Douglas, his cigarette hanging negligently from a corner of his mouth, nodded.
"Well, I have to be, Doug," insisted Judith.
"No, you don't. You just look for trouble, all the time. Why do you have to be?"
"Who is there to look out for me?" demanded the girl, chin in the air.
"Pshaw! You don't need a guard, do you? Besides, what's the matter with me?"
"Huh! You don't really care what happens to me. I'm not your real sister and you never forget it. I'm lonely."
Douglas gave her a curious glance. Was she, he wondered, experiencing that feeling of loneliness and longing which had been haunting him for months? He wanted to ask her about it but he could not. She laughed at him too easily.
They rode on in silence for a while, Judith's thin young body sagging dejectedly in the saddle. The lavendar twilight was gathering. White stars hung within hand touch. Prince returned to the trail and a coyote barked derisively from beyond an alfalfa stack.
"Douglas," exclaimed Judith suddenly, "if I thought when I got married, my husband would treat me like Dad does Mother, I'd never get married. Getting married in real life isn't a bit like the books show it."
Douglas grunted. "I wouldn't worry about getting married for a few years yet."