She tilted her head back, so that the light gleamed on her young throat, and she broke into laughter.
"Why, Jack, that's foolish. You proved yourself when you first came to The Corner. Maybe some of the newcomers may have said something, but all the old-timers know you had some different reason for leaving the rest of them. By the way, what was the reason?"
She sent a keen little glance at him from the corner of her eyes, but the moment she saw that he was embarrassed and at sea because of the query she instantly slipped into a fresh tide of careless chatter and covered up his confusion for him.
"See how the girls are making eyes at him."
"I'll tell you why," Jack replied. "A girl likes to be with the man who's making the town talk." He added pointedly: "Oh, I've found that out!"
She shrugged that comment away.
"He isn't paying the slightest attention to any of them," she murmured. "He's queer! Has he just come here hunting trouble?"