“And they thought I’d worn breeches and ridden the range long enough. They wanted me to go to San Antone at first, but Jimmy--that’s Jimmy Hovey--he persuaded ’em I should come to The Towers--” Raquel stopped a moment, flushing; then went on steadily; “Jimmy, he’s Lois Wainwright’s cousin. He said she was here and would be sweet to me. “He thinks a lot of Lois and of her Dad. She was like a sister to him, he said; and he used to tease her a lot, but she needed it; though she was a good kid, he said. “He had a picture of her on his bureau all the time. She was twelve. He hadn’t seen her since. She looked just as she does now. I sure liked to look at that picture. And Custer, he just loved it. He thought she was just like a fairy. He said when she grew up he wanted to marry that little girl! “I thought when I came here, perhaps she would come back to the ranch to visit us sometimes. But now--” Raquel smiled pityingly at herself for ever having thought of such an impossible thing. “She is pretty,” Anne conceded warmly. “And she _can_ be sweet when she hasn’t some contrary notion fixed in her mind. Her mother died when she was a tiny girl, you see; and her father, I think, was so afraid he would die, too--he’s sick, you know--and leave her alone that he always gave her everything she wanted. “He tried to make up to her for the loss of her mother, and as a result, she didn’t know what it was to be crossed. I think she’d have been different if it weren’t for that. “But tell me, Raquel, how did Jim Hovey happen to be in the West?” “Lungs. He came out to our ranch and stayed there a long time. Dad and Mother took a fancy to him. We all did. And after Miss Angie left--she was our school teacher for six years, ever since I was seven--he made Dad let him teach us. “He was a fine teacher. I love to hear him tell about history. He helped me prepare for the examination papers I had to write for Miss Carter before she said I could come here.” “Raquel, do you mean to say that you’ve never been to regular school before? I think that’s wonderful!” A warm flush at the praise spread into the roots of Raquel’s cropped hair. It embarrassed her, and she turned her face away; but she was glad to have Anne say it, for she felt a passionate loyalty to this new friend, her first girl friend. “Well, you’re the only girl here that does.” Raquel grinned bashfully. “Oh, I know! I can see. I guess I don’t eat right or something, the way the girls at our table look at me sometimes. I suppose they’d be ashamed to ask me to their homes.” “Oh, Raquel, you mustn’t say that! The girls haven’t had a chance really to know you yet. And they’re more or less taken up with the friendships they made last year, and getting settled, and their studies fixed up and all that. Wait until you’ve been at The Towers a few months, dear, and you’ll love it.”