n completed, would inclose. To be sure, it was pure
guesswork, for he was merely looking at one corner. Up the creek he
could not see, save a quarter mile or so to the next bend; even that
distance he could not see the dotted line--for he was looking upon a
level clothed with rank weeds and grass and small brush--but he knew
it must be there. When he turned his horse from the water and went his
way, his mind was no longer given up to idle dreaming of love words
and a girl. This fencing business concerned him intimately, and his
brain was as alert as his eyes. For he had not meant that Dilly should
fence any land just yet.

Farther up the creek he crossed, meaning to take another short cut and
so avoid a long detour; also, he wanted to see just where and how far
the fence went. Yes, the post holes were there, only here they held
posts leaning loosely this way and that like drunken men. A half mile
farther the wire was already strung, but not a man did he see whom he
might question--and when he glanced and saw that the sun was almost
straight over his head and that Barney's shadow scurried along nearly
beneath his stirrup, he knew that they would be stopping for
dinner. He climbed a hill and came plump upon a fence, wire-strung,
wire-stayed, aggressively barring his way.

"Dilly's about the most thorough-minded man I ever met up with,"
he mused, half annoyed, stopping a moment to survey critically the
barrier. "Yuh never find a job uh hisn left with any loose ends
a-dangling. He's got a fence here like he was guarding a railroad
right-uh-way. I guess I'll go round, this trip."

At the ranch Charming Billy took the path that led to the kitchen,
because when he glanced that way from the stable he caught a flicker
of pink--a shade of pink which he liked very much, because Flora had
a dress of that color and it matched her cheeks, it seemed to him. She
had evidently not seen him, and he thought he would surprise her. To
that end, he suddenly stopped midway and removed his spurs lest their
clanking betray him. So he went on, with his eyes alight and the blood
of him jumping queerly.

Just outside the door he stopped, saw the pink flutter in the pantry
and went across the kitchen on his toes; sure, he was going to
surprise her a lot! Maybe, he thought daringly, he'd kiss her--if his
nerve stayed with him long enough. He rather thought it would. She was
stooping a little over the flour barrel, and her back was toward him.