e a good deal like a son to him, I imagine. You can do about all
that a boy can do, anyhow--more than I could ever do. Does he realize how
much you have to do with the management of his forest? I've never seen
your like. I really believe you _could_ carry on the work as well as
he."

She flushed with pleasure. "You seem to think I'm a district forester in
disguise."

"I have eyes, Miss Supervisor, and also ears--which leads me to ask: Why
don't you clean out that saloon gang? Landon is sure there's crooked work
going on at that mill--certainly that open bar is a disgraceful and
corrupting thing."

Her face clouded. "We've tried to cut out that saloon, but it can't be
done. You see, it's on a patented claim--the claim was bogus, of course,
and we've made complaint, but the matter is hung up, and that gives 'em a
chance to go on."

"Well, let's not talk of that. It's too delicious an hour for any
question of business. It is a moment for poetry. I wish I could write
what I feel this moment. Why don't we camp here and watch the sun go down
and the moon rise? From our lofty vantage-ground the coming of dawn would
be an epic."

"We mustn't think of that," she protested. "We must be going."

"Not yet. The hour is too perfect. It may never come again. The wind in
the pines, the sunshine, the conies crying from their rocks, the
butterflies on the clover--my heart aches with the beauty of it. It's
been a wonderful trip. Even that staggering walk in the rain had its
splendid quality. I couldn't see the poetry in it then; but I do now.
These few days have made us comrades, haven't they--comrades of the
trail? You have been very considerate of me." He took her hand. "I've
never seen such hands. They are like steel, and yet they are feminine."

She drew her hands away. "I'm ashamed of my hands--they are so big and
rough and dingy."

"They're brown, of course, and calloused--a little--but they are not big,
and they are beautifully modeled." He looked at her speculatively. "I am
wondering how you would look in conventional dress."

"Do you mean--" She hesitated. "I'd look like a gawk in one of those
low-necked outfits. I'd never dare--and those tight skirts would sure
cripple me."

"Oh no, they wouldn't. You'd have to modify your stride a little; but
you'd negotiate it. You're equal to anything."

"You're making fun of me!"

"No, I'm not. I'm in earnest. You're the kind of American girl that can
go anywhere and do anyth