“Howdy, Miss Helen? Howdy, Bo?” he said. “You all both look fine an' brown.... I reckon I was shore slow rustlin' your uncle Al up here. But I was figgerin' you'd like Milt's camp for a while.”
“Aw!” breathed Auchincloss, heavily. “Lemme set down.”
He drew the girls to the rustic seat Dale had built for them under the big pine.
“Oh, you must be tired! How--how are you?” asked Helen, anxiously.
“Tired! Wal, if I am it's jest this here minit. When Joe Beeman rode in on me with thet news of you--wal, I jest fergot I was a worn-out old hoss. Haven't felt so good in years. Mebbe two such young an' pretty nieces will make a new man of me.”
“Uncle Al, you look strong and well to me,” said Bo. “And young, too, and--”
“Haw! Haw! Thet 'll do,” interrupted Al. “I see through you. What you'll do to Uncle Al will be aplenty.... Yes, girls, I'm feelin' fine. But strange--strange! Mebbe thet's my joy at seein' you safe--safe when I feared so thet damned greaser Beasley--”
In Helen's grave gaze his face changed swiftly--and all the serried years of toil and battle and privation showed, with something that was not age, nor resignation, yet as tragic as both.
“Wal, never mind him--now,” he added, slowly, and the warmer light returned to his face. “Dale--come here.”
“I reckon I owe you more 'n I can ever pay,” said Auchincloss, with an arm around each niece.
“No, Al, you don't owe me anythin',” returned Dale, thoughtfully, as he looked away.
“A-huh!” grunted Al. “You hear him, girls.... Now listen, you wild hunter. An' you girls listen.... Milt, I never thought you much good, 'cept for the wilds. But I reckon I'll have to swallow thet. I do. Comin' to me as you did--an' after bein' druv off--keepin' your council an' savin' my girls from thet hold-up, wal, it's the biggest deal any man ever did for me.... An' I'm ashamed of my hard feelin's, an' here's my hand.”
“Thanks, Al,” replied Dale, with his fleeting smile, and he met the proffered hand. “Now, will you be makin' camp here?”
“Wal, no. I'll rest a little, an' you can pack the girls' outfit--then we'll go. Sure you're goin' with us?”
“I'll call the girls to breakfast,” replied Dale, and he moved away without answering Auchincloss's query.
Helen divined that Dale did not mean to go down to Pine with them, and the knowledge gave her a blank feeling of surprise. Had she expected him to go?