He had been able to save considerable money. This he had transferred to a bank in Santa Fe, for he had determined to stay in the West. He had told his mother of this decision and had asked her to come, but she had written that she preferred to remain East for a time--at least until the following spring. Hollis was satisfied. Affairs were progressing beyond his anticipations. Dunlavey's influence in the county had received a mighty blow in the defeat of Watkins at the primary; he had received notice of the enactment of several new laws that would appreciably assist him in his fight; he had succeeded in winning many friends because of his attitude on the water question; the increased number of advertisements appearing in the _Kicker_ would soon necessitate the addition of an extra sheet. It all presaged prosperity. Yes, he was satisfied. And yet-- He turned again and looked at the girl. This time he caught her watching him. Evidently she had been watching him for a long time for her gaze was fixed and meditative, as though she had been studying him. She started and blushed when he turned and caught her, looking down in sudden and complete confusion. But she looked up again instantly, meeting his gaze steadily, her lips in a frank smile. "You have been thinking of this country," she said. "You have guessed it," he returned gravely and gently; "I have been thinking of this country--and its people." He smiled at her, his eyes shining with a light that caused hers to waver and droop. "But how did you discover that?" he questioned. "I was not aware that I had been speaking my thoughts." "Do you think it is always necessary to speak?" she answered, looking at him with a quiet smile. "Don't you think there are times when one's thoughts find expression in one's eyes? When we can not conceal them--no matter how hard we try? I know that you were thinking of the country," she went on earnestly, "because a few moments ago I had been thinking of it too and I know that my emotions were exactly the same as those expressed in your eyes. It is magnificent, isn't it?" she said in an awed, eager voice. "It is so big, so mighty, so soul-stirring. It allures with its vastness, it dazzles with its beauty; it makes one feel closer to the Creator, even while pressing home a disquieting sense of one's own insignificance. "For instance," she went on, her eyes large and luminous, a new, quiet color coming into her face "there are times when our tasks seem stupendous