“Are you not?” replied Low dryly, leaning on his rifle for a moment as if waiting for Wynn to precede him.  The preacher looked at him a moment, mumbled something, and then shambled feebly and ineffectively down the staircase before Low, with a painful suggestion to the ordinary observer of being occasionally urged thereto by the moccasin of the young man behind him.

On reaching the lower hall, however, he endeavored to create a diversion in his favor by dashing into the bar-room and clapping the occupants on the back with indiscriminate playfulness.  But here again he seemed to be disappointed.  To his great discomfiture, a large man not only returned his salutation with powerful levity, but with equal playfulness seized him in his arms, and after an ingenious simulation of depositing him in the horse-trough set him down in affected amazement.  “Bleth’t if I didn’t think from the weight of your hand it wath my old friend, Thacramento Bill,” said Curson apologetically, with a wink at the bystanders.  “That’th the way Bill alwayth uthed to tackle hith friendth, till he wath one day bounthed by a prithe-fighter in Frithco, whom he had mithtaken for a mithionary.”  As Mr. Curson’s reputation was of a quality that made any form of apology from him instantly acceptable, the amused spectators made way for him as, recognizing Low, who was just leaving the hotel, he turned coolly from them and walked towards him.

“Halloo!” he said, extending his hand.  “You’re the man I’m waiting for.  Did you get a book from the exthpreth offithe latht night?”

“I did.  Why?”

“It’th all right.  Ath I’m rethponthible for it, I only wanted to know.”

“Did you send it?” asked Low, quickly fixing his eyes on his face.

“Well, not exactly me.  But it’th not worth making a mythtery of it. 
Teretha gave me a commithion to buy it and thend it to you anonymouthly. 
That’th a woman’th nonthenth, for how could thee get a retheipt for it?”

“Then it was her present,” said Low gloomily.

“Of courthe.  It wathn’t mine, my boy.  I’d have thent you a Tharp’th rifle in plathe of that muthle loader you carry, or thomething thenthible.  But, I thay! what’th up?  You look ath if you had been running all night.”

Low grasped his hand.  “Thank you,” he said hurriedly; “but it’s nothing. 
Only I must be back to the woods early.  Good-by.”

But Curson retained Low’s hand in his own powerful grip.

“I’ll go with you a bit further,” he said.  “In fact, I’ve got thomething to thay to you; only don’t be in thuch a hurry; the woodth can wait till you get there.”  Quietly compelling Low to alter his own characteristic Indian stride to keep pace with his, he went on:  “I don’t mind thaying I rather cottoned to you from the time you acted like a white man—­no offenthe—­to Teretha.  She thayth you were left when a child lying round, jutht ath promithcuouthly