"They will do me good," he said, and folding them up he put them in his pocket.
While they all sat there looking very solemn, Mr. Devering came swinging down the hill, a small axe stuck in his belt.
"Where have you been, Jim?" asked his wife.
"Clearing the trail to Merry-Tongue Lake. It's a bit grown over since last season. The Good Americans will soon be here. What's the matter with you all?"
"Been confessing our faults," said Cassowary gloomily.
"And now for penance," said her father. "En-route for the fire warden's. Horseback or ponyback. He has some Hearne's salmon for our supper, just come down from Hudson Bay by hydroplane."
"I can't go," said Mrs. Devering, "the Settlement Club meets here to sew."
"Then will you lend your Beauty to Dallas?" said her husband. "He has not been on horseback yet."
I got up from the lawn where I had been lying, and came toward the veranda.
Big Chief caressed me. "Don't you be jealous, you kid pony," he said. "No one can forget you. Come right up on the veranda. I'm going to give you the freedom of the house. Here, Mother, let me take those pictures. I'll carry them back to the attic for you. They have done their good work," he added in a low voice as he passed her.