"Then skip off to bed," said the other girl. "I will bring Janie when I come."
"But——"
"Oh, it is just the bread. I want to knead it down once more. It won't take me half a jiffy, but if I don't do it now, it will be all over the floor by morning."
So Gloriana crept wearily away to her room, for it had been a long, hard, disappointing day, but a moment later she scurried back into the kitchen; and when Tabitha wheeled about in surprise at her hasty entrance, she laughed nervously, half apologetically, "I kicked someone's shoes under the bed! Don't know whether they are my own or a burglar's!"
Knowing how timid the red-haired girl still felt on the desert at night, Tabitha refrained from smiling at what seemed an uncalled-for fright, and said reassuringly, "No burglars ever visit Silver Bow. There is nothing in a miner's shack to tempt them."
"I should think there would be plenty of gold nuggets," answered Gloriana in surprise.
"Not many in Silver Bow houses, I reckon," Tabitha placidly replied, "But if you are afraid to go to bed alone, you better wait for me. I'll be ready in a minute."
She did not mean to speak scornfully, for she sympathized heartily with the sensitive gain remembering with what horror the desert nights used to fill her when Silver Bow first became her home. But Gloriana thought she detected a hint of ridicule in her companion's voice, and hurriedly departed for their room once more, saying with a great show of bravado, "Oh, I'm not afraid! Come to think of it, I believe I left my slippers at the foot of the bed, and that is probably what I hit."
The door closed behind her again, and Tabitha, smiling sympathetically at the girl's attempt at bravery, began to cover the mound of soft, white dough in the huge pan, when a wild, unearthly shriek echoed through the house, followed by the sharp crack of a pistol, and the muffled fall of a body.
For one brief instant Tabitha stood rooted to the spot, fairly paralyzed with horror. Then the thought of Glory gave wings to her feet, and, heedless of her own danger, she flew for the scene of disaster, whispering to herself, "Oh, why did I leave the house unlocked all the evening while we were gone?"