persons wished that Johnny
would fall and be killed, just so they could sleep!

Her mother may have been weak in discipline, but now that Mary V was
spoiled to the extent of having tantrums, she proved herself a
sensible, level-headed sort of woman. She went away to her bed quite
unmoved by the tears and self-pity, and left Mary V alone.

"You turn out all the lights except the porch light, Mary V," Old
Sudden himself commanded from his bedroom door. "I guess if he comes,
one light will be as good as a dozen. You better do as your mother
tells you. The kid's got more sense than to tackle flying from Tucson
after sundown. If I thought he didn't have, I'd kick him off the
ranch!"

This perfectly heartless statement served to distract Mary V's mind
from her mother's lack of feeling. She obediently turned out the
lights,--all the lights, since they meant to kill Johnny in cold
blood!--and wept anew upon the darkened porch, while swarms of
mosquitoes hummed just without the screen, sending a slim scout through
now and then to torment Mary V, who spatted her chiffon-covered arms
viciously and wished that she were dead, since no one had any feelings
or any heart or any conscience on that ranch.

It was midnight before healthy youth demanded sleep and dulled her
half-feigned agonies of self-pity. It was morning before she began to
feel really uneasy about Johnny. After her tantrum she slept late, so
that when she awoke it was past time for Johnny's arrival, supposing he
had started at sunrise, which she now admitted to herself was the most
sensible time for the flight. Eight o'clock--and he must have started,
else he would have called her up on the 'phone and told her he was not
coming. For that matter, he would have called up the night before if
he had not meant to do as she wanted him to do. Of course, Johnny was
awfully stubborn sometimes, and he might have waited until morning,
just to worry her. But he would have called up if he hadn't intended
to come. A little thing like hanging up her receiver would not bother
him, she argued, and a little obstacle like long-distance toll never
occurred to Mary V, whose idea of poverty was vague indeed.

He must have started this morning, at the latest. And he should have
been here before now. To make sure that he had not come while she
slept Mary V went to a window overlooking the open space between the
house and corrals. It was empty, but to make doubly sure she