scaling the icy mountains, but he would force her to love him more than the whole world. "You understand," he said shortly, "that these good people have given money toward helping your father come home. It will be some time before the trial will come up, but when it does--I will bring him back to you." The assurance in his tones brought Tess to his side.