"You have never given me any reason to think otherwise," she said. Her secret agitation peeped out in the added briskness of her tones.
Grylls incessantly turned his hat brim in his fat freckled hands. "I am not as bad as you think," he said dully. "Somehow I seem to have a worse look when I am by you."
Natalie let it go at that.
"I ain't had early advantages," he continued. "I never learned how to dress spruce; and talk good grammar. But a man may have good metal in him for all that."
"Certainly!" said Natalie crisply.
"There ain't no reason why we shouldn't be friends," he said humbly.
"None at all," she returned. "Neither do I see any reason why we should be."
"But say, I can help you up here," he said eagerly. "I know the ropes. I have the trick of mastering the breeds. I have money in the country. I can do what I like."
"You wouldn't want me to simulate friendship for the purpose of using you?" said Natalie.
"Yes, I would," he sullenly returned. "I'd take your good will on any terms."