The Forbidden Trail

"I'll go after Preble," said Ernest, "and we'll take the horses and round her up in a jiffy."

He and Gustav started immediately up the trail. Roger stopped long enough to carry the heavy basket to the cook tent. "Look out for Miss Preble, will you, Mrs. von Minden?" he said to that lady who was finishing her second meal.

"I must go home," faltered Charley. "She may--Roger, look in the old Mellish shaft." She gave a little sob and Mrs. von Minden suddenly put her arm about her.

Roger started on a run after the others.

They overtook Dick, just as he was turning out of the lower end of the alfalfa field into the trail. At their shout he pulled up the horses and waited. He began to unharness before the first sentence was finished. He and Roger both mounted, leaving Gustav and Ernest to go up to the corral after the other two horses. Just at this moment there came through the afterglow a familiar treble shriek.

"Oh! Oh! Dickeee!"

The four men were motionless. Coming down the trail from the mountains was a little figure in blue overalls, curly head glorious in the last of the sunset gleam.

"Wait for me, Roger, wait!" shrieked Felicia, trying to quicken a very tired gait, and much impeded by a basket, which she clasped with both arms. Ernest suddenly broke into a run and picked the child up, basket and all. Dick dropped from his horse and followed to lift her away from Ernest's clinging arms.

"She's my sister, let me take her," he said hoarsely.

"Vere vas you, liebchen?" asked Schmidt.

"Well," said Felicia, looking a little bewildered--"Oh, Roger dear, look--the squaw gave me a basket and some eenty dishes, just like the olla."

"Felicia, where have you been?" begged Roger; "tell us, honey."

"Why, I just went over the mountain to find the place Dick told about where the Indians make dishes. And I got lost, and a squaw found me and I had a funny dinner with her and I bought these dishes and I told her Dick would pay for them and I brought you each a present and I'm awful tired." She stopped for lack of breath.

Dick looked helplessly at the other men. "It's five mountain miles to that Indian camp," he said.

"I got tired," Felicia nodded her head, "but Qui-tha brought me home. He wanted some more peroxide. So I gave him the bottle in your room, Dicky. He was so good to bring me home. He went right back with it."

"I wish I'd had a quart for the good old fool," said Dick.