“Ma’am, I’m a stranger in these woods an’ I’m looking for an honest man or woman to guide me on my way,” he said with a flashing smile.
Instead of returning his smile with a gracious word of greeting, the girl regarded him gravely out of glowing, dark eyes.
“Pretty!” he thought to himself. “Limping lizards, but she’s pretty!”
“Where are you from?” the girl asked soberly.
“From yonder mountains, an’ then some,” he answered with a sweeping gesture.
“You rode down this morning?”
“I rode down this morning. Down from the toppermost top of the divide with the wind singing in my whiskers an’ the birds warbling in my ears.” He laughed gayly, for he appreciated her puzzled look. “I was wondering two things,” he continued solemnly.
“What might they be?” she asked doubtfully.
“First: Why isn’t there more travel on this good road?” he said. “I haven’t seen a soul except yourself and a––a party in an automobile. Now on a road like this–––”