“There, dearie, never mind worrying your brain about it now,” her companion soothed.  “You are too young to have wrinkles in your smooth skin.  Play that nice piece you were singing before you left to-day.  I never heard it before, and it did me so much good.  The piano has been idle all winter, so it must make up for lost time now.”

Glen told Nannie nothing about her experiences that afternoon.  She was afraid that this woman, gifted with more than ordinary insight, might read her heart.  It made her feel somewhat guilty, nevertheless, for Nannie was the only mother she had ever known, and she lay awake a long time that night thinking it all over, and wondering whether she should tell her secret to the one woman in the world in whom she should confide.  She had studied herself more carefully than usual in her large mirror before retiring, and what she beheld there was far from displeasing.  She knew that she was beautiful, and her heart told her that her brave rescuer had looked upon her with admiration.  Should she ever see him again? she asked herself, or had he already forgotten her?

Glen awoke early the next morning, and after breakfast she went down to the store.  Here she learned that Sconda and a dozen men had gone to Deep Gulch after the grizzly.  Formerly, women would have done most of the heavy work, but the ruler of Glen West had changed all that.  The men did not take kindly to this at first, but Jim Weston had been firm.

“If you do not like this order of things, you can go elsewhere,” he told them.  “Women are not going to do men’s work here.  You bring the game into camp, and then let your wives attend to it.”

Thus the custom of the men bringing in the bear or moose became established, and no one left, for the objectors knew that they were far better off at Glen West than they had ever been in their lives, and that it was to their advantage to obey their Big White Chief, as they called Weston.

Glen waited impatiently for the men’s return, and the hours dragged slowly by until their arrival about the middle of the afternoon.  They had skinned the bear, and cutting up the carcass, they had strapped the pieces upon their horses.  They rode gaily into camp, and most of the inhabitants of the place were gathered around the store to acclaim their arrival.  All had heard of the wonderful shot across Deep Gulch, and they were naturally curious to see the monster which had dared to face the Big Chief’s daughter.  There was the certainty, too, of fresh meat, which added much to the interest.

Sconda, however was not with the returned men, and Glen was greatly disappointed.  Her rescuer, then, had not come back to the gulch, so he evidently had no more thought for her.  She had imagined that he would be anxious to obtain the grizzly’s fine skin as a souvenir of his meeting with her.  At first she was tempted to ride forth toward Crooked Trail and await Sconda’s return, but changing her mind, she launched her light canoe, and was soon skimming out over the water of the big lake.  She generally took an Indian girl, or Sconda with her.  But now she wished to be alone, that she might think as she drifted or paddled.