He nodded. “That goes a long way with me, Miss Mackenzie. The governor is a right good friend of mine. I meant to ask him for a pardon. I reckon Neil means to live straight from now on. He promised Leroy he would. He’s only a wild cow-puncher gone wrong, and now he’s haided right he’ll pull up and walk the narrow trail.” “But can you save him from the penitentiary?” Collins smiled. “He saved me the trouble. Coming through the Cañon Del Oro in the night, he ducked. I reckon he’s in Mexico now.” “I’m glad.” “Well, I ain’t sorry myself, though I helped Bucky hunt real thorough for him.” “Father will be pleased to know you got the treasure back,” Alice said presently, after they had ridden a bit in silence. “And your father’s daughter, Miss Alice—is she pleased?” “What pleases father pleases me.” Her voice, cool as the plash of ice water, might have daunted a less resolute man. But this one had long since determined the manner of his wooing and was not to be driven from it. “I’m glad of that. Your father’s right friendly to me,” he announced, with composure. “Indeed!” “Sho! I ain’t going to run away and hide because you look like you don’t know I’m in Arizona. What kind of a lover would I be if I broke for cover every time you flashed those dark eyes at me?” “Mr. Collins!” “My friends call me Val,” he suggested, smiling. “I was going to ask, Mr. Collins, if you think you can bully me.” “It might be a first rate thing for you if I did, Miss Mackenzie. All your life you haven’t done anything but trample on sissy boys. Now, I expect I’m not a sissy boy, but a fair imitation of a man, and I shouldn’t wonder but you’d find me some too restless for a door-mat.” His maimed hand happened to be resting on the saddle horn as he spoke, and the story of the maiming emphasized potently the truth of his claim. “Don’t you assume a good deal, Mr. Collins, when you imply that I have any desire to master you?” “Not a bit,” he assured her cheerfully. “Every woman wants to boss the man she’s going to marry, but if she finds she can’t she’s glad of it, because then she knows she’s got a man.” “You are quite sure I am going to marry you?” she asked gently—too gently, he thought. “I’m only reasonably sure,” he informed her. “You see, I can’t tell for certain whether your pride or your good sense is the stronger.” She caught a detached glimpse of the situation, and it made for laughter. “That’s right, I want you should enjoy it,” he said placidly. “I do. It’s the most absurd proposal—I suppose you call it a proposal—that ever I heard.” “I expect you’ve heard a good many in your time. “We’ll not discuss that, if you please.” “I AM more interested in this one,” he agreed. “Isn’t it about time to begin on Tucson?” “Not to-day, ma’am. There are going to be a lot of to-morrows for you and me, and Tucson will have to wait till then.” “Didn’t I give you an answer last week?” “You did, but I didn’t take it. Now I’m ready for your sure-enough answer.”