it."

"My word, what a--er--slam! Strange that you should feel such a sincere
affection for--"

"I don't know whether I do or not!"

"Then, Miss Mackay," Chetwood demanded, "what is the meaning of your
conduct?"

Miss Jean bit her lip, blushed, and finally decided to laugh. "I was
getting sentimental for a moment," she confessed. "Your little word
picture had me going. And all the time you were fooling. That's
dangerous, young man."

"No, on my word I wasn't," Chetwood protested. "I meant it. Only I got
stuck for a word, and I just happened to think of--pie."

"I'm glad you did," Jean admitted. "What I like about you is that you're
cheerful all the time. Angus sulks like a--a mule. So does Turkey. Oh, I
do, too. We all do. But you always have a smile and a joke, though
sometimes they're awful."

"Both of 'em?"

"The smiles are all right," Jean admitted. "But do you know, I've never
seen you serious about anything. And it seems to me that a man who has
a--well, a real purpose in life should be--now and then."

"Perhaps I never had one."

"Well, now you've got me."

"Eh! By Jove, so I have. I'll live in a shack if you say so, but I'd
rather stay on here a bit. I'm learning all the time."

"That brings me to another reason. There may be no 'here' to stay on
at--so far as we are concerned."

She told him the situation briefly. "And so, you see, we may not have a
ranch at all. Then Angus would go away and take up land, and I might go
with him."

"So would I if he'd have me. It would be rather jolly."

"Nonsense!" said Jean. "Making a new ranch isn't fun; it's hard work.
And then, on top of it all, what do you think Angus is going to do?"

"Wring old Braden's neck, I hope."

"He's going to get married!"

"Hooray!" cried Chetwood. "Nail the flag to the mast! Derry walls and no
surrender! Give hostages--er--I mean that's the spirit. Also an example.
Let's follow it. What's sauce for the Mackay gander ought to be sauce
for--er--"

"I'm not a goose," she pouted prettily.

"Duck!" Chetwood suggested.

"Don't be silly. It's a different proposition entirely."

"Why?" Jean did not reply. "Why, Jean?"

"Because Angus can look after himself--and a wife."

Chetwood's perennially cheerful expression sobered. "That's rather a
hard one. I'm not quite helpless, really."

"I'm sorry," Jean said simply. "But I meant just what I said. The
country is new to you and you're new to the country, and we can't be
ma