182 THE LOO OF A TIMBER CRUISER 



two feet of water, when the first of six horses, walk- 

 ing single file, turned the bend a scant forty feet 

 below us and advanced leisurely up the trail. Upon 

 the horses, riding astride, were the six girls from 

 Silver City, the late guests of the Diamond Bar. 

 Snapping twigs and the soft "thud, thud" of hoofs 

 first drew our attention to the approaching caval- 

 cade. 



One glance was enough for us! We glided, si- 

 lent as wraiths, into the timber. At the same mo- 

 ment Horace, emerging from the water, beheld the 

 invasion. 



"Back!" he cried hoarsely, his anguish manifest 

 in an unnatural intonation. 



"Back! Don't you see I'm here?" 



Nobody ever knew what possessed the unhappy 

 youth to propound that particular query. It was 

 superfluous, to say the least. Probably for that rea- 

 son it remained unanswered and obtrusive as if 

 suspended in the chilly air. 



Looking neither to the right nor to the left the 

 fair campers passed sedately by with no sign of 

 recognising Horace's existence. Only, as they rode 

 slowly out of sight, the pretty girl whom Horace 

 had especially favoured crushed a handkerchief to 

 her face and I could swear I saw her shoulders shake 

 convulsively. 



Poor Wetherby, after his first awful outburst, re- 

 lapsed into a complete and desperate silence. By a 

 timely contortion he had lowered himself in the shal- 



