“Now, boys, that isn’t fair to call him a thief.  He was my partner and what was mine was his, and a man has a right to take his own wherever he finds it.”

“But the gal?” asked a chorus of voices.

“That girl wasn’t in any way bound to me, and you can’t expect a pretty creature like her to care for such a beauty as I am, when there’s a fellow like Handsome Harry around.  It don’t stand to reason.”

“Come, fellows,” said Poker Bill, “if Bob’s satisfied I reckon we ought to be.  Time to get into our biled shirts for the house warmin’, anyway.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, boys, but there won’t be a house warming.  I built it for them and they’re gone.  It’ll stay locked till they come again.  This old cabin is good enough for me.”

So they left him.  Bob relit his pipe and settled back on his bench.  Once he roused a moment to mutter.  “But they’d ought to know me better.  They needn’t have run away from their best friend.”

Soon after dark a pinto paced home through the quiet, mourning camp with a very weary bulldog at her heels.  Beckey slid from her side saddle and crept to Bob’s open door.  By the light of a full moon she could see the big lax figure in an attitude of utter despair.

“Bob!”

“You!  Girl, I thought you’d gone.”

“I went because — because I thought you’d come after me.  I’d tried everything else that a woman can do to make you understand * * * He’s begged me so many times to run off.  When he understood, he was beastly.  He put me off the horse and told me to walk, then.  It was the dog who fought him, and then I ran for Pinto and came back.”  Her low voice failed her, but she controlled herself, and went on, “I thought if I pretended to go you’d see — "

“See!  Girl, you’ve known ever since you came creeping into Snake Gulch that night that you were the very heart and soul of me.”

“Yes, yes,” she sobbed, “that is not what I would have you know.”

“You mean — no, I am a great fool.  No woman could bring herself to — A face like mine!  Even if you did, it would be from gratitude.  I could not permit such a sacrifice,” he finished, with a touch of pride.

The girl waited, then when he was silent she turned with a sob to go to her mother’s cabin.  The soft footfalls died away.  Bob stood motionless.  Suddenly a scream rang out on the still night air.  Bulldoze scrambled off the door-stone with a snarl of battle-rage and charged for the sound, but he was easily outdistanced by the huge miner, who ran with the lithe grace of an Indian.  In an incredibly short time the little form was safe in his arms.

“Oh, there’s a terrible animal in the mining ditch.  I heard it!  It’s coming this way!  A grizzley, I know!” Bob peered into the ditch.

“Why, girl, it’s only drunken old Solly Jake going home holding his jug out of the water.  He gets into the ditch so he won’t lose the way.”