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 country west of Dodge," Elizabeth said. "Well, I don't care how you won out or were won, I'm glad you're going to stay. I wish I were a doctor, or a nurse, so I could help you with the hospital."

"There's a place for you, Elizabeth," he said, his stature growing two full inches, his chest distended by a long inspiration as he balanced on his toes a moment, straining as if to see over the white-blotched hills across the Arkansas, where his wise, kindly eyes were fixed. "There is a perfect place for you, Elizabeth. That was included in the plan before I began to build; that was the very foundation of it all."