r the reaction from his scare, attempted to refute the other's
conclusions: "It doesn't mean anything, Mortimer. She's just the
handsomest girl I ever saw. I know she's engaged. I only admired her a
lot."

"You're not the only man," said Mortimer blandly, still striving to
reconcile his preconceived theories with the awkward half-confession of
this great, red-fisted, hulking horseman riding at his stirrup.

"I wouldn't have her dream," stammered Plank, "that I had ever thought
of such a--"

"Why not? It would only flatter her."

"Flatter a woman who is engaged to marry another man!" gasped Plank.

"Certainly. Do you think any woman ever had enough admiration in this
world?" asked Mortimer coolly. "And as for Sylvia Landis, she'd be
tickled to death if anybody hinted that you had ever admired her."

"Good Lord!" exclaimed Plank, alarmed; "You wouldn't make a joke of it!
you wouldn't be careless about such a thing! And there's Quarrier! I'm
not on joking terms with him; I'm on most formal terms."

"Quarrier!" sneered the other, flicking at his stirrup with his crop.
"He's on formal terms with everybody, including himself. He never
laughed on purpose in his life; once a month only, to keep his mouth
in; that's his limit. Do you suppose any woman would stand for him if a
better man looked sideways at her?" And, reversing his riding crop, he
deliberately poked Mr. Plank in the ribs.

"A--a better man!" muttered Plank, scarce crediting his ears.

"Certainly. A man who can make good, is good; but a man who can make
better is it with the ladies--God bless 'em!" he added, displaying a
heavy set of teeth.

Beverly Plank knew perfectly well that, in the comparison so delicately
suggested by Mortimer, his material equipment could be scarcely compared
to the immense fortune controlled by Howard Quarrier; and as he thought
it, his reflections were put into words by Mortimer, airily enough:

"Nobody stands a chance in a show-down with Quarrier. But--"

Plank gaped until the tension became unbearable.

"But--what?" he blurted out.

"Plank," said Mortimer solemnly, and his voice vibrated with feeling,
"Let me do a little thinking before I ask you a--a vital question."

But Plank had become agitated again, and he said something so bluntly
that Mortimer wheeled on him, glowering:

"Look here, Plank: you don't suppose I'm capable of repeating a
confidence, do you?--if you choose to make me understand it's a
confidence."