"They will be worried--"

"I will get you over there before bedtime. Go up to my house and
wait. This boy and I will stable the mules in my barn; it's just
along the road here. Sim will follow the beasts and find them; but
he'll be some time in getting along. He lives along this road himself
--not far, not far. Ah!"

The old man talked mostly as though he spoke to himself. He seldom
more than glanced at her, his eye roving everywhere but at the person
to whom he spoke. Ruth started toward the house from which the fire
and lamplight shone so cordially. The dogs stood before her--Tiger,
the big hound, and Rose, a beautiful Gordon setter,

"Let her alone," said the hermit to his canine companions. "She's
all right."

The dogs seemed to agree with him immediately. The hound sniffed
once at the hem of Ruth's frock; Rose gambolled about her and licked
her hand. Ruth now realized how cold she was, and she ran quickly up
to the open door of the cabin.

On the threshold she hesitated a moment. A great lamp with a tin
shade, hanging from the rafters, illuminated all the center of the
room. At one end burned a hot log fire on the hearth; but the two
further corners were in gloom. Ruth had said she had never seen a log
cabin, and it was true. This one seemed to her to be a very cozy
place indeed, even if it was the habitation of a hermit.

As she entered, however, she found that there was a rather