“But why couldn’t I rod for you?” she suggested. “I noticed Lafayette the other day. It seems easier than golfing.”
“It is.”
“Then I shall do it. A good walk is exactly what I need.”
“Genevieve!” hastily appealed Isobel. “Surely you’ll not go off and leave me––us!”
“Thomas is asleep, and Lafayette needs to be quiet,” was the demure reply. “Come, Tom. We’ll run the levels over to the foot of the mountain, at least.” 220
With a reproachful glance at the smiling couple, the girl slipped over to put Thomas Herbert between herself and Ashton. Blake found another bag and can, which last he filled with water from the bucket. Genevieve put on the cowboy hat that she had borrowed at the ranch, and sprang up to join him.
He paused for a question: “How about leaving the rifle?”
Isobel put her hand to a fold in her skirt and drew out her long-barreled automatic pistol. “I can do as well or better with this,” she answered.
“What a wicked looking thing!” exclaimed Genevieve. “Surely, dear, you do not shoot it?”
“Shoot it!” put in Ashton. “Hasn’t she told you about saving me from a rattler?”