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 dare say we're lucky not to have to wait longer."

"Probably," she said uninterestedly.

"It was quite by accident that I looked back and saw you," he continued, gaining courage from the sound of his own voice. "In another moment it would have been too late."

"Too late?" she repeated questioningly, glancing at him. "Too late for what?"

"Why, too late to get off. You see, the train was already making pretty good time and I had to jump between the telegraph poles."

"It was—very heroic of you," she replied with a wealth of sarcasm. Wade colored.

"Well, I didn't mean that," he said ruefully. There was a protracted pause. Then she turned toward him, tilting her head back so that she could see from under the brim of her felt hat. It was a charming pose, he reflected, but a fearsomely haughty one. She was viewing him with something almost approaching interest,