“Very well; then to-morrow I will show you over the premises; and explain all that you may wish to know; perhaps, though you may not be quite so much in favor of a miner’s life when you come to realize the difficulties attending it.”

Chi Lu now interrupted with the information that tea was ready, and Mr. Abbot repeated the invitation that Virgie had already given to their new friend, insisting further, that he should remain their guest until he should decide regarding the purchase of the claim.

Upon being assured that it would inconvenience the household in no way, he consented, nothing loath at the prospect of being allowed to bask in Virgie’s presence, and to have an opportunity to study her character more fully.

After tea, which was really a dainty meal, far better and more acceptably served than any the young traveler had eaten since leaving San Francisco three weeks previous, Mr. Heath, seeing that Mr. Abbot was weary and more inclined to rest upon the lounge than to converse, asked Virgie if she would allow him to be her escort and go out for a ramble.

The young girl flushed with pleasure at the request, and cordially assented.

She wrapped her fleecy shawl once more about her shoulders, and tying a dainty hat—­which Chi Lu’s skillful fingers had woven from mountain grasses, and her own fair hands had trimmed—­upon her pretty brown head, they sauntered forth.

The sun had gone down, but the western sky was all ablaze with crimson and orange, which gradually faded into soft purple and deeper blue in the upper sky.  There were mountains all about them, some darkly green with fir, spruce, and pine, others of brighter and tenderer tints in their dress of oak, maple, and birch, while here and there arose one bald and gray, all of solid rock, with now and then a patch of moss clinging to its time worn sides, but giving variety to the scene and enhancing by contrast the whole picture.

“Where would you like to go?” Virgie asked, as they passed out of the little gate into the rough road.

“Wherever you will take me,” Mr. Heath replied, as he looked smilingly down into the beautiful face upraised to his.

“Then I will take you up to the Bare Ledge; the finest view can be obtained from there,” the girl replied as she moved on to hide the blush which his look had called to her face.

It moved her strangely whenever she met the gaze of the grand man, for grand her soul told her he was, with that magnificent head, that intelligent face, and that quiet, yet high-bred dignity of manner which she had never seen in any other save her father.

“The Bear Ledge?” repeated Mr. Heath.  “Why is it called that?  Is it haunted by wild beasts?  If it is, I shall certainly object to your going there.”

“Oh, no; it is not that kind of a bear at all,” laughed Virgie, the silver ripple of amusement breaking like music upon the evening air.  “It is called so because it is a mass of rock entirely barren; nothing will grow upon it; it seems to be the one spot in all this region that is absolutely desolate, and yet from it you may view a world of beauty.”