"Dear, dear," she exclaimed in a low voice, "what clothes will do for one. And how well the child wears them. She might have been accustomed to pretty things all her life." "She puts us all in the shade," whispered Nancy. If Billie had intended to create a sensation in the village, she succeeded beyond her wildest hopes. At first Phoebe was not recognized, but at the village store where everything was sold from groceries to Indian moccasins, a man loafing at the door exclaimed: "By golly, that there's Phoebe from up on the mountains!" Phoebe blushed scarlet and then smiled. "I suppose it will be a surprise to them," she said. They waited some time at the general store for purchases and letters, and by the time the "Comet" had borne them slowly onward to the small hotel, the news had spread down the street. At the water trough, they came to a full stop. They had no errands at the hotel, but Billie pretended to examine the "Comet's" interior mechanism with careful interest. Pretty soon, nearly two dozen people had gathered at the trough. The innkeeper himself appeared, pale-eyed and sly; and Lupo made bold to show his face. "Look at Crazy Frenchy's gal diked out in all them duds," one of the company exclaimed. "She do look good, crazy or no crazy," remarked a swarthy-faced guide eying Phoebe with admiration. The young girl seemed entirely unconscious of all the attention she was attracting. She looked straight ahead down the village street and never even glanced at the group of rough men gathered near the car. "How do we know but she didn't aid and abet Frenchy?" burst out the innkeeper. "How do we know but she didn't help him start them fires on Razor Back? The two is always together, 'ceptin' now when he's a-hidin' and she's put on fine clothes to drive around with her rich friends." Phoebe turned her startled gaze on the man. Her lips parted. "Don't answer them," whispered Billie, and with a grand flourish she swept the "Comet" around in a circle and turned his nose up the street. "Do they accuse my father of setting Razor Back on fire?" asked Phoebe, tremulously. "They tried to, but they couldn't prove it," answered Billie. "My father loves the mountains," protested poor Phoebe. "He loves the forests. He wouldn't harm even one tree. How cruel these people are! Always they have hated us and we have never injured any of them. Oh, Billie, I feel that I must go to my father. I know he needs me." "You remember the doctor's message," answered Billie; "that it would be dangerous for you to leave camp. I am certain he knew what he was saying. Besides, didn't you say the old herb woman was a friend? She would not have deceived you, would she?" "No," answered Phoebe, half smiling. "Once I pulled a thorn out of old Granny's foot and washed and bound it, and she has been good to me ever since. The time she nursed me, she never left me day or night until I was well."