"My dear Miss Knowles!" he exclaimed with ardent gallantry, "the mere thought of being under the same sky with you--"
"Don't, please," she begged. "This _is_ the blue sky we are under, not a stuccoed ceiling."
"Well, I really meant it," he protested, greatly dashed.
"Kid often says nice things to me. But he speaks with his hands," she remarked.
"Deaf and dumb alphabet?" he queried wonderingly.
"Hardly," she answered, dimpling under his puzzled gaze. "Actions speak louder than words, you know."
"Ah!" he murmured, and his look indicated that she had given him food for thought.
They were now cantering down the long easy slope towards the ranch buildings. The girl's quick eye perceived a horseman riding towards the ranch from one of the groves up Plum Creek.
"There's Kid coming in," she remarked. "He went out early this morning after a big wolf that had killed a calf. He reported last evening that he found the carcass over near the head of Plum Creek. A wolf that gets to killing calves this time of year is a pretty costly neighbor. Daddy told Kid to go out and try to get him."
"I'm glad you didn't let him get _this_ calf-killer," observed Ashton.
"Oh, as soon as we saw your tenderfoot riding togs--!" she rejoined. "Seriously, though, you must not mind if the men poke a little fun at you. Most of them are more farmhands than cowboys, but Kid will be apt to lead off. I do so want you to be agreeable to Kid. He is almost a member of the family, not a hired man."
"I shall try to be agreeable to him," replied Ashton, a trifle stiffly.
The puncher had seen them probably before they saw him. He was riding at a pace that brought him to the horse corral a few moments ahead of them. When they came up he nodded carelessly in response to Ashton's studiously polite greeting, "Good day, Mr. Gowan," and turned to loosen the cinch of his saddle.
"You've been riding some," remarked the girl, looking at the puncher's heaving, lathered horse.
"Jumped that wolf--ran him," replied Gowan, as he lifted off his saddle and deftly tossed it up on the top rail of the corral.
"You're in luck," congratulated Miss Isobel. She explained to Ashton: "The cattlemen in this county pay fifteen dollars for wolf scalps. That's in addition to the state bounty."