"Has he been out here to see you?"
"And he won't come. That man knows how to keep out of danger. I don't believe you'll marry him."
"Why?"
"Because I intend to be a father to you and pay all your debts," said Samson.
The Doctor called from the door of the cabin.
Bim said: "God bless you and Harry!" as she turned away to take up her task again.
That night both of them began, as they say, to put two and two together. While he rode on in the growing dusk the keen intellect of Samson saw a convincing sequence of circumstances—the theft of the mail sack, the false account of Harry's death, the failure of his letters to reach their destination, and the fact that Bim had accepted money from Davis in time of need. A strong suspicion of foul play grew upon him and he began to consider what he could do in the matter.
Having forded a creek he caught the glow of a light in the darkness a little way up the road. It was the lighted window of a cabin, before whose door he stopped his horse and hallooed.
"I am a belated and hungry traveler on my way to Chicago," he said to the man who presently greeted him from the open doorway.
"Have you come through Honey Creek settlement?" the latter asked.