back home, and he took it sooner than he had
intended to return. He also carried back a fit of the blues which
seemed to have attacked him without cause or pretext, since he had not
quarreled with Billy Louise, and had been warmly welcomed by "mommie."
Poor mommie was looking white and frail, and her temples were too
distinctly veined with purple. Ward told himself that it was no wonder
his Wilhemina acted strained and unnatural. He meant to work harder
than ever and get his stake so that he could go and make her give him
the right to take care of her.

He began to figure the cost of commuting his homestead right away, so
that he would not have to "hold it down" for another three years.
Maybe she would not want to bring her mother so far off the main road.
In that case, he would go down and put that Wolverine place in shape.
He had no squeamishness about living on her ranch instead of his own,
if she wanted it that way. He meant to be better "hooked up"
financially than she was and have more cattle, when he put the gold
ring on her finger. Then he would do whatever she wanted him to do,
and he would not have to crucify his pride doing it.

You see, they could not have quarreled, since Ward carried castles as
well as the blues. In fact, their parting had given Ward an uneven
pulse for a mile, for Billy Louise had gone with him as usual as far as
the corral, when he started home. And when Ward had picked up his
reins and turned to put his toe in the stirrup, Billy Louise had come
close--to his very shoulder. Ward had turned his face toward her, and
Billy Louise--Billy Louise had impulsively taken his head between her
two hands, had looked deep into his eyes, and then had kissed him
wistfully on the lips. Then she had turned and fled up the path,
waving him away up the trail. And though Ward never guessed that to
her that kiss was a penitent vow of loyalty to their friendship and a
slap in the face of the doubt-devils that still pursued her weaker
moments, it set him planning harder than ever for that stake he must
win before he dared urge her further toward matrimony.

It's a wonder that the kiss did not wipe out completely the somber mood
that held him. That it did not, but served merely to tangle his
thoughts in a most hopeless manner, perhaps proves how greatly the
inner life of Billy Louise had changed her in those two weeks.

She changed still more in the next two months, however. There was the
strain