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The night was cold and still, darkly bright under le with that of cedar Jean followed his father round the house and up a gentle slope of grass to the edge of the cedar line Here several trees with loeeping thick branches formed a dense, iett, one of the greatest rebels the South had," said the rancher "An' you're goin' to be scout for the Isbels of Tonto Reckon you'll find it 'most as hot as your uncle did Spread your bed inside You can see out, but no one can see you Reckon there's been some queer happenin's 'round heah lately If Shepp could talk he'd shore have lots to tell us Bill an' Guy have been sleepin' out, trailin' strange hoss tracks, an' all that But shore whoever's been prowlin' around heah was too sharp for theht-steppin' woodso, just after daylight, I stepped out the back door an' some one of these sneaks I'm talkin' aboot took a shot at me Missed my head a quarter of an inch! To-morrow I'll show you the bullet hole in the doorpost An' soray hairs that 're stickin' in it!"

"Dad!" ejaculated Jean, with a hand outstretched "That's awful! You frighten me"

"No tioin' to kill me That's why I wanted you home In there with you, now! Go to sleep You shore can trust Shepp to wake you if he gets scent or sound An' good night, ht"

Jeanwhite head ht Then the tall, dark for Shepp licked Jean's hand Jean felt grateful for that warht still locked on the shuddering revelation of his father's words, "They're shore goin' to kill me" The shock of inaction passed Jean pushed his pack in the dark opening and, crawling inside, he unrolled it and th he was coh of relief What bliss to relax! A throbbing and burning of his ht, the smell of cedar, the moan of wind, the silence--an were real to his senses After long weeks of long, arduous travel he was hoered, but it seemed to have been pierced by an icy thrust What lay before hier, fresher eyes of his sister--Jean connected that with thethat had been so keen, the breaking of ca down the brown aisles under the pines, thelaht of Ellen Jorth recurred Had he ? She was up there in the forest, asleep under the starlit pines Who was she? What was her story? That savage fling of her skirt, her bitter speech and passionate fla into si away from his bewilderment, and therefore at once sweeter and ht," Jean soliloquized "Anyway, she was honest" Both shame and thrill possessed hio back and find her and give her the last package of gifts he had brought froed, untidy, beautiful Ellen Jorth? The idea grew on Jean It could not be dispelled He resisted stubbornly It was bound to go to its fruition Deep into his mind had sunk an iht spirit and pride to abasement From one picture to another his memory wandered, fro, casting aside, until clear and sharp as the stars shone the words, "Oh, I've been kissed before!" That stung him now By whom? Not by one man, but by several, by many, she had meant Pshaw! he had only been syirl in the woods To-et Work there was for him in Grass Valley And he reverted uneasily to the remarks of his father until at last sleep claimed him