“When was it that they were in your camp?”
“Day before yesterday, about noon—wasn’t it, Andy?”
Andy Jerome nodded absently.
“Then they can’t have reached the Catfish Country yet,” said Charmian. “I’m going after them to-morrow morning. Now, for the first time in my life, I wish I had a car. I could travel in it as far as Jorny Springs, and there I could get a saddle horse and run them down before they get into the wilderness.”
“Do you really want to go after opals and the unexplored valley?” asked Andy suddenly.
She turned her dark eyes on him. “I want to more than anything else I’ve ever wanted to do,” she told him.
“Then you can have my car to-morrow morning. And, if you’ll let me, I’ll go with you after Leach and Morley. And if we find them, and can come to terms with them, I’ll—I’ll— Well, if we can arrange matters to suit you, I’d like to go with you to the Shinbone Country.”
For a short time they gazed into each other’s eyes. Andy Jerome’s lips were parted, and Shonto noted the quick rise and fall of his breast. Then a slight flush covered Charmian Reemy’s cheeks, and her long, dark lashes hid her eyes.
“If we can arrange matters,” she said, “I’d—I’d be glad to have you, Mr. Jerome.”
Then, with another pang, Dr. Inman Shonto interpreted the strange silence that had existed between these two. It was the result of an odd embarrassment that both had felt since they first clasped hands. It was love at first sight between them, and they were backward and afraid of each other.