oth of them foresaw that
the day of their departure could no longer be postponed. Neither of them
was yet in condition to walk very far, but on horseback they were fit to
travel carefully.

"We got all the time there is. No need of pushin' on the reins, but I
reckon the old man isn't payin' us fifty dollars a month to hold down the
Roubideau porch," said Prince regretfully.

"No, we gotta light a shuck," admitted Jim, with no noticeable alacrity.
He was in no hurry to leave himself, even if he did not happen to be in
love.

Billie put his fortune to the touch while he was out with Polly rounding
up some calves. They were riding knee to knee in the dust of the drag
through a small arroyo.

The cowpuncher swallowed once or twice in a dry throat and blurted out,
"I got something to tell you before I go, Polly."

The girl flashed a look at him. She recognized the symptoms. Her gaze
went back to the wavelike motion of the backs of the moving yearlings.

"Don't, Billie," she said gently.

Before he spoke again he thought over her advice. He knew he had his
answer. But he had to go through with it now.

"I reckoned it would be that way. I'm nothin' but a rough vaquero. Whyfor
should you like me?"

"Oh, but I do!" she cried impulsively. "I like you a great deal. You're
one of the best men I know--brave and good and modest. It isn't that;
Billie."

"Is there--some one else? Or oughtn't I to ask that?"

"No, there's nobody else. I'm awfully glad you like me. The girl that
gets you will be lucky. But I don't care about men that way. I want to
stay with dad and Jean."

"Mebbe some day you may feel different about it."

"Mebbe I will," she agreed. "Anyhow, I want you to stay friends with me.
You will, won't you?"

"Sure. I'll be there just as long as you want me for a friend," he said
simply.

She gave him her little gauntleted hand. They were close to a bend in the
draw. Soon they would be within sight of the house.

"I'd say 'Yes' if I could, Billie. I'd rather it would be you than
anybody else. You won't feel bad, will you?"

"Oh, that's all right." He smiled, and there was something about the
pluck of the eyes in the lean, tanned face that touched her. "I'm goin'
to keep right on carin' for my little pal even if I can't get what I
want."

She had not yet fully emerged from her childhood. There was in her a
strong desire to comfort him somehow, to show by a mark of special favor
how high she held him in h