d away.

"They been here two days. Come in a nerroplane!" went on the clerk,
communicatively.

"Fly all the way from Seattle?" asked Courtland, idly. He was looking
at his watch and wondering if he should order supper or wait until
Tennelly arrived.

"Well, I can't say for sure. He's mighty uncommunicative, but he's given
out he flies 'most anywhere the notion takes him. He's got his machine
out in the lot back o' the inn. You oughtta see it. It's a bird!"

"H'm!" said Courtland. "I must have a look at it in daylight. I'm
looking for a friend up from the city pretty soon. Guess it would be
more convenient for you if we dined together. I'll wait a bit. Meantime,
let me see what rooms you have."

When Courtland came back to the office and sat down before the fire to
wait, the spell of sadness seemed to have vanished.

He sat for half an hour, with his head thrown back in the easy-chair,
watching the flames, thinking back over old college memories that the
thought of Tennelly made vivid again. In the midst of it he heard steps
on the veranda. Some one from outside unlatched the door and flung it
open. A wild, careless laugh floated in on the cold breath of the sea.
Courtland came to his feet as if he had been called! That laugh had gone
through his heart like a knife, with its heartless baby-like mirth. It
was Gila! Had Tennelly played him false, after all, and brought her
along? Was this some kind of a ruse to get them together? For he knew
that Tennelly was distressed over their alienation, and that he
understood to some extent that it was on account of Gila that he always
avoided accepting the many invitations which were continually pressed
upon him to come down to the city and be with his friends once more.

The door swung wide on its hinges and Gila entered, trig and chic as
usual, in a stylish little coat-suit of homespun, leather-trimmed and
short-skirted, high boots, leather leggings, and a jaunty little
leather cap with a bridle under her chin. Only her petite figure and her
baby face saved her from being taken for a tough young sport. She
swaggered in, chewing gum, her gauntleted hands in her pockets, her
young voice flung almost coarsely into the room by the wind; the
innocent look gone from her face; the eyes wide and bold; the exquisite
mouth in a sensuous curve.

Behind her lounged a man older than herself by many years, with silver
at his temples, daredevil eyes, and a handsome, voluptuous face. He