re."

"Ruth, Ruth, don't utter such nonsense! At any rate, you've too much
common sense ever to waste yourself on a doddering money bags."

"I'll never have the chance," said she. "But if I had, I'd think it
over carefully. A young man with money I could be especially nice to,
and I might even set out to catch him. You see, I'm quite frank and
open about it."

"Nonsense," he repeated. "You'd marry no one just for his money."

"That depends whether or not he caught me at a moment when I was
feeling sick of everything and reckless. Look at my hands, all
calloused from work. If I have to work, I shall do it for myself; not
marry to work."

Bryant lifted her hands and regarded them.

"They please me immensely as they are; they're lovely hands," he
asserted.

"Then your vision is poor."

"It's clear enough when I look at you, Ruth. And when you talk as you
have, I become impatient because I know you don't mean it. But
nonetheless, you deserve the best that any man can give, and you ought
to have all the comforts and pretty things any woman has, for you're
too sweet and good for a bare, commonplace life." He pressed gently
the fingers he yet retained. "I told you once that you had bewitched
me. It was true; I am bewitched, have been ever since I touched your
dear lips. And I love you. It hurts my heart to think of you at this
homesteading business--"

"What else was there for me?" she asked. "I've had no business
training, nothing but two years in a college, no knowledge of anything
that a girl needs to hold a position. And I'm not even a good
homesteader." Her tone rang with a trace of bitterness.

"You ought not to have to do it--and you shall not, Ruth, if I have my
way. I want to save you from it, and make life pleasant and happy for
you. The money I have now is little, but I'm going ahead; I'm going
ahead, and nothing shall stop me, I tell you. Soon I shall have ample
means. Within a year or two. Already I've told you I love you, though
this you must have known, for I've made no effort to conceal my love.
To me you're the dearest, sweetest girl in the world; and all I ask is
the chance to strive and toil for you, and make a home for you, and
relieve you of anxiety and care, and have you for a joyous companion
and mate."

Ruth closed her hands on his, while her eyes grew wet.

"You mean it, Lee?"

"Ah, I do, I do! I love you; I hold you dearer than anything in the
world."

The smile she gave was tender