"What is your name?" he asked.
"Margaret Hare," she answered.
"How did they catch you?"
"Oh, they came suddenly and stealthily, as they do in the story books, when we were alone in camp. My father and the guides had gone out to hunt."
"Did they treat you well?"
"The Indians let us alone, but the two white men annoyed and frightened us. The old chief kept us near him."
"The old chief knew better than to let any harm come to you until they were sure of getting away with their plunder."
"We were in the valley of death and you have led us out of it. I am sure that I do not look as if I were worth saving. I suppose that I must have turned into an old woman. Is my hair white?"
"No. You are the best-looking girl I ever saw," he declared with rustic frankness.
"I never had a compliment that pleased me so much," she answered, as her elbows tightened a little on his hands which were clinging to her coat. "I almost loved you for what you did to the old villain. I saw blood on the side of your head. I fear he hurt you?"