“No; it’s about the only exciting thing I haven’t done, and it’s the only stunt I ever lacked the nerve to tackle.”
“Terrors of the unknown? I’m booked for some of that fancy flying this afternoon, and you can watch me from the field.”
“I knew this was to be a real day, but I never hoped for such a big handful of luck as seeing you again and in such a good act.”
“Always invest heavily in hope, Pen. It is free to all, and you come out ahead because you get your dividends in anticipating anyway, and you know anticipation—”
“Hold on, Larry, don’t be a bromide!”
“Everyone is a bromide now. Sulphides are all in the asylums. I am hoping for a chance to win the medal militaire—I mean for the chance to do something worth getting one.”
Pen’s pleasure in her surreptitious expedition, the delight in shopping and the excitement of meeting some one from her former life had brought a most vivid beauty to her delicate face, and Larry looked at her with an approval that brought forth a sudden wonder.
“Say, Pen!” he exclaimed excitedly, “you haven’t got a man up there at your ranch, have you?”
“Certainly; two of them,” she replied assuredly.
“That’s all right. So long as there are two, it’s nothing serious. Safety in numbers, remember.”