"You did not want to hurt me, then?" he cried. "Why should I want to hurt you?" returned the girl. "I thought"--and here Waldo spoiled the fair start they had made at a reconciliation--"I thought," he said, "that you were angry because I ran away from you after we had come to your village that time, months ago." Nadara's head went high and she laughed aloud. "I angry? I was surprised that you did not come to the village, but after an hour I had forgotten the matter--it was with difficulty that I recognized you when I next saw you, so utterly had the occurrence departed from my thoughts." Waldo wondered why he should feel such humiliation at this frank avowal. Of what moment to him was this girl's estimation of him? Why did he feel a flush suffuse his face at the knowledge that he was of so little moment to her that she had entirely forgotten him within a few months? Waldo was mortified and angry. He changed the subject brusquely; hereafter he should eschew personalities. "Let us find a cave at a distance from the dead man," he said, "and there we may rest until you are ready to attempt the return journey." "I am ready now," replied Nadara; "nor do I need or desire your company. I can return alone, as I came." "No," remonstrated Waldo doggedly; "I shall go with you whether you wish it or not. I shall see you safely with your father. I promised him." Nadara had been delighted with the first clause of his reply, but when it became evident that his only desire to return with her was to fulfil a promise made her father she became furious, though she was careful not to let him see it. "Very well," she replied; "you may come if you wish, though it is neither necessary nor as I would have it. I prefer being alone." "I shall not force my company upon you," said Waldo haughtily. "I can follow a few paces behind you." There was an injured air in his last words which did not escape the girl. She wondered if he really deserved the harsh attitude she had maintained. They found a cave a half-mile down the valley, where they took up their quarters against the time that Waldo should be rested, for the girl insisted that she was fully able to commence the return journey at once. The man knew better, and so he let her have it that the delay was on his account rather than hers, for he doubted her ability to cope with the hardships of the long journey without an interval for recuperation. The next morning found them both rested and in better spirits, so that there was no return to their acrimonious encounter of the previous day. As they walked out toward the forest that lay down the valley in the direction of the ocean Waldo dropped a few paces behind the girl in polite deference to her expressed wish of the day before. As he walked he watched the graceful movements of her lithe figure and the lines of her clear-cut profile as she turned her head this way and that in search of food.