from her in her mental anguish, was kind to the physical hurt of her
favorite child. The superb physique, which had been her charm and her
trial, now stood her in good stead. The healing balsam of the pine, the
balm of resinous gums, and the rare medicaments of Sierran altitudes,
touched her as it might have touched the wounded doe; so that in two
weeks she was able to walk about. And when, at the end of the month,
Ridgeway returned from a flying visit to San Francisco, and jumped from
the Wingdam coach at four o'clock in the morning, the Rose of Tuolumne,
with the dewy petals of either cheek fresh as when first unfolded to his
kiss, confronted him on the road.

With a common instinct, their young feet both climbed the little hill
now sacred to their thought. When they reached its summit, they were
both, I think, a little disappointed. There is a fragrance in the
unfolding of a passion, that escapes the perfect flower. Jenny thought
the night was not as beautiful; Ridgeway, that the long ride had blunted
his perceptions. But they had the frankness to confess it to each
other, with the rare delight of such a confession, and the comparison
of details which they thought each had forgotten. And with this, and an
occasional pitying reference to the blank period when they had not known
each other, hand in hand they reached the house.

Mr. McClosky was awaiting them impatiently upon the veranda. When Miss
Jenny had slipped up stairs to replace a collar that stood somewhat
suspiciously awry, Mr. McClosky drew Ridgeway solemnly aside. He held a
large theatre poster in one hand, and an open newspaper in the other.

"I allus said," he remarked slowly, with the air of merely renewing a
suspended conversation,--"I allus said that riding three horses to onct
wasn't exactly in her line. It would seem that it ain't. From remarks in