oss."

Palmerston was defiantly aware that he had not answered her question. He
emphasized his defiance by jerking the reins.

"Don't!" said the girl reproachfully. "I think his mouth is tender."

"You like horses?" inquired the young man, with a sensation of relief.

She shook her head. "No; I think not. I never notice them except when
they seem uncomfortable."

"But if you didn't like them you wouldn't care."

"Oh, yes, I should. I don't like to see anything uncomfortable."

Palmerston laughed. "You have made me very uncomfortable, and you do not
seem to mind. I must conclude that you have not noticed it, and that
conclusion hurts my vanity."

The young woman did not turn her head.

"I try to be candid," she said, "and I am always being misunderstood. I
think I must be very stupid."

Her companion began to breathe more freely. She was going to talk of
herself, after all. He was perfectly at home when it came to that.

"Not at all," he said graciously; "you only make the rest of us appear
stupid. We are at a disadvantage when we get what we do not expect, and
none of us expect candor."

"But if we tell the truth ourselves, I don't see why we shouldn't expect
it from others."

"Oh, yes, if we ourselves tell the truth."

"I think you have been telling me the truth," she said, turning her
steadfast eyes upon him.

"Thank you," said Palmerston lightly. "I hope my evident desire for
approval doesn't suggest a sense of novelty in my position."

Miss Brownell smiled indulgently, and then knitted her brows. "I am glad
you have told me," she said; "I may not be able to help it, but it is
better for me to know."

They were nearing the Dysart house, and Palmerston remembered that he
had no definite instruction concerning the newcomer's destination.

"I think I will take her directly to her father's tent," he reflected,
"and let Mrs. Dysart plan her own attack upon the social situation."

When he had done this and returned to his boarding-place, there was a
warmth in the greeting of his worthy hostess which suggested a sense of
his recent escape from personal danger.

"I'm real glad to see you safe home, Mr. Palmerston," she said amply. "I
don't wonder you look fagged; the ride through the dust was hard enough
without having all sorts of other things to hatchel you. I do hope you
won't have that same kind of a phthisicky ketch in your breath that you
had the other night after you overdone. I think it was mo