ender.

"We ought to be at Fort Bridger now in a few days," he said. "Courant
says if all goes well we can make it by Thursday and of course he
knows."

"Courant!" she exclaimed with the familiar note of scorn. "He knows a
little of everything, doesn't he?"

"Why don't you like him, Missy? He's a fine man for the trail."

"Yes, I dare say he is. But that's not everything."

"Why don't you like him? Come, tell the truth."

They had spoken before of her dislike of Courant. She had revealed it
more frankly to David than to anyone else. It was one of the subjects
over which she could become animated in the weariest hour. She liked
to talk to her betrothed about it, to impress it upon him, warming to
an eloquence that allayed her own unrest.

"I don't know why I don't like him. You can't always tell why you like
or dislike a person. It's just something that comes and you don't know
why."

"But it seems so childish and unfair. I don't like my girl to be
unfair. Has he ever done anything or said anything to you that
offended you?"

She gave a petulant movement: "No, but he thinks so much of himself,
and he's hard and has no feeling, and-- Oh, I don't know--it's just
that I don't like him."

David laughed:

"It's all prejudice. You can't give any real reason."

"Of course I can't. Those things don't always have reasons. You're
always asking for reasons and I never have any to give you."

"I'll have to teach you to have them."

She looked slantwise at him smiling. "I'm afraid that will be a great
undertaking. I'm very stupid about learning things. You ask father
and Daddy John what a terrible task it was getting me educated. The
only person that didn't bother about it was this one"--she laid a
finger on her chest-- "She never cared in the least."

"Well I'll begin a second education. When we get settled I'll teach
you to reason."

"Begin now." She folded her hands demurely in her lap and lifting her
head back laughed: "Here I am waiting to learn."

"No. We want more time. I'll wait till we're married."

Her laughter diminished to a smile that lay on her lips, looking stiff
and uncomfortable below the fixity of her eyes.

"That's such a long way off," she said faintly.

"Not so very long."

"Oh, California's hundreds of miles away yet. And then when we get
there we've got to find a place to settle, and till the land, and lay
out the garden and build a house, quite a nice house