you feeds and sleeps him, and don't try to lay your hand on him."

Bill Atkins rose. "But _I_ always light up when he comes," he
remarked, reaching stiffly for a lantern which in due time glimmered
from the partition wall. "Are you hungry, Wilfred? We never feed
till late; it gives us something to sleep on. I lie awake pretty
constantly all night, anyhow, and when I eat late, my stomach sorter
keeps me company."

Wilfred declared that he was not in the least hungry.

"I'm afraid you're disappointed, son," observed Willock, filling
his pipe anew.

Wilfred turned to him with a frank smile. "Brick--it's just awful!
It's what comes from depending on something you've no right to
consider a sure thing. I never thought of this cove without Lahoma
in it; didn't seem like it could be so empty.... How did she get
acquainted with Annabel?--and with my brother?"

"It come about, son. I see at once that the bunch of 'em was from
the big world. I come home and told Bill, 'Them's the people to
tow Lahoma out into life,' says I. So they invited her to spend the
winter with them, the Sellimers did, and show her city doings."

"Yes--but how did it come about?"

"Nothing more natural. I goes over to their tent and I tells them
of the curiosities and good points of these mountains, and gets 'em
to come on a sort of picnic to explore. So here they comes, and