“Letmecarryyourflowers，“saidBoyle。Hehadnoticedthatshewasfindingsomedifficultyinholdingupherskirtandthenosegayatthesametime。
“No！No！“shesaidinhurriedhorroratthisnewsuggestionoftheircompanionship。“Thankyouverymuch——butthey’rereallynotworthkeeping——Iamgoingtothrowthemaway。There！“sheadded，tossingthemimpatientlyinthedust。
ButshehadnotreckonedonBoyle’sperfectgood-humor。Thatgentleidiotstoopeddown，actuallygatheredthemupagain，andwasfollowing！Shehurriedon；ifshecouldonlygettothecoachfirst，ignoringhim！Butavulgarmanlikethatwouldbesuretohandthemtoherwithsomejoke！Thenshelaggedagain——shewasgettingtired，andshecouldseenosignofthecoach。Thedrummer，too，wasalsolaggingbehind——atarespectfuldistance，likeagroomoroneofherfather’stroopers。Neverthelessthisdidnotputherinamuchbetterhumor，andhaltinguntilhecameabreastofher，shesaidimpatiently:“Idon’tseewhyMr。Fostershouldthinkitnecessarytosendanyonetolookafterme。“
“Hedidn’t，“returnedBoylesimply。“Igotdowntopickupsomething。“
“Topickupsomething？“shereturnedincredulously。
“Yes。THAT。“Heheldoutthecard。“It’sthecardofourfirm。“
MissCantiresmiledironically。“Youarecertainlydevotedtoyourbusiness。“
“Well，yes，“returnedBoylegood-humoredly。“YouseeIreckonitdon’tpaytodoanythinghalfway。AndwhateverIdo，Imeantokeepmyeyesaboutme。“Inspiteofherprejudice，MissCantirecouldseethatthesenecessaryorgans，ifratherflippant，werehonest。“Yes，Isupposethereisn’tmuchonthatIdon’ttakein。
Whynow，MissCantire，there’sthatfancydustcloakyou’rewearing——itisn’tinourlineofgoods——norinanybody’slinewestofChicago；itcamefromBostonorNewYork，andwasmadeforhomeconsumption！Butyourhat——andmightyprettyitistoo，asYOU’VE
fixeditup——isonlyregularDunstablestock，whichwecouldputdownatPineBarrensforfourandahalfcentsapiece，net。YetI
supposeyoupaidnearlytwenty-fivecentsforitattheAgency！“
Oddlyenoughthiscoolappraisementofhercostumedidnotincensetheyoungladyasitoughttohavedone。Onthecontrary，forsomeoccultfemininereason，itamusedandinterestedher。Itwouldbesuchagoodstorytotellherfriendsofa“drummer’s“ideaofgallantry；andtoteasetheflirtatiousyoungWestPointerwhohadjustjoined。Andtheappraisementwastruthful——MajorCantirehadonlyhispay——andMissCantirehadbeenobligedtoselectthathatfromthegovernmentstores。
“Areyouinthehabitofgivingthisinformationtoladiesyoumeetintraveling？“sheasked。
“Well，no！“answeredBoyle——“forthat’sjustwhereyouhavetokeepyoureyesopen。Mostof’emwouldn’tlikeit，andit’snouseaggravatingapossiblecustomer。Butyouarenotthatkind。“
MissCantirewassilent。Sheknewshewasnotofthatkind，butshedidnotrequirehisvulgarindorsement。Shepushedonforsomemomentsalone，whensuddenlyhehailedher。Sheturnedimpatiently。Hewascarefullyexaminingtheroadonbothsides。
“Wehaveeitherlostourway，“hesaid，rejoiningher，“orthecoachhasturnedoffsomewhere。Thesetracksarenotfresh，andastheyareallgoingthesameway，theyweremadebytheupcoachlastnight。They’renotOURtracks；Ithoughtitstrangewehadn’tsightedthecoachbythistime。“
“Andthen“——saidMissCantireimpatiently。
“Wemustturnbackuntilwefindthemagain。“
Theyoungladyfrowned。“Whynotkeeponuntilwegettothetop？“
shesaidpettishly。“I’msureIshall。“Shestoppedsuddenlyasshecaughtsightofhisgravefaceandkeen，observanteyes。“Whycan’twegoonasweare？“
“BecauseweareexpectedtocomebacktotheCOACH——andnottothesummitmerely。Thesearethe’orders，’andyouknowyouareasoldier’sdaughter！“Helaughedashespoke，buttherewasacertainquietdeliberationinhismannerthatimpressedher。Whenheadded，afterapause，“Wemustgobackandfindwherethetracksturnedoff，“sheobeyedwithoutaword。
Theywalkedforsometime，eagerlysearchingforsignsofthemissingvehicle。AcuriousinterestandanewrelianceinBoyle’sjudgmentobliteratedherpreviousannoyance，andmadehermorenatural。Sheranaheadofhimwithyouthfuleagerness，examiningtheground，followingafalsecluewithgreatanimation，andconfessingherdefeatwithacharminglaugh。Anditwasshewho，afterretracingtheirstepsfortenminutes，foundthedivergingtrackwithagirlishcryoftriumph。Boyle，whohadfollowedhermovementsquiteasinterestedlyasherdiscovery，lookedalittlegraveashenoticedthedeepindentationsmadebythestrugglinghorses。MissCantiredetectedthechangeinhisface；tenminutesbeforeshewouldneverhaveobservedit。“Isupposewehadbetterfollowthenewtrack，“shesaidinquiringly，asheseemedtohesitate。
