Al Bidwell came forward and was received in the same manner. Then, as the two men stepped back and looked admiringly at her, she said:
“I can see you are the same and yet those beards make you look different; I love to think of you as you were when you bade us good-by and rode off four years ago.”
“We shall be glad to fix up our faces in the old style,” said Ruggles, while his companion nodded assent. If she had asked them to cut off their heads they would have unhesitatingly agreed to do it.
“No doubt we’ve changed somewhat,” said Bidwell, “but not one half so much as you.”
“As I!” she repeated in astonishment; “why, I am just the same,” and she looked down at her dress, as if seeking the explanation of his remark; “I haven’t changed a bit.”
“Not in goodness and all that sort of thing, but we left a little girl and now I’m blessed if we don’t find a young woman, and yet it’s the same little girl after all.”
The maidenly blush darkened her face and she laughed.
“You couldn’t expect me to stand still all these years.”
“No; though we would have been glad if you had done so.”
The three were standing apart, the others with commendable 112 delicacy leaving them to themselves. Nellie laid her arm on the sleeve of Ruggles, and looking up yearningly in his face she asked: