"Yes. But what with a three years' drouth and no hay in the country, and the railroads blocked so that no feed could be shipped in, even if we could have gotten to the cattle on the range—oh, well——" The cattleman dropped to his chair with a sigh of helplessness.
The doctor took a new turn.
"I have known you for fifteen years or more, my boy, and I never knew you to be jealous before, much less unjust."
"I—unjust!" Danvers was startled. Never before had he faced such accusations.
"Yes, you. You should know Winifred Blair better than to think such thoughts as you are harboring."
"My experience with women has been unfortunate, probably; I do not pretend to understand them—they are too complex for me."
"Tut, tut!" The gentle friend tried to turn the tide. "Not Winnie. She is a woman to trust."
"But how can she have anything to do with Bill Moore? That is what I can't get over."
"You shouldn't speak so of Moore. It shows a spirit I'm sorry to see you cultivate. Go in and win. You have probably told Winifred something of your standards of public morality and the sacredness of the ballot, and she fears that Charlie will disgrace both himself and her. She perhaps fears your disgust if——"
"She is mistaken if she thinks so poorly of me. Her brother's conduct could never change my feeling for her; rather, pity would come to plead for love. Do you think she does care for me?"