“Certainly，“hesaidquickly，asifcomingtoapromptdecision。
“Thatissafest。“
“Whatdoyouthinkhashappened？Thegroundlooksverymuchcutup，“shesaidinaconfidentialtone，asnewtoherasherpreviousobservationofhim。
“Ahorsehasprobablystumbledandthey’vetakentheoldtrailaslessdifficult，“saidBoylepromptly。Inhishearthedidnotbelieveit，yetheknewthatifanythingserioushadthreatenedthemthecoachwouldhavewaitedintheroad。“It’saneasiertrailforus，thoughIsupposeit’salittlelonger，“headdedpresently。
“Youtakeeverythingsogood-humoredly，Mr。Boyle，“shesaidafterapause。
“It’sthewaytodobusiness，MissCantire，“hesaid。“Amaninmylinehastocultivateit。“
Shewishedhehadn’tsaidthat，but，nevertheless，shereturnedalittlearchly:“Butyouhaven’tanybusinesswiththestagecompanynorwithME，althoughIadmitIintendtogetmyDunstablehereafterfromyourfirmatthewholesaleprices。“
Beforehecouldreply，thedetonationoftwogunshots，softenedbydistance，floateddownfromtheridgeabovethem。“There！“saidMissCantireeagerly。“Doyouhearthat？“
Hisfacewasturnedtowardsthedistantridge，butreallythatshemightnotquestionhiseyes。Shecontinuedwithanimation:“That’sfromthecoach——toguideus——don’tyousee？“
“Yes，“hereturned，withaquicklaugh，“anditsayshurryup——
mightyquick——we’retiredwaiting——sowe’dbetterpushon。“
“Whydon’tyouanswerbackwithyourrevolver？“sheasked。
“Haven’tgotone，“hesaid。
“Haven’tgotone？“sherepeatedingenuinesurprise。“Ithoughtyougentlemenwhoaretravelingalwayscarriedone。Perhapsit’sinconsistentwithyourgospelofgood-humor。“
“That’sjustit，MissCantire，“hesaidwithalaugh。“You’vehitit。“
“Why，“shesaidhesitatingly，“evenIhaveaderringer——averylittleone，youknow，whichIcarryinmyreticule。CaptainRichardsgaveittome。“Sheopenedherreticuleandshowedaprettyivory-handledpistol。Thelookofjoyfulsurprisewhichcameintohisfacechangedquicklyasshecockeditandlifteditintotheair。Heseizedherarmquickly。
“No，pleasedon’t，youmightwantit——Imeanthereportwon’tcarryfarenough。It’saveryusefullittlething，forallthat，butit’sonlyeffectiveatclosequarters。“Hekeptthepistolinhishandastheywalkedon。ButMissCantirenoticedthis，alsohisevidentsatisfactionwhenshehadatfirstproducedit，andhisconcernwhenshewasabouttodischargeituselessly。Shewasaclevergirl，andafrankonetothoseshewasinclinedtotrust。
Andshebegantotrustthisstranger。Asmilestolealongherovalcheek。
“Ireallybelieveyou’reafraidofsomething，Mr。Boyle，“shesaid，withoutlookingup。“Whatisit？Youhaven’tgotthatIndianscaretoo？“
Boylehadnofalseshame。“IthinkIhave，“hereturned，withequalfrankness。“Yousee，Idon’tunderstandIndiansaswellasyou——andFoster。“
“Well，youtakemywordandFoster’sthatthereisnottheleastdangerfromthem。Aboutheretheyaremerelygrown-upchildren，cruelanddestructiveasmostchildrenare；buttheyknowtheirmastersbythistime，andtheolddaysofpromiscuousscalpingareover。Theonlyotherchildishpropensitytheykeepisthieving。
Eventhentheyonlystealwhattheyactuallywant，——horses，guns，andpowder。Acoachcangowhereanammunitionoranemigrantwagoncan’t。SoyourtrunkofsamplesisquitesafewithFoster。“
Boyledidnotthinkitnecessarytoprotest。Perhapshewasthinkingofsomethingelse。
“I’veamind，“shewentonslyly，“totellyousomethingmore。
Confidenceforconfidence:asyou’vetoldmeYOURtradesecrets，I’lltellyouoneofOURS。BeforeweleftPineBarrens，myfatherorderedasmallescortofcavalrymentobeinreadinesstojointhatcoachifthescouts，whowerewatching，thoughtitnecessary。
So，yousee，I’msomethingofafraudasregardsmyreputationforcourage。“
“Thatdoesn’tfollow，“saidBoyleadmiringly，“foryourfathermusthavethoughttherewassomedanger，orhewouldn’thavetakenthatprecaution。“
“Oh，itwasn’tforme，“saidtheyounggirlquickly。
“Notforyou？“repeatedBoyle。