"Oh, dear!" exclaimed the girl. "That sounds fine, but the reality isn't up to my anticipation of it."
Wade laughed in his hearty way.
"That's only because you haven't been here long enough, Helen."
"There are things that are splendid about the West," she generously admitted. "Its vastness and wholesomeness, and especially its men. I'm sure that's why I first liked you, Gordon, because you were different—not like the general run of young men in the East."
"Oh, there are lots of good men East, too."
"Not so very many. At least, I have seen very few who were at all worth while. There's one, Maxwell Frayne, who has been plaguing me for months; but I don't care for him—much." She was closely watching him as she spoke, and she smiled when he started.
"You'd better not."
"But if I really thought you meant to stay here all the time, I'm sure I'd love him devotedly. Now"—she eyed him mischievously—"I think this would be a nice place to call home, don't you know, just for fun, and then spend most of the time in New York and London. See that man staring at me!"
"How, staring at you?"