presentation to Bays, and that gentleman, eager to
get the money on any terms, agreed with him. Little's real, though
unspoken, reason was this: he felt that if Dic held a debt against Bays,
collectible upon demand, it would be a protection against Mrs.
Margarita's too keen sense of justice, and might prove an effective help
in winning Rita from the icy dragoness. Therefore, the note was drawn
payable on demand. When Mrs. Bays learned that fact, she named over to
her spouse succinctly the various species of fool of which he was the
composite representative. The satisfaction she felt in unbosoming
herself was her only reward, for the note remained collectible on
demand.

The weather was very cold, and the snow-covered road would be rough. So
it had been determined that Rita and her mother should travel to
Indianapolis by the stage coach. But when the wagons were ready to
start, at sun-up, Mrs. Bays being in bed, Rita basely deserted that
virtuous woman and climbed over the front wheel to the seat beside Dic.
She left a note for her mother, saying that she would go with the wagon
to save the seven shilling stage fare. She knew she was making a heavy
purchase of "moments," and was sure she would be called upon for instant
payment that night when she should meet her mother. She was willing to
pay the price, whatever it might be, for the chariot of Phoebus would
have been a poor, tame conveyance compared with the golden car whereon
she rode.

The sun was barely above the horizon, and the crisp, cold air was filled
with glittering frost dust when the wagons crossed Blue on the ice at
the ford below Bays's barn. The horses' breath came from their nostrils
like steam from kettle-spouts, and the tires, screaming on the frozen
snow, seemed to laugh for joy. It would have been a sad moment for Rita
had she not been with Dic; but with him by her side she did not so much
as turn her head for one backward look upon the home she was leaving.

Dic wore a coat made from mink pelts which he had taken in the hunt, and
he so wrapped and enveloped Rita in a pair of soft bearskin robes that
the cold could not come near her. He covered her head, mouth, nose, and
cheeks with a great fur cap of his own; but he left her eyes exposed,
saying, "I must be able to see them, you know." As he fastened the
curtains of the cap under her chin, he received a flashing answer from
the eyes that would have warmed him had he been clothed in gossamer and
th