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THE SECRET OF LAKOON
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place where Sam bought horses and we rode to Mondora and bought things and got married in Lakoon by the minister there and we rode down to the river, near where we went in, and we camped there. I was his wife for eleven days. Then Sam went away."

"At the end of eleven days?"

"No; fourteen. I mean we got along for eleven days; we got along all right for a while."

"Yes," said David. "He says so in his letter."

"Then we had a terrible time."

"Why?"

"It was terrible, David. It went on three days and then I woke up in the morning and Sam was gone. He'd taken his horse and a few things and gone. There was a paper pinned to my blanket. 'Fida,' it said. He called me 'Fida.'"

"I saw that."

"He always did, David. I didn't like it, as I do Fidel from you. He knew I didn't like it so he always called me 'Fida' to tease me. 'I'm going off to give you time to get me straight in your head,' he said. This is the note, David. 'I'll be back by night and if you're here, you mean you'll be a good girl. If you're gone, don't fear that I'll follow you.' I stayed in camp till noon, David. Then I went up to the town, to Lakoon."

"You mean you left him?"

"I went up to the town."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know but he didn't follow me to Lakoon. But he did come back to camp and stay there two days."