"Oh, very well; I never heard the English pronunciation before. Good-by once more, Mr. Cecil Perry. I would ask you to tell Mr. Stevens to bring you to call on my father and sisters and me, and oh, yes, on my stepmother as well, if you did not find everybody in Wyoming so tiresome."
Again the young fellow flushed.
"I told you I was sorry. I don't understand why you pretend to be an angelic character. One can guess from seeing you that you often say and do the wrong thing. You have a lot of temper. If you were homesick in New York I should not be half so disagreeable to you."
Jeanette was annoyed by the truth in the strange boy's speech. She was also pleased that he was possessed of more spirit than she had suspected.
"Why not ride home to breakfast with me instead of waiting to have Mr. Stevens bring you? I shall be delighted not to have our breakfast this morning a strictly family affair."
CHAPTER IV
AT BREAKFAST
When Jack, the present Mrs. Jim Colter, came out of the house a few moments after the younger girl, she was not aware of Jeanette's departure.
Observing her on the way to the stables, she had no thought of following her.
In fact, Jack distinctly recalled the days when, as one of the original Rainbow Ranch Girls, she had made just such early-morning escapes from her family and the problems that troubled her.