to keep close to Flo. I'm more afraid of her than I am
of mother. She's sharp as tacks, and the least little 'break' on my part
will let her in on my 'stall.' No, you've got to be on guard all the
time."

"Well, I'll do my best, but I'm no 'Billie dear,' with girls. I've grew
up on the trail, and my talk is mostly red-neck. But I mean well, as the
fellow says, even if I don't always do well."

"Oh, you're all right, Kelley. You look the real thing. You'll be part
of the scenery for them."

"Spin the marble! It's only for half a day, anyway. They can call me a
hole in the ground if they want to. But you must get some tan. I tell
you what you do. You go up on the hill and lay down in the sun and burn
that saloon bleach off your face and neck and hands. That's _got_ to be
done. You've got the complexion of a barber."

Morse looked at his white, supple hands and felt of his smooth chin.
"You're right. It's a dead give-away. I'll look like a jailbird to them
if I don't color up. If I'd only known it a few days sooner I'd have
started a beard."

"You'll be surprised at what the sun will do in two hours," Kelley said,
encouragingly. "You'll peel afterward, but you'll get rid of the
bleach."

II

In truth Morse looked very well the next morning as he stood beside
Kelley and watched the High Line train come in over the shoulder of
Mogallon and loop its cautious way down the mine-pitted slopes. His main
uneasiness was caused by the thought that his mother might ask some man
on the train if he knew her son, and he was disturbed also by a number
of citizens lounging on the platform. Some of them were curious about
the change in him: "Hello, Fred! Going fishing, or been?"

The boy was trembling as he laid his hand on Kelley's arm. "Ed, I feel
like a coyote. It's a dang shame to fool your old mother like this."

"Better to fool her than to disappoint her," answered Tall Ed. "Stiffen
up, boy! Carry it through."

The little train drew up to the station and disgorged a crowd of Italian
workmen from the smoker and a throng of tourists from the
observation-car, and among these gay "trippers" Kelley saw a small,
plain little woman in black and a keen-eyed, laughing girl who waved her
hand to Fred. "Why, she's a queen!" thought Kelley.

Mrs. Morse embraced her son with a few murmured words of endearment, but
the girl held her brother off and looked at him. "Well, you _do_ look
the part," she said. "What a glorious sunburn--