Page:BM Bower - Her Prairie Knight.djvu/48

 not often rude. Dick watched him speculatively until he was beyond hearing them. Then, "What have you done to milord, Trix?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing," said Beatrice.

"Well," Dick said, with decision, "he looks to me like a man that has been turned down—hard. I can tell by the back of his neck."

This struck Beatrice, and she began to study the retreating neck of her suitor. "I can't see any difference," she announced, after a brief scrutiny. "It's rather sunburned and thick."

"I'll gamble his mind is a jumble of good English oaths—with maybe a sprinkling of Boer maledictions. What did you do?"

"Nothing—unless, perhaps, he objects to being disciplined a bit But I also object to being badgered into matrimony—even with Sir Redmond."

"Even with Sir Redmond!" Dick whistled. "He's 'It,' then, is he?"

Beatrice had nothing to say. She walked beside Dick and looked at the ground before her.

"He doesn't seem a bad sort, sis, and the title will be nice to have in the family, if one cares for 46