Well, of course, Mrs. Duke was very nice, and anyhow it was better to take them both than lose them both, and that preacher had a very set face in spite of his pallor.  So Prince recovered his equanimity and devoted himself to enjoying the tumultuous evening on the street.  He bought candy and canes and pennants until the girls sternly refused to carry another bit of rubbish.  He bought David a crimson and gold silk handkerchief, and an Indian bracelet for Julia, and took the girls to ride on the merry-go-round, and was beside himself with joy.

Suppose his friends of the range did draw back as he passed, and gaze after him in awe and envy.  Suppose the more reckless ones did snicker like fools, nudging each other, lifting their hats with exaggerated courtesy,—­he should worry.  He had lived on the range for fourteen years and had never had such a chance before.  Now he had it, he would hang on to it if it cost him every sheep he had on the mountains.  Wasn’t Connie the smartest girl you ever saw, always saying funny, bright things, and—­the way she stepped along like a goddess, and the way she smiled!  Prince Ingram had forgotten that girls grew like that.

They returned to the hotel early and found David waiting on the porch as he had promised.  He was plainly tired, and Carol said he must go to bed at once.  They all rose and walked to the door, and then, very surprisingly, Connie thought she would like to sit a while on the quiet porch, from which every other one had gone to the carnival, and collect her thoughts.  Carol frowned, and David smiled, but what could they do?  They had said they were tired and now they must go to bed perforce.  Prince looked after her, and looked at the door that had closed behind David and Carol, and rubbed his fingers thoughtfully under his collar,—­and followed Connie back to the porch.

“Will it bother you if I sit here a while?  I won’t talk if you want to think.”

“It won’t bother me a bit,” she assured him warmly.  “It is nice of you to keep me company.  And I would rather talk than think.”

So he put her chair at the proper angle where the street lamp revealed her clear white features, and he sat as close beside her as he dared.  She did not know it, but his elbow was really on the arm of her chair instead of his own.  He almost held his breath for fear a slight move would betray him.  Wasn’t she a wonderful girl?  She turned sidewise in the chair, her head resting against the high back, and smiled at him.

“Now talk,” she said.  “Let us get acquainted.  See if you can make me love the mountain ranges better than Chicago.”