Here we are . Bless her , has n't she been a brick to stay here all alone like this -- and a tenderfoot at that ? '' I could have cried with joy . But I saw that there were men with Kate -- two men -- white men -- and I laughed instead . I had not been brave -- I had been an arrant little coward , but I vowed that nobody , not even Kate , should suspect it . Later on Kate told me how she had fared in her search for assistance . `` When I left you , Phil , I felt much more anxious than I wanted to let you see . I had no idea where to go . I knew there were no houses along our trail and I might have to go clean back to the tepees -- fifteen miles bareback . I did n't dare try any other trail , for I knew nothing of them and was n't sure that there were even tepees on them . But when I had gone about six miles I saw a welcome sight -- nothing less than a spiral of blue , homely-looking smoke curling up from the prairie far off to my right . I decided to turn off and investigate . I rode two miles and finally I came to a little log shack . There was a bee-yew-tiful big horse in a corral close by . My heart jumped with joy . But suppose the inmates of the shack were half-breeds ! You ca n't realize how relieved I felt when the door opened and two white men came out . In a few minutes everything was explained . They knew who I was and what I wanted , and I knew that they were Mr. Lonsdale and Mr. Hopkins , owners of a big ranch over by Deer Run . They were ` shacking out ' to put up some hay and Mrs. Hopkins was keeping house for them .
She wanted me XXXXX stop and have a cup of tea right off , but I thought of you , Phil , and declined .
In along at from of on than that to with