r attire the
long, supple lines of her body were exquisitely feminine. And she was
as relieved at the sight of him as he was glad to behold her.

"I knew you hadn't gone away," said she, after a short silence.

"Who said I had gone away?"

"They all said so."

"Garman?"

A blush suffused the clear skin of her cheeks; and as she looked away a
sensation of dread crept round Roger's heart.

"Never mind," he said. "Never mind who said it; I'm still here; and
I'm going to remain."

"You found your land?"

"Yes."

"It was not as represented, was it?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, that!" he said carelessly. "That's all a matter of salesmanship.
An honest, enthusiastic salesman will boost his goods to the skies
because that's the way they look to him. A farmer with a bunch of hill
and rocks as his property will swear he's got the finest farm in the
country because he's enthusiastic about it. This is wild land here--a
wild, wild land proposition. It may look bad now as a business deal,
but another year and there'll be a difference."

"Then you don't feel you've been cheated?" she said, relief and
hopefulness in her tone.

"No! No matter what happens, I don't feel I've been cheated."

"Is that true?"

He looked at her steadfastly and replied: "It is."

"Where is your land?"

"Right here." He waved his hand at the Flower Prairie, at the
elderberry jungle.

"Here?" she cried, leaning forward eagerly. "Do you mean it? Really?"

"Right here," he repeated, kicking the ground vigorously.

"Oh, I'm glad!" she murmured. "I'm so glad!"

"Why?"

"I was afraid--maybe my suspicions aren't true after all." She was
silent for a moment. "But I can't leave--I can't leave now!"

"Wait!" he cried, leaping toward her, but with one spring the horse was
out of reach and galloping away. Payne watched till she was out of
sight, but she did not look back.

XVIII

Higgins and the first ox wagon of his train arrived soon afterward, and
in the morning he led the six negro laborers he had brought in an
attack with heavy machetes upon the elderberry jungle. The big knives,
wielded by the powerful blacks, cut through the-soft wood at a single
stroke. The brush was then piled and burned, and the land was ready
for the tractor and breaking plow which were coming in pieces from
Citrus Grove via ox team.

Payne watched the work for a while, then turned his attention to the
fencing job out on the prairie. There w