you. Too bad this freighter that just got in isn't going the other
way. However, there's liable to be another any hour, and if one
doesn't come along you'll find enough blankets and food in the
skiff, so you needn't go ashore. You'll be there before you know
it."

"You are very kind," said the girl. "I can't thank you enough." She
was clothed in her simple everyday dress, and looked again the sun-
colored half-breed girl with the wide, dark eyes and the twin braids
of crow-black hair.

"You didn't run into anybody, eh?"

She shook her head. Then he led her out into the darkness, and they
stumbled down to the river's-bank, descending to the gravelly
water's edge, where rows of clumsy hand-sawed boats and poling-
skiffs were chafing at their painters. The up-river steamer was just
clearing.

Stark's low whistle was answered a hundred yards below, and they
searched out a darker blot that proved to be a man's figure.

"Is everything ready?" he inquired, at which the shadow grunted
unintelligibly. So, holding Necia by the arm, Stark helped her back
to a seat in the stern.

"This man will take you through," he said. "You can trust him, all
right."

The oarsman clambered in and adjusted his sweeps, then Stark laid a