"Well, what is your name, then?" demanded Dixie. "Bowles?"
For a moment Bowles gazed at her, and there was a pained look in his eyes—what if his beloved should turn out to be a scold?
"Why do you ask?" he inquired; and so gently did he say it that she faltered, as if ashamed.
"Well," she said, "I guess it isn't any of my business, is it? I don't know what I'm doing here, anyway. If there's any one thing that makes Mother furious, it's to see me hanging around the bunk-house. She thinks I——"
She rose suddenly, and shook out her skirt, but Bowles did not protest.
"You don't seem to care whether I go or not?" she pouted.
"Quite the contrary, I assure you, Miss Lee," declared Bowles earnestly. "But I'm not on my own ground now, and—well, I don't wish to take advantage of your hospitality."
"No," said Dixie with gentle irony, "nothing like that! You want to be careful how you treat these Arizona girls—they're liable to misunderstand your motives!"