“Then I’ll have to tell you what was in it.”

“Any time will do. I dare say it wasn’t important.”

“Then we’ll say this time.”

“Don’t be stupid, Mr. Collins. I want to talk about our desert Villon.”

“I said in that letter—”

She put her pony to a canter, and they galloped side by side in silence for half a mile. After she had slowed down to a walk, he continued placidly, as if oblivious of an interruption:

“I said in that letter that I had just met the young lady I was expecting to marry.”

“Dear me, how interesting! Was she in the smoker?”

“No, she was in Section 3 of the Pullman.”

“I wish I had happened to go into the other Pullman, but, of course, I couldn’t know the young lady you were interested in was riding there.”