“Shucks, Doctor! You’re not like yourself at all here lately,” was Andy’s complaint. “You used to be a sport—nothing was too rough for you.”
“I never had a couple of women along with me before,” Shonto defended himself. “And I don’t know that I’ve ever before been in quite so precarious a situation, Andy. It’s no difficult matter to become food for the coyotes in a country like we’re in.”
All three were a trifle serious now and talked but little. Charmian and Andy agreed with Dr. Shonto, however, that it would be ungenerous to leave Mary Temple alone in this dismal gorge while they continued the adventure. Andy had made no offer to stay and allow his friend to go with Charmian. His heart was leaping madly at thought of braving the trail into an unknown land with her alone.
Mary Temple listened without a show of consternation to the story of Shirttail Henry’s duty-bound flight.
“Well,” she observed dispassionately, “we seem destined to lose our support. First the Morleys and Leach threw us down, and now the good ship Marblehead goes on the rocks. He was more or less of a doodunk, anyway.”
“What’s a doodunk?” Andy asked.
“A doodunk,” she informed her questioner, “is something that makes a man say damn and a woman think damn. For example, a doodunk is a lumpy place in a mattress. But Henry’s going knocks something galley west and crooked.”
“What’s that?” Charmian wished to know.
“With Henry out of it, who’s going to be the madman that leans over you and chokes you in the Valley of Arcana?” snapped Mary. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that, Charmian Reemy! You wait! Madame Destrehan knows—she saw it all!”
Mary was not exactly in an amiable mood, but the others broached the subject of some one remaining with her, nevertheless. To their utter surprise, she made reply: