o pass
judgment on me."

"I'll be sorry to lose you, Sheila; and I think you'll be sorry to go."

"Yes. I'll miss the rolling country, and the hills to the west, and the
long days outdoors. Oh, heavens, how I'll miss them! And yet it's worth
while, Casey!"

"I'm awfully glad, for your sake, that you think so much of him, old
girl. He's a fine chap--when you get to know him. But I'll miss you.
How long is it since we had our first ride together?"

"Seven years--no, eight. I was riding a bad pinto. Dad traded him
afterward. You wouldn't let me go home alone. Remember?"

"Of course. Awful brute for a girl to ride!"

"He never set me afoot," she said proudly. "But you'll be leaving here,
too, Casey."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, yes, you will. Clyde's money----"

"Hang her money! Don't throw that up to me."

"Nonsense! Don't be so touchy. I wish _I_ had it. You'll go where
there are people and things happening. You'll keep the ranch, but Tom
will look after it."

"No, no."

"Yes, yes. You won't be idle--you're not that kind--but you'll find
other interests, and the money may be a stepping-stone. She's a dear
girl, Casey. Be good to her."

"I couldn't be anything else. You needn't tell me I'm not worthy of
her; I know it."

"You're worthy of any girl," she said firmly. "Not a bit of hot air,
either, old boy. I almost fell in love with you myself."

"By George!" he exclaimed, "there were times when I wondered how much I
thought of you."

She laughed, well pleased. "We know the difference now, don't we? What
a mistake it would have been! I'm glad we kept these thoughts to
ourselves--glad we never played at being in love. Now we can talk
without fear of misunderstanding. Somehow, now, the years here seem
like a dream to me. Yes, I know they've been busy years, crowded with
work for both of us; but just now they don't seem real. We seem--I
seem--to be standing at the boundary of a new life. All that is over
was just preparation for it--the long days in the sun and the wind, the
quiet nights beneath the stars, the big, lonely, brown land, and the
hazy blue of the hills. The girl that lived among them seems like a
little, dead sister. And yet I love these things. Wherever I go,
whatever happens to me, I shall think of them always."

"That's absolutely true. They are in your heart--a part of you. I
understand. The little boy that lay on a lake shore years ago and
watched the old stone hookers wallowing through