A young lady who possessed in a high degree a very wholesome love of adventure, Alice Marcum coupled with it a very unwholesome habit of acting on impulse. As unamenable to reason as she was impervious to argument, those who would remonstrate with her invariably found themselves worsted by the simple and easy process of turning their weapons of attack into barriers of defence. Thus when, an hour later, Winthrop Adams Endicott found her seated alone at a little table in the dining-car he was agreeably surprised when she greeted him with a smile and motioned him into the chair opposite.
"For goodness' sake, Winthrop, sit down and talk to me. There's nothing so stupid as dining alone--and especially when you want to talk to somebody." As Endicott seated himself, she rattled on: "I wanted to go to that preposterous supper they are going to 'dish up' at the hotel, but when I found they were going to separate the 'ladies and gents' and feed them in relays, I somehow lost the urge. The men, most of them, are interesting--but the women are deadly. I know just what it would be--caught snatches of it from the wagons during the lulls--preserves, and babies, and what Harry's ma died of. The men carry an atmosphere of unrestraint--of freshness----"
Endicott interrupted her with a nod: "Yes," he observed, dryly, "I believe that is the term----"
"Don't be guilty of a pun, Winthrop. At least, not a slangy one. It's quite unsuited to your style of beauty. But, really, wasn't it all delightful? Did you ever see such riding, and shooting, and lassoing?"
"No. But I have never lived in a country where it is done. I have always understood that cowboys were proficient along those lines, but why shouldn't they be? It's their business----"
"There you go--reducing everything to terms of business! Can't you see the romance of it--what it stands for? The wild free life of the plains, the daily battling with the elements, and the mastery of nerve and skill over blind brute force and fury! I love it! And tonight I'm going to a real cowboy dance."
"Alice!" The word carried a note of grave disapproval. "Surely you were not serious about attending that orgy!"
The girl stared at him in surprise. "Serious! Of course I'm serious! When will I ever get another chance to attend a cowboy dance--and with a real cowboy, too?"