Lennon smiled into her troubled eyes. "You glory of the desert--you cactus blossom! It was your very strength that repelled me, like the spines of the cactus. I never had known your like. I thought a woman must be weak and clinging." He cast a smiling glance at the wide-eyed Elsie. "But now, dear, I know that the bloom of the desert thorn may be even more fragrant and lovely than any garden flower." THE END ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Country Life Press--Garden City, N. Y.