dcats in mine, please," he remarked once irrelevantly aloud, and
smiled again.

CHAPTER XIV

The Feminine Point of View

When Ford stepped upon the porch with the jug in his hand, he gave every
indication of having definitely made up his mind. When he glimpsed
Josephine's worried face behind the lace curtain in the window, he
dropped the jug lower and held it against his leg in such a way as to
indicate that he hoped she could not see it, but otherwise he gave no
sign of perturbation. He walked along the porch to the door of his own
room, went in, locked the door after him, and put the jug down on a
chair. He could hear faint sounds of dishes being placed upon the table
in the dining-room, which was next to his own, and he knew that dinner
was half an hour late; which was unusual in Mrs. Kate's orderly domain.
Mrs. Kate was one of those excellent women whose house is always
immaculate, whose meals are ever placed before one when the clock
points to a certain hour, and whose table never lacks a salad and a
dessert--though how those feats are accomplished upon a cattle ranch
must ever remain a mystery. Ford was therefore justified in taking the
second look at his watch and in holding it up to his ear, and also in
lifting his eyebrows when all was done. Fifteen minutes by the watch it
was before he heard the silvery tinkle of the tea bell, which was one of
the ties which bound Mrs. Kate to civilization, and which announced that
he might enter the dining-room.

He went in as clean and fresh and straight-backed and quiet as ever he
had done, and when he saw that the room was empty save for Buddy,
perched upon his long-legged chair with his heels hooked over the top
round and a napkin tucked expectantly inside the collar of his blue
blouse, he took in the situation and sat down without waiting for the
women. The very first glance told him that Mrs. Kate had never prepared
that meal. It was, putting it bluntly, a scrappy affair hastily gathered
from various shelves in the pantry and hurriedly arranged haphazard
upon the table.

Buddy gazed upon the sprinkle of dishes with undisguised
dissatisfaction. "There ain't any potatoes," he announced gloomily. "My
own mamma always cooks potatoes. Josephine's the limit! I been working
to-day. I almost dug out a badger, over by the bluff. I got where I
could hear him scratching to get away, and then it was all rocks, so I
couldn't dig any more. Gee, it was hard digging! And