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Nothin'll harm ye as long as this old gun holds true, an' she ain't failed me yit, though she's seen some hightly ugly times." "Thank you," replied Mr. Radhurst, who had remained still through the excitement. "You are very good, but I don't think any harm will come to us. Perhaps some one was passing and happened to glance in at the window.
They couldn't find hair nor hide of her. She'd skipped out." "Oh!" "Yes, cut an' run. Ye should have seed the look on the parson's face when he heerd that; it was terrible. An' ye could have heered the men hoot an' laugh clean up here, if ye'd been listenin'." "But where did she go?" asked Mr. Radhurst. "The girl was here until quite late yesterday afternoon."
He rose from the table, when his eye caught sight of an unopened letter lying on the floor which had fallen from the table. Quickly opening it, he ran his eyes over the contents, and as he did so his face flushed. He sat down again, re-read the letter, and then remained for some time in deep thought. At length he arose and wended his way to the Radhurst cabin. Constance was not in.
The night when the mission house was burned Caribou Sol slept on the floor in the Radhurst cabin. It was not an easy bed, but he did not mind. "All the better fer bein' hard," he laughed, when Constance apologized for their poor accommodation. "I won't sleep too sound, an' I'll be able to keep an ear peeled fer them varmints."
Nothing, so far, had been discovered, and the men peered at one another through the darkness. "Well," said Perdue, "we've had all this work for nothing, and I'm sick of the job." "But we're not through yet," replied Pritchen sharply. "There are several more to visit, your own, the Radhurst cabin, and the mission house, to say nothing of the Indian shacks."
"Miss Radhurst," said Keith suddenly, "will you please walk with me along this bank? I want to show you a very pretty scene." "Yes, only let me finish my task. There, that is better, but oh, how soon the flowers fade! Now I am ready."
She did not notice when Mr. Radhurst left his seat and came close to her side. But when he put his arms tenderly around her, and drew her close to him, she awoke from her reverie. Then when she saw the pained look on her father's face, and the tears which were stealing down his faded cheeks, she threw her arms about his neck and sobbed like a child.
"Ye've heard somethin', then, miss?" questioned the old man. "Yes, Joe Simkins was here this morning and told us what took place last night. But we have heard nothing about the trial." Sol sat down upon a bench near where Mr. Radhurst was lying, and placed his head in his hands. "My God!" he groaned, "it was awful!" "What's awful?" demanded Constance. "Tell us quick!" "They've fired 'im!" "What?"
They don't realize what they're doin' to-night. They must be mad or they wouldn't burn the mission house, whar the Injuns keep their supplies. What will the natives do when they return? God help us then!" "Amen," fervently responded Mr. Radhurst, as he returned wearily to his position on the couch. The morning of the trial Yukon Jennie stood in the chief's lodge, girded for a long journey.
Refer to her again as you did lately, and you'll see how interested I am." The tone in Keith's voice warned Pritchen and the rest that the less said about the matter the better, so an awkward pause ensued. Perdue was the first to speak. "Let's search the mission house now," he suggested, "and leave the Radhurst cabin till the last."
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