sense of deep gratitude moving her, she asked,
"Were you going toward town?"

For reply he swung into the saddle. He
wheeled close, and they set out. He appeared a
little ill at ease, and Helen took the initiative.

"From the East, I take it?" she inquired.
"There are not a few Easterners down here.
Some have taken up permanent residence."

"Yes," he replied, "I'm from the East -- New
York."

She liked his voice.

"We are here for the winter -- mother and myself.
Mother isn't strong, and your delightful
climate ought to improve her. I myself came
along" -- he turned twinkling eyes toward her -- "as
guide and comforter and -- I fear -- all-round
nuisance." He was silent. "I like this country,"
he added, after a moment.

Helen liked him for liking her country, for
she had true Western pride for her birthplace.
So she said the natural thing, though without
display of pride. "Everybody likes it down
here."

He looked at her hesitatingly. "You're not
from the outside, then?"

"No," she rejoined. "I am a native."

He showed restless curiosity now. "Tell me,"
he began, engagingly, "about this country.
What, for instance, must one do, must one be,
to -- to be -- well, to be accepted as a native!"
He said this much as one feeling his way among
a people new to him, as if, conscious of the in-

[[81]]

p080 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p081w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p082

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