was more appropriate than respectful.

The day that she announced that she
would have no further call to come back,
Waite, who was looking after the house
while Gillispie was afield, made a little
speech.

"After this here," he said, "we four
stands er falls together. Now look here,
there's lots of things can happen to a person
on this cussed praira, and no one be none
th' wiser. So see here, Mis' Ford, every
night one of us is a-goin' to th' roof of this
shack. From there we can see your place.
If anything is th' matter -- it don't signify
how little er how big -- you hang a lantern
on th' stick that I'll put alongside th' house
to-morrow. Yeh can h'ist th' light up with
a string, and every mornin' before we go
out we'll look too, and a white rag'll bring us
quick as we can git there. We don't say
nothin' about what we owe yeh, fur that
ain't our way, but we sticks to each other
from this on."

Catherine's eyes were moist. She looked
at Henderson. His face had no expression
in it at all. He did not even say good-by
to her, and she turned, with the tears sud-