Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/106

 mountain ash driven in two-inch auger holes bored in the planks.

Inside Flash caught a very faint scent which was not that of man, but was in some vague way suggestive of man. This came from the flour, beans, rice and other food that was sealed in almost air tight cans to protect it from marauding pack rats.

The girl gathered branches and kindled a blaze in the fireplace. From an icy spring at the base of the cliff she carried a small pail of water and started to prepare a meal, cooking over the coals in the fireplace as if over a camp fire in the open.

Early dusk was settling in the depths of the canyon, and before eating she gathered a great pile of wood.

“That’s the only light we’ll have, Flash,” she told him. “Firelight.” She offered him a share of the meal but cooked food was not to his liking.

Since finding this lovely goddess the previous night Flash had not once been out of sight of her, but he now felt the pangs of hunger. He scratched at the door and whined, imploring the girl to let him out.

“Where’s that man Moran who owns you, Flash?” she asked. “He must be here some-