Page:Ruth Fielding at Silver Ranch.djvu/111

Rh he carried her bodily down the steep path to the camp, leaving Tom and Bob to guard the bear until he returned to remove the pelt. The other girls strung out after their fainting comrade, and the journey to the summit of the natural bridge was postponed indefinitely.

Cold water from the mountain stream soon brought The Fox around. But when she opened her eyes and looked into the face of the ministering Ruth, she muttered:

"And you saw him, too!"

Then she turned her face away and began to cry.

"Aw, shucks!" exclaimed the ranchman's niece, "don't bawl none about it. The bear won't hurt you now. He's dead as can be."

But Ruth did not believe that Mary Cox was crying about the bear. Her words and subsequent actions did puzzle the girl of the Red Mill. Ruth had whispered to Tom, before they left the scene of the bear shooting:

"See if you can find that man. If you can, bring him into camp."

"But if he's crazy?" Tom suggested, in surprise.

"He isn't too crazy to have saved my life," declared the grateful girl. "And if he is in his right mind, all the more reason why we should try to help him."