worry about me enlisting," Johnny broke in, his voice the
essence of gloom. "They won't have me."

"Won't _have_--why, Johnny Jewel! How _can_ the United States Army be
so stupid? Why, I should think they would be glad to get--"

"They don't look at me from your point of view, Mary V." Johnny's lips
softened into a smile. She was a great little girl, all right. If it
were left to her, the world would get down on its marrow bones and
worship Johnny Jewel. "Why? Well, they won't take me and my airplane
as a gift. Won't have us around. They'll take me on as a common buck
trooper, and that's all. And I can't afford--"

"Well, but Johnny! Don't they know what a perfectly wonderful flyer
you are? Why, I should think--"

"They won't have me in aviation at all, even without the plane," said
Johnny. "The papers came back to-day. I was turned down--flat on my
face! Gol darn 'em, they can do without me now!"

"Well, I should say so!" cried Mary V's thin, indignant voice in his
ear. "How perfectly idiotic! I didn't want you to go, anyway. Now
you'll come back to the ranch, won't you, Johnny?" The voice had
turned wheedling. "We can have the duckiest times, flying around!
Dad'll give you a tremendously good--"

"You seem to forget I owe your dad three or four thousand dollars,"
Johnny cut in. "I'll come back to the ranch when that's paid, and not
before."

"Well, but listen, Johnny! Dad doesn't look at it that way at all. He
knows you didn't mean to let those horses be stolen. He doesn't feel
you owe him anything at all, Johnny. Now we're engaged, he'll give you
a good--"

"You don't get me, Mary V. I don't care what your father thinks. It's
what I think that counts. This airplane of mine cost your dad a lot of
good horses, and I've got to make that good to him. If I can't sell
the darned thing and pay him up, I'll have to--"

"I suppose what I think doesn't count anything at all! I say you don't
owe dad a cent. Now that you are going to marry me--"

"You talk as if you was an encumbrance your dad had to pay me to take
off his hands," blurted Johnny distractedly. "Our being engaged
doesn't make any difference--"

"Oh, doesn't it? I'm tremendously glad to know you feel that way about
it. Since it doesn't make any difference whatever--"

"Aw, cut it out, Mary V! You know darn well what I meant."

"Why, certainly. You mean that our being engaged doesn't make a
particle--"

"Say, _