Irving’s heart beat faster, and his jaw set. He could feel again the yielding form that had clung to him. “No one would have known,” she went on in a dreamy tone. “Even Mr. Derwent would have thought I had disappeared purposely and would have marveled at my ingratitude; but—” her voice changed and she looked up into Irving’s eyes, smiling,—“they might all have talked about me and said critical things, yet Betsy would have believed in me,—believed and suffered. Dear Betsy!” “How about me? How about the friend of your morning days?” asked Irving. “Oh, you only began to be that this morning. You would never have given the matter a thought; and even Helen Maynard knows me too slightly to have defended me.” “Miss Maynard has found a gold-mine in the Yellowstone. Did Mr. Derwent tell you?” “No, indeed. What do you mean?” “She turns out to be an heiress, and only discovered it here.” “How beautiful!” Rosalie’s eyes looked away pensively. “Any fortunate discovery becomes glorified by being made here. How happy she must be! It is so fine to have time to work at what you love to do!” “Yes,” answered Irving. “That is the Eldorado for each of us. “‘And only the Master shall praise us, And only the Master shall blame; And no one shall work for money, And no one shall work for fame, But each for the joy of the working; And each in his separate star Shall draw the Thing as he sees It For the God of Things as They Are!’” Rosalie’s eyes were bright as she met his. “And I think Mr. Derwent means to let me work in my star. It’s such a little star, but I feel it in me to succeed, and if the day should come when I vindicate myself to—to people that are disappointed in me now and don’t understand, I shall be happy, _happy_.” “Happiness is largely a matter of—of friendship, as you said a few minutes ago,” said Irving. “I want you to remember that you may always call upon me; that I am at your service. I swear you shall never be disappointed.” Rosalie returned his earnest regard with serious eyes. “You saved my life,” she said. “I don’t think so,” he returned. “You would have stooped in a minute and crept to a place of safety on the trail.” “Then why were you so savage with me?” she asked. “It would have been necessary for me to stand up on that rock, and to take a short step across to terra firma. It seems as if I never could have done it.” “Oh, yes. The giddiness would have passed in a minute, and you would have done it. Self-preservation is the first law of life.” Rosalie shook her head slowly. “Then you have a bad temper. You were frightfully cross.” “That was merely discipline. You should never go to a place like that unless I am with you.” “You!” The girl’s tone of extreme wonder brought the color to her companion’s face. He replied, however, with _sang-froid_. “Yes. I’ll take you down there now if you’d like to try it again.” She shook her head slowly. “No.”