THE following days were bitter ones for Dick and the epithets which he applied to himself were far from complimentary. In fact, so occupied was he with his misery because of Evalani, that he almost forgot about his encounter with Carter McKnight upon the mountain, and quite neglected to give consideration to what might have been the immediate purpose of the attempted attack. Eventually, however, having about worn out every possible line of suffering and self-recrimination which he could evolve from the situation, he gradually began to return to a more normal attitude toward life; and with this return came the recollection of the event upon the mountain; and the memory of the cowering figure which he had left beside the trail to contemplate the absurd little couplet which he had quoted, even brought a semblance of a grin to his gloomy countenance. And with this came an interest in reviewing the episode and its import. To his mind it seemed quite evident that McKnight's only object must have been to get him out of the way in order to eliminate his interference with his designs
