"There  now/'  she  said  conclusively,
"if  my  bear  acquaintance  calls,  I  will
present  him  with  'the  red  flower.'  I
didn't  learn  the  *  Jungle  Books '  by
heart  for  nothing."

Meanwhile  Adam  was  striding  over
the  beach  at  a  rate  that  brought  him
to  the  little  cove  and  the  high  wall  of


140      The  Master-Knot

rocks  that  shut  them  in  on  the  south
in  a  little  over  an  hour.  Two  of  the
pups  had  gone  with  him,  and  they
raced  on  ahead,  as  he  came  in  sight
of  the  house.  Everything  seemed  to
have  an  air  of  welcome,  and  the  horses
whinnied  joyfully  when  he  called  them
from  the  gateway.
The  pathetic  placard  was  still  there,
and  he  crumpled  it  in  his  hand,  and
went  in  and  opened  the  windows.  He
milked  one  of  the  cows,  and  gathering
some  green  stuff  in  the  garden  started
back  with  the  team  and  the  sleds.
Once  down  the  steep  decline,  and  over
the  rocks  at  the  south,  they  went  on
rapidly.
Although  he  had  wasted  no  time,  it
was  past  one  o'clock  when  he  saw  her
familiar  figure  afar  off.  She  hurried
to  meet  him.  They  had  not  been
separated  so  long  before  that  year,  and


The  Master-Knot      141

realized  the  unconscious  strain  in  the
sudden  revulsion.  They  said  nothing
of  this,  however,  though  they  clasped
hands  for  a  moment.  Then  Robin
spoke  to  the  horses,  and  stroked  their
necks,  as  they  bent  their  heads  and
rubbed  against  her  affectionately.
She  had  spread  their  table  on  a
broad,  flat  rock,  but  before  they  had
their  own  meal,  she  warmed  some  of
the  milk,  and  they  gave  the  kids  their
first  lesson  in  drinking  out  of  a  bucket.
