"Shall I tell you a story?"
"Oh, please!"
"It happened to a friend of mine, a man I knew real well."
"A love story, Mr. Wells?"
"There's love in it, Miss Sadie."
"I'm glad of that."
"This man, my friend, he was a brother deputy o' mine, came to be twenty-six without ever falling in love."
"My! He must have been hard-hearted--your friend."
"Mebbee. Well, one fine day he met his mate----"
"What was she like?"