“My dear Miss Knowles!” he exclaimed with ardent gallantry, “the mere thought of being under the same sky with you––”
“Don’t, please,” she begged. “This is the blue sky we are under, not a stuccoed ceiling.”
“Well, I really meant it,” he protested, greatly dashed.
“Kid often says nice things to me. But he speaks with his hands,” she remarked.
“Deaf and dumb alphabet?” he queried wonderingly.
“Hardly,” she answered, dimpling under his puzzled gaze. “Actions speak louder than words, you know.” 64
“Ah!” he murmured, and his look indicated that she had given him food for thought.
They were now cantering down the long easy slope towards the ranch buildings. The girl’s quick eye perceived a horseman riding towards the ranch from one of the groves up Plum Creek.
“There’s Kid coming in,” she remarked. “He went out early this morning after a big wolf that had killed a calf. He reported last evening that he found the carcass over near the head of Plum Creek. A wolf that gets to killing calves this time of year is a pretty costly neighbor. Daddy told Kid to go out and try to get him.”
“I’m glad you didn’t let him get this calf-killer,” observed Ashton.