Perhaps she felt my gaze, for presently she turned and said to me, in as pleasant a speaking voice as I had ever heard, “Indeed, it might be worse.  I thank you so much.  It was very brave of you.”

“Listen at that!” grunted Mandy McGovern.  “What’d them men have to do with it?  Where’d you all be now if it wasn’t for me?”

“You’d be much better off,” I ventured, “if I hadn’t done any rescuing at all, and if we’d all stayed over there on the boat.”  I pointed to the lights of the River Belle, lying on the opposite shore, something like a mile above us.

“We’re all right now,” said old Auberry after a time.  “If we can’t get across to the boat, it’s only four or five miles up to the settlements on this side, opposite the old Independence landing.”

“I couldn’t walk,” said the girl.  She shyly looked down at the edge of her thin wrapper, and I saw the outline of an uncovered toe.

“Here, ma’am,” said Auberry, unknotting from his neck a heavy bandana.  “This is the best I can do.  You and the woman see if you can tie up your feet somehow.”

The girl hesitated, laughed, and took the kerchief.  She and Mandy bent apart, and I heard the ripping of the handkerchief torn across.  The girl turned back to the fire and put out a little foot for us to see, muffled now in the red folds of the kerchief.  Her thin garments by this time were becoming dry, and her spirits now became more gay.  She fell into a ready comradeship with us.

As she stood at the fire, innocent of its defining light, I saw that she was a beautiful creature, apparently about twenty years of age.  Given proper surroundings, I fancied, here was a girl who might make trouble for a man.  Eyes like hers, I imagined, had before this set some man’s heart astir; and one so fair as she never waited long in this world for admirers.

She stooped and spread out her hands before the flames.  I could see that her hands were small and well formed, could see the firelight shine pink at the inner edges of her fingers.  On one finger, as I could not avoid noticing, was a curious ring of plain gold.  The setting, also of gold, was deeply cut into the figure of a rose.  I recalled that I had never seen a ring just similar.  Indeed, it seemed to me, as I stole a furtive glance at her now and then, I had never seen a girl just similar.

[Illustration:  THEY FOUGHT FURIOUSLY THE YELLING CHARGING REDSKIN WARRIORS]

[Illustration:  THE WAGONS DRAW INTO A DEFENSIVE CIRCLE]

We had waited perhaps not over an hour at our fireside, undecided what to do, when Auberry raised a hand.  “Listen,” he said.  “There’s a boat coming”; and presently we all heard the splash of oars.  Our fire had been seen by one of the boats of the River Belle, out picking up such stragglers as could be found.

“Hello, there!” called a rough voice to us, as the boat grated at our beach.  Auberry and I walked over and found that it was the mate of the boat, with a pair of oarsmen in a narrow river skiff.