Page:Harold Titus--Timber.djvu/113

Rh wondered if I'd be content to ride into my father's good opinion on your shoulders!"

She protested, but he rose abruptly from his chair.

"Yes, it is you!" he cried suddenly excited. "What prospect I have of making a little success here is because that drunken boy gave me the wrong turn at Seven Mile and sent me here to spend the first night under your roof! And it's you who have made me want to wake up. You took me with you to Thad Parker's that night and I looked death in the face and caught a glimpse of life," voice low and growing tense. "The next day you talked to me about waste and duty and Americanism in the terms of saw-logs and made it more convincing than any flag-waving I've ever listened to. I've watched you dominate men who won't even accept me as a companion. I've watched you do things that to you are everyday accomplishments which are away beyond me—

"Just being here has gotten under my skin! I didn't realize it until today, but I've been uncomfortable and out of place and I haven't known why. Now I do know. I'm thrown against a girl who is doing things for herself and for me. You're making money for me, you're winning my father's favor for me, and I don't like it!"

He paused, breathing rapidly, and saw a look in the girl's eyes that had never been there before when she looked at him, a vague shadow of admiration, and his heart leaped.

"My mind should be good for a little something—Lord knows it's had preparation and rest enough! I have a stout back and strong hands," spreading his big, white palms. "I want to do things for myself, I want to make my own money, to win my father's good opinion, but I