"I'll try to stay off, Blue Bonnet," he laughed as he followed her along the narrow path. "If you go back you'll write often, won't you? I shall depend on you—"
She made a movement of impatience. "I'm not going to cross bridges, Alec, till I come to them."
"I beg your pardon. I forgot that bridges are a touchy subject with you!"
They found Uncle Cliff and the General still absorbed in what appeared to be an interminable conversation. The General rose with old-fashioned courtesy as Blue Bonnet came up the veranda steps.
"What do you think of your new cowboy?" he asked, laying his hand affectionately on Alec's shoulder.
"We've just been exchanging opinions with each other," she said, with a sidelong glance at Alec.
"I'm going to miss the boy," General Trent continued. "The old house will be very dull and empty,—unless you make up your mind to be particularly neighborly, Miss Blue Bonnet."
Blue Bonnet colored and looked way. "I—I'll do my best if—"
"Will you walk down to the stable with me, Grandfather?" Alec asked quickly. "I've not shown you the little coyotes yet."
As the General walked away with his hand still on Alec's shoulder, Blue Bonnet turned to her uncle.