"You bet we raise the best here," that simple gentleman bragged patriotically. "All we need is water, and the Lincoln dam assures us of plenty. Yes, sir! It certainly promises to be an Eden." West unlocked his lips long enough to say: "Any country can promise. I'm looking for one that will perform." "You're seeing it right now, seh," the mayor assured him, and launched into fluent statistics. West heard, saw the thing stripped of its enthusiasm, and made no comment either for or against. He had plenty of imagination, or he could never have accomplished the things he had done. However, before any proposition appealed to him he had to see money in the deal. Whether he saw it in this particular instance, nobody knew; and only one person had the courage to ask him point-blank what his intentions were. This was Melissy. Luncheon was served in the pleasant filtered sunlight, almost under the shadow of the great dam. On the way out Melissy had sat as demure and dovelike as it was possible for her to be. But now she showed herself to be another creature. Two or three young men hovered about her; notable among them was a young fellow of not many words, good-humored, strong, with a look of power about him which the railroad king appreciated. Jack Flatray they called him. He was the newly-elected sheriff of the county. The great man watched the girl without appearing to do so. He was rather at a loss to account for the exotic, flamelike beauty into which she had suddenly sparkled; but he was inclined to attribute it to the arrival of Flatray. Melissy sat on a flat rock beside West, swinging her foot occasionally with the sheer active joy of life, the while she munched sandwiches and pickles. The young men bantered her and each other, and she flashed back retorts which gave them alternately deep delight at the discomfiture of some other. Toward the close of luncheon, she turned her tilted chin from Flatray, as punishment for some audacity of his, and beamed upon the railroad magnate. "It's very good of you to notice me at last," he said, with his dry smile. "I was afraid of you," she confided cheerfully. "Am I so awesome?" "It's your reputation, you know. You're quite a dragon. I'm told you gobble a new railroad every morning for breakfast." "'Lissie," her father warned. "Let her alone," the great man laughed. "Miss Lee is going to give me the privilege of hearing the truth about myself." "But I'm asking. I don't know what the truth is," she protested. "Well, what you think is the truth." "It doesn't matter what we think about you. The important thing to know is what you think about us." "Am I to tell you what I think of you--with all these young men here?" he countered. She was excited by her own impudence. The pink had spilled over her creamy cheeks. She flashed a look of pretended disdain at her young men. Nevertheless, she made laughing protest.