Harley could not help laughing at the naive remark, but he liked "King" Plummer all the better for it. The "King," however, gave him no more chance to talk alone that day with Sylvia. Mr. Plummer showed the greatest regard for Miss Morgan's health and comfort, and did not try to hide his solicitude; he was continually about her, arranging little conveniences for the journey, and introducing Idaho topics, familiar to them, but to which Harley was necessarily a stranger. The "King," with his wide sense of Western hospitality, would not have done this at another time, but in view of the close relationship between himself and Sylvia he regarded it as pardonable. The watchful Mrs. Grayson saw it all, and at first she regarded the "King" with an approving eye, but by-and-by the approval changed to a frown. There was something forced in his manner; it was just the least bit unconvincing. It was clear to her that he was overdoing it, and in her opinion that was as bad as not doing it at all. Nor did she like the spectacle of a middle-aged man of affairs trying to play the gallant; there was another manner, one just as good, that would become him more. She was impelled to admonish him again, but she restrained herself, reflecting that she had not improved matters by her first warning, and she might make them worse by her second. Nevertheless, she summoned the nominee of a great party to the American Presidency to a conference, and he came with more alacrity than he would have obeyed the call of a conference of governors. "Sylvia is doing what it is natural for her to do," she said, abruptly. "Then, my dear, why find fault with me because of it?" replied the mystified candidate. "I don't find fault with you; I merely want your advice, although I know that you can have none to give." The candidate wisely kept silent, and waited for the speaker of the house to proceed. "Sylvia is your niece, and Mr. Plummer is your most powerful political supporter in the West," she said. "If she jilts him because of any fancy or impulse--well, you know such things can make men, especially elderly men, do very strange deeds. I speak of it because I am sure it must have been in your thoughts." The candidate stirred uneasily. "It is a thing that I do not like to take into consideration," he said. "Nor do I, but it forces itself upon us." "It is right that Harley should pay her attention. They are members of this party, and they are of an age likely to make them congenial." "That is where the danger lies. It may not amount at present to anything more than a fancy, but a fancy can make a very good beginning." They talked on at length and with much earnestness, but they could come to no other conclusion than to use that last refuge, silence and waiting.