The fair head bent closer and closer, then he kissed her—the little man-coated figure in his arms.
She trembled in his embrace. He kissed her again.
She hid her face on his breast. He lifted it gently.
He placed her arms around his neck. She pressed her lips to his, once, softly.
“My girl, my girl!” he said in answer. The confession was far sweeter than he had ever dreamed. He held her cheek pressed close to his for a long moment.
“The Three Bars is waiting for its mistress,” he said at last, exultantly. “A mistress and a new foreman all at once—the boys will have to step lively.”
“A new foreman?” asked Mary in surprise. “I did not know you had a new foreman.”
“I shall have one in a month,” he said, smilingly. “By that time, George Williston will have sold the Lazy S for good money, invested the proceeds in cattle, turned the whole bunch in to range with the Three Bars herds, and on November first, he will take charge of the worldly affairs of one Paul Langford and his wife, of the Three Bars.”
“Really, Paul?” The brown eyes shone with pleasure.
“No, but he will when he finds I cannot do without him and when—I marry his daughter.”
Hoof-beats on the sod! The guests were coming at last. The beats rang nearer and nearer. From Kemah, from the Three Bars trail, from across country, they were coming. All the neighboring ranchmen and homesteaders with their families and all the available cowboys had been bidden to the frolic. The stableyard was filling. Hearty greetings, loud talking, and laughter floated out on the still air.
Laughing like children caught in a prank, the two at the spring clasped hands and ran swiftly to the house. Breathless but radiant, Mary came forward to greet her guests while Langford slipped away to put up Sade.
The revel was at its highest. Mary and Louise were distributing good things to eat and drink to the hungry cowmen. The rooms were so crowded, many stood without, looking in at the doors and windows. The fragrance of hot coffee drifted in from the kitchen.
Langford stood up. A sudden quiet fell upon the people.
“Friends and neighbors,” he said, “shall we drink to the prosperity of the Lazy S, the health and happiness of its master and its mistress?”
The health was drunk with cheers and noisy congratulations. Conversation began again, but Langford still stood.