Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/187



are not nearly so supercilious and superior as I was afraid you would be," Nan told Bob when, one afternoon, he rode to the bars to tell her that he was off for the Longhorn bosque to join Ben Evans and ride the range with him in that vicinity.

"Good!" Bob exclaimed in mock delight. "I'm more than repaid for any slight—er—well—inconveniences I may suffer under the hospitable roof of my friend Riley. Perhaps you don't know that Riley and I 'aim' to wash to-morrow if we can find out who borrowed his wash-board."

Nan laughed immoderately. She suspected that in private Bob made wry faces over the salt pork and sour-dough bread which was Riley's daily fare, but in public Bob spoke of Riley's domestic accomplishments with an enthusiasm so nearly genuine that it deceived all save Nan.

But she liked him for it. The good nature 175