you're feeling shocked," he said humorously.
"It's your own fault; you have a way of making one talk. There's no use
in discoursing to people who don't understand. However--and it's much
more important--how's the book getting on?"

"More important than my wounded susceptibilities?" Millicent laughed.
"But we won't mind them. I'm pleased to say I've heard from the
publishers that it's in strong request. Indeed, they add, rather
superfluously, that the demand is somewhat remarkable, considering the
nature of the work."

Lisle laughed at this.

"Any more reviews?"

She handed him several and he noticed the guarded, unenthusiastic tone of
the first two.

"These are the people who prefer a thing like a catalogue. This fellow
says the first portion of the book shows most care in particulars and
classification--it's what one would expect from him. That was your
brother's work, I think. He was not an imaginative person."

"No," replied Millicent. "He was eminently practical and methodical."

"There's a great deal to be said in favor of that kind of man. You can
trust him when it's a case of grappling with practical difficulties. But
I feel quite angry with the next reviewer. 'The illustrations are rather
impressionist drawings than a useful guide to identification.' The fellow
would no doubt rather have those stiff, colored plates which are about as
like the real, breathing creature as a stuffed specimen in a museum."

Millicent was pleased with his indignation, but his disgusted expression
changed as he read the next cutting.

"Now," he exclaimed, "we're arriving at the sound sense of ordinary
people, lovers of nature who're not naturalists. This man's enthusiastic;
the next review's even better!" He took up the others and there was keen
satisfaction in his eyes when he laid them down. "Great!" he ejaculated.
"I expected it. You've made your mark!"

The girl thrilled with pleasure; his delight at her success was so
genuine.

"Well," she told him, "the publishers suggest that I undertake another
and more ambitious work. I've often thought that I should like to do so.
The lonely country between the Rockies and the Pacific has a peculiar
interest to me and I've long had a desire to follow my brother's trail. I
don't think it's a morbid wish--somehow I feel impelled to go."

"It's a beautiful, wild land, and the creatures that inhabit it are among
the finest in the world. You promised to let me be your guide, and you