"I'm going," she said. "I've had a pleasant evening. You don't know
how much it has been to me to sit here and talk with you! If you'll
come down to my cabin some day I'll try to make it pleasant for you!"
"Some day," laughed Ned. "What do you say to my going right now? Of
course I've got to see you home! Couldn't think of letting you go
away alone."
"I've walked these mountains night and day for more than twenty
years," faltered the old lady, "and I'm not afraid now!"
"You don't object to my going?" asked Ned.
"I'm awful glad to have you go," was the reply. "But you'll find it a
long walk, there and back," she added.
"If it is too far for me to walk back," Ned laughed, "you may give me
a bunk on the floor! Anyway, I'm going to see you home!"
As the boy spoke he beckoned to Frank to step to one side with him.
"Of course this looks all straight, on the face of it," he said, when
the two were alone together, "but one can never tell. We've got to be
pretty careful, for we are in a strange country, and are here for a
purpose which may be resented by the mountaineers. We can't afford to
take any chances."
"Do you suspect the old lady?" asked Frank, in amazement.
"I don't know what to think," was the hesitating reply.
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