herever he chanced to be there she was,
her ears open, her somber, meditative eyes fixed upon him. Evidently
she did not actually dislike him; he decided finally that she was
studying him, striving to analyze and to weigh him to her own complete
satisfaction before trusting him further than she had.

When it drew near the time for him to leave, and he announced that the
driver of his hired car had been instructed to return for him, there
was protest, loud and earnest, from the Briskows, father and son. Buddy
actually sulked at being denied the pleasure of driving his hero to
town in the new car, and told about a smooth place on a certain detour
where he could "get her up to sixty mile an hour."

"If it was longer, she'd do a hundred," he declared.

Pa Briskow was worried for the security of the diamonds, and assured
Gray that it was unsafe to trust those service-car drivers.

But the latter, seeing a threat to his carefully matured plans, refused
to listen. "There's one thing you can do for me," he told them. "You
can give me a pint of cream."

"Cream? What for?" The family regarded him with amazement.

"I'm fond of it. If you have no cream, milk will do."

"Pshaw! I'll put up a hull basket of lunch for you," Mrs. Briskow
declared. "Buddy, go kill a rooster, an' you, Allie, get them eggs out
of the nest in the garden, an' a jar of them peach preserves, while I
make up a pan of biscuits."

Protest was unavailing.

When the others had hurried away, Pa Briskow said: "I been studyin'
you, Mister Gray, and I got you down as a first-class man. When Ma and
Allie come over to Dallas to get rigged out, I'd like you to help 'em.
They 'ain't never been fu'ther from home than Cisco--that's thirty
mile. I'll pay you for your time."

Gray's hearty acceptance of the first and his prompt refusal of the
second proposal pleased the speaker.

"Bein' rich is mighty fine, but--" Gus Briskow shook his head
doubtfully. "It takes a lot of thinkin', and I ain't used to thinkin'.
Some day, mebbe, I'll get you to give _me_ a hand in figgerin' out some
worries."

"Business worries?"

"No. I got enough of them, an' more comin', but it ain't that. We're
goin' to have a heap of money, and"--he looked up with straightforward
eyes--"we ain't goin' to lose it, if I have my way. We've rubbed along,
half starved, all our lives, an' done without things till we're--Well,
look at us! I reckon we've made you laugh. Oh, I bet we have! Ma an' me