"What are you up to this time?" he demanded.
"Montana first," she proclaimed with a melodramatic flourish. "And if I am followed by my fame or by my relatives—I shall go on—to the end of the world."
Harry had long ago abandoned the idea of laughing at her whims. Even the most fantastic of her projects was serious to her.
He merely looked at her in mute suspense awaiting the fall of the blow.
"You needn't begin to see trouble-yet," she laughed. "But I am going, Harry. I'm going to accept Mary Haines's invitation and visit her and her nice, queer husband on their ranch. You remember Mrs. Haines, that dear Western girl that we met on the steamer when she was on her honeymoon?"
"Well, it's pretty tough just at this time," objected Harry. "Business is bothersome, and I ought to be here; but if you insist . . . "
"Oh, you're not coming with me," stated Pauline, cheerily. "In the first place you are not invited, and in the second place you are not needed in the least. Now get me a telegraph blank."
He came back with the desired paper and a fountain pen and she scribbled:
Mrs. Mary Haines, Rockvale, Montana. Care Double Cross Ranch.
Arrive Thursday at 8 a.m. Will explain haste when see you.,