"Why, be a first-class rancher, make money, and travel and learn something about life."
"That's what I plan to do. But I want to do more than that. I want to fix Lost Chief so that a couple of kids like you and me don't have to learn all they know about real things from a woman like Inez and a man like Charleton. And if a sky pilot can answer those questions right, why I'm going to have one in here if I have to mount guard on him, day and night. My kids are going to grow up right here in Lost Chief and they aren't going round like little wild horses when it comes to asking questions about love and death. No, ma'am!"
"Oh! What does old Fowler know about such things?" cried Judith.
"That's what I aim to find out," replied Doug.
Twilight was up on the valley, though Falkner's Peak still glowed crimson in outline, and the Forest Reserve to the east was silver blue, shot with lines of flame. The evening star trembled above Fire Mesa. Up on Dead Line Peak behind them, a pack of coyotes barked.
"We miss you down at the house," said Judith suddenly.
Douglas' heart suddenly lifted. There was a sweetness in Judith's voice that he never before had heard there.
"I miss you, Judith! Every moment of the day I'm missing you. The ache for you in my heart is as much a part of my life as my very heart-throbs."
"I wish you wouldn't, Douglas! I wish you wouldn't! I'm not ready to talk of those things!"
"What do you mean, Judith?"