"You don't mind, old Phil!" he said.

He left her and jumped over to Phil with a laugh and a shout.

"And you beat him to it, laddie:--money, duplicity, hum-bug and all!
You beat him! Man,--you're great!"

And he was into the outer office, out on the street and away in his
car before they could properly grasp his meaning.

Phil and Eileen followed out shortly afterwards, out into the
sunshine, and soon they were driving up the steep hill from the town,
leading to the Kelowna highway. It was some time before either spoke.

"I wonder what Jim meant by the remark he made when he left us,
Eileen?"

"Don't wonder about anything just now, boy,--excepting me. Don't let
us think about a thing that isn't pleasant and in keeping with the
glorious day. We can do our 'trouble talks' on the way back."

She snuggled up close to her big companion who, as they reached the
top of the hill, opened up and sent the car speeding along. At one of
the sharp turns, he slowed up and stopped to admire the ever-changing
delight of the scenery.

"Did you ever see anything so beautiful?" exclaimed Eileen, "and yet
some folks want to go away from here when they have a holiday."

They were on the thin line of roadway which was cut half-way on the
face of the hillside. All the ranges were a spread of golden
sunflowers; away below, sheer three hundred feet down, the blue waters
of the Kalamalka Lake reflected the blue, cloudless sky, while here
and there it seemed to throw back the sun's rays in a golden spray.

On the other side of the water, as far as the eye could scan--until it
rested again on the background of hills of gold, purple and green--the
long, regular lines of old orchard-land shone a riot of pink and
white. The air was laden with the perfume of bursting flowers.

Far up the Lake, alongside which the road ran in a brown, winding
thread, were little wooded and grassy promontories sitting like
islands upon the water and suggesting the last peaceful reservation of
all the fairies, wood-elves and brownies who might be crowded out from
the cities and the busy lands now over-run and exploited by the
unpoetical humans.

A little, warm hand placed itself over Phil's as he held the steering
wheel and it roused him from his reverie. He gazed at Eileen's
upturned face. He put his arms about her, drew her closer to him and
kissed her on the lips.

She laughed--that same little, happy laugh away down in her throat,
then she clapped h