e, during which Patty saw the man's
fingers tighten upon his hat brim. "I don't want you to do that. It
ain't fit work--for you--teachin' other folks' kids."

Patty stared at him in surprise. The words had come slowly, and at
their conclusion he had paused.

"Maybe you could suggest some work that is more fit?"

The man ignored the hint of sarcasm. "Yes--I think I can." His head
was slightly bowed, and Patty saw that it was with an effort he
continued: "That is, I don't know if I can make you see it like I do.
It's awful real to me--an' plain. Miss Sinclair, I can't make any fine
speeches like they do in books. I wouldn't if I could--it ain't my
way. I love you more than I could tell you if I knew all the words in
the language, an' how to fit 'em together. I loved you that day I
first saw you--back there on the divide at Lost Creek. You was afraid
of me, an' you wouldn't show it, an' you wouldn't own up that you was
lost--'til I'd made the play of goin' off an' leavin' you. An' I've
loved you every minute since--an' every minute since, I've fought
against lovin' you. But, it's no use. The more I fight it, the
stronger it gets. It's stronger than I am. I can't down it. It's the
first time I ever ran up against anything I couldn't whip." Again he
paused. Patty advanced a step, and her eyes glowed softly as they
rested upon the form that stood in her doorway silhouetted against the
after-glow. She saw Buck rub his velvet nose affectionately up and
down the man's sleeve, and into her heart leaped a great longing for
this man who, with the unconscious dignity of the vast open places
upon him, had told her so earnestly of his love. She opened her lips
to speak but there was a great lump in her throat, and no words came.

"That's why," he continued, "I know it ain't just a flash in the
pan--this love of mine ain't. All summer I've watched you, an' the
hardest thing I ever had to do was to set back an' let you play a
lone hand against the worst devil that ever showed his face in the
hills. But the way things stacked up, I had to. You had me sized up
for the one that was campin' on your trail, an' anything I'd have done
would have played into Bethune's hand. I know I ain't fit for you--no
man is. But, I'll always do the best I know how by you--an' I'll
always love you. As for the rest of it, I never saved any money. I
know there's gold here in the hills, an' I've spent years huntin' it.
I'll find it, too--sometime. But, I ai