"Oh!" cried Gay. "Why did you? Why did you?"
She had forgotten everything but the fact that the most splendid of all trout had been lost.
"Why did you?" she cried again.
"Because," he said serenely and gently, smiling into her grieved and flushed face, "I wouldn't have you as the payment of a bet. I will have you as a gift or not at all."
They returned to The Camp, Pritchard rowing.
"I owe you your prospective dividends for the year," he said. "If they are large, I shall have to give you my note and pay as I can."
She did not answer.
"I think you are angry with me," he said. "I'd give more than a penny for your thoughts."
"I was thinking," said she, "that you are very good at fishing, but that the art of rowing an Adirondack guide boat has been left out of you."
"Truly," he said, "was that what you were thinking?"