"I'll cross my heart."
"We might meet somebody. I don't want any more explosions. Let's talk about something else."
He asked to go with her to the barn to get her horse. The simplicity of his urging was hard to resist. "I must tell you something," she said at last. "If you go with me to the barn we should be seen together."
"And you're ashamed of me?"
"I said I must tell you something," she repeated with emphasis. "Will you give me a chance?"
"Go to it."
She looked at him frankly: "I don't always have the easiest time in the world at home. And there is always somebody around a big ranch to bring stories to father about whom I'm seen with. Everybody in town talks—except Belle. I must just do the best I can till things get better."
"Here's hoping that'll be soon."
"Good-by!"
"Safe journey."