“You must not talk like that,” she gently admonished him. “You’re not to blame.”
“Yes, I am. I should never have ventured into this man’s country.”
“I’m glad you did,” she answered, as if she were comforting a child. “For if you hadn’t I should never have known you.”
“That would have been no loss—to you,” he bitterly responded.
She unsaddled one pack-animal and spread some blankets on the grass. “Lie down and rest while I boil some coffee,” she commanded; and he obeyed, too tired to make pretension toward assisting.
Lying so, feeling the magic of the sun, hearing the music of the water, and watching the girl, he regained a serener mood, and when she came back with his food he thanked her for it with a glance before which her eyes fell. “I don’t see why you are so kind to me, I really believe you like to do things for me.” Her head drooped to hide her face, and he went on: “Why do you care for me? Tell me!”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. Then she added, with a flash of bravery: “But I do.”
“What a mystery it all is! You turn from a splendid fellow like Landon to a ‘skate’ like me. Landon worships you—you know that—don’t you?”
“I know—he—” she ended, vaguely distressed.
“Did he ask you to marry him?”