It was down there he painted the big picture of her a standin' by
the big spring. We never thought nothin' about her bein' with him
so much. Country folks is that way, Mr. Howitt, 'though we ought
to knowed better; we sure ought to knowed better." The old giant
paused and for some time sat with his head bowed, his forgotten
pipe on the floor.
"Well," he began again; "he stopped with us all that summer, and
then one day he went out as usual and didn't come back. We hunted
the hills out for signs, thinkin' maybe he met up with some
trouble. He'd sent all his pictures away the week before, Jim Lane
haulin' them to the settlement for him.
"The girl was nigh about wild and rode with me all durin' the
hunt, and once when we saw some buzzards circlin', she gave a
little cry and turned so white that I suspicioned maybe she got to
thinkin' more of him than we knew. Then one afternoon when we were
down yonder in the Hollow, she says, all of a sudden like, 'Daddy,
it ain't no use a ridin' no more. He ain't met up with no trouble.
He's left all the trouble with us.' She looked so piqued and her
eyes were so big and starin' that it come over me in a flash what
she meant. She saw in a minute that I sensed it, and just hung her
head, and we come home.
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