"And then I made up my mind that I was to the dividing of the ways. One way led to the office. The other way led to Berkeley. And I took the Berkeley road. I'm never going to set foot in the office again. That's all gone, finished, over and done with, and I'm letting it slide clean to smash and then some. My mind's set on this. You see, I've got religion, and it's sure the old-time religion; it's love and you, and it's older than the oldest religion in the world. It's IT, that's what it is--IT, with a capital I-T." She looked at him with a sudden, startled expression. "You mean--?" she began. "I mean just that. I'm wiping the slate clean. I'm letting it all go to smash. When them thirty million dollars stood up to my face and said I couldn't go out with you in the hills to-day, I knew the time had come for me to put my foot down. And I'm putting it down. I've got you, and my strength to work for you, and that little ranch in Sonoma. That's all I want, and that's all I'm going to save out, along with Bob and Wolf, a suit case and a hundred and forty hair bridles. All the rest goes, and good riddance. It's that much junk." But Dede was insistent. "Then this--this tremendous loss is all unnecessary?" she asked. "Just what I haven't been telling you. It IS necessary. If that money thinks it can stand up right to my face and say I can't go riding with you--" "No, no; be serious," Dede broke in. "I don't mean that, and you know it. What I want to know is, from a standpoint of business, is this failure necessary?" He shook his head. "You bet it isn't necessary. That's the point of it. I'm not letting go of it because I'm licked to a standstill by the panic and have got to let go. I'm firing it out when I've licked the panic and am winning, hands down. That just shows how little I think of it. It's you that counts, little woman, and I make my play accordingly." But she drew away from his sheltering arms. "You are mad, Elam." "Call me that again," he murmured ecstatically. "It's sure sweeter than the chink of millions." All this she ignored. "It's madness. You don't know what you are doing--" "Oh, yes, I do," he assured her. "I'm winning the dearest wish of my heart. Why, your little finger is worth more--" "Do be sensible for a moment."