But neither did she wish to be
separated from him.
"I see you don't," he observed dryly. "Well, I can't say that I blame
you. It's a stiff trip. If your wind and muscle are in as poor shape
as mine, I guess it would do you up--the effort would be greater than
any possible pleasure."
"I'm sorry I can't feel any enthusiasm for such a journey," she
remarked candidly. "I could go as far as the coast with you, and meet
you there when you come out. How long do you expect to be in there?"
"I don't know exactly," he replied. "I'm not going in from the coast,
though. I'm taking the Ashcroft-Fort George Trail. I have to take in
a pack train and more men and get work started on a decent scale."
"But you won't have to stay there all summer and oversee the work, will
you?" she inquired anxiously.
"I should," he said.
For a second or two he drummed on the table top.
"I should do that. It's what I had in mind when I started this thing,"
he said wistfully. "I thought we'd go in this spring and rush things
through the good weather, and come out ahead of the snow. We could
stay a while at the ranch, and break up the winter with a jaunt here or
some place."
"But is there any real necessity for you to stay on the ground?" She
pursued her own line of thought.
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