te a long time, all last winter. It's for his health
we're going to California, and, of course, he couldn't start without
some other men in the party. Indians might attack us, and at the hotel
they said the Mormons were scattered all along the road and thought
nothing of shooting a Gentile."

Her father gave the fingers crooked on his arm a little squeeze with
his elbow. It was evident the pair were very good friends.

"You'll make these young men think I'm a helpless invalid, who'll lie
in the wagon all day. They won't want us to go with them."

This made her again uneasy and let loose another flow of authoritative
words.

"No, my father isn't really an invalid. He doesn't have to lie in the
wagon. He's going to ride most of the time. He and I expect to ride
all the way, and the old man who goes with us will drive the mules.
What's been really bad for my father was living in that dreadful hotel
at Independence with everything damp and uncomfortable. We want to get
off just as soon as we can, and this gentleman," indicating Leff, "says
you want to go, too."

"We'll start to-morrow morning, if it's clear."

"Now, father," giving the arm she held a renewed clutch and sharper
shake, "there's our chance. We must go with them."

The father's smile would have shown something of deprecation, or even
apology, if it had not been all pride and tenderness.

"These young men will be very kind if they permit us to join them," was
what his lips said. His eyes added: "This is a spoiled child, but even
so, there is no other like her in the world."

The young men sprang at the suggestion. The spring was internal, of
the spirit, for they were too overwhelmed by the imminent presence of
beauty to show a spark of spontaneity on the outside. They muttered
their agreement, kicked the ground, and avoided the eyes of Miss
Gillespie.

"The people at the hotel," the doctor went on, "advised us to join one
of the ox trains. But it seemed such a slow mode of progress. They
don't make much more than fifteen to twenty miles a day."

"And then," said the girl, "there might be people we didn't like in the
train and we'd be with them all the time."

It is not probable that she intended to suggest to her listeners that
she could stand them as traveling companions. Whether she did or not
they scented the compliment, looked stupid, and hung their heads,
silent in the intoxication of this first subtle whiff of incense. Even
L