They went on, and came to their camp, and built a fire, and got themselves a gorgeous supper, with a panful of quail and bacon, and hot cocoa, and toast made of the bread which Meelie and Sadie had brought in, and some canned peaches which Bunny had bought. And after supper Bunny saw Ruth down by the goat-pen, and he strolled over to meet her; she gazed about timidly, to make certain no one else was near, and then she whispered, “Paul was here!” Bunny started, amazed. “_Paul?_” And then suddenly the truth flashed over him. “That was Paul we passed on the road!” He described the figure to Ruth, and she said yes, that had been Paul; he had taken a “hitch-hike” to see her, as he had promised, and he had brought her fifteen dollars saved from his earnings. “I told him we didn’t have no need for it now; but he left it.” Then Bunny cried: “Oh, why didn’t he stop and talk to Dad and me? He barely nodded to us!” Ruth was evidently embarrassed; it was hard to get her to talk about Paul any more. But Bunny persisted, he was so anxious to know Paul, he said, and it seemed as if Paul didn’t like him. Only then was Ruth moved to tell him what Paul had said. “He was mad because Pap had sold the ranch. He says we hadn’t ought to done it.” “But what else could you do?” “He says we’d ought to sell the goats, and pay the bank, and raise strawberries, like some o’ the folks is doin’ here. We could git along and be independent—” “Paul is so proud!” cried Bunny. “He’s so afraid of charity!” “No, it ain’t exactly that,” said Ruth. “What is it then?” “Well—it ain’t very polite to talk about—” Ruth was embarrassed again. “What is it, Ruth? I want to try to understand Paul.” “Well, he says your Pap is a big oil man, and he says there’s oil on this ranch, and you know it, for he told you so.” There was a silence. “Is your Pap an oil man?” Bunny forced himself to answer. “Dad’s a business man; he buys land, and all kinds of things. He has a general store, and he buys machinery, and lends money.” That was what Dad had ordered him to say, and it was strictly the truth, as we know; and yet Bunny considered himself a liar while he said it. He was misleading Ruth—gentle, innocent, trusting Ruth, with the wide, candid eyes and the kind, sweet features; Ruth, who was incapable of a hateful thought or a selfish impulse, whose whole life was to be one long immolation in the cause of the brother she loved! Oh, why did it happen that he had to practice deception upon Ruth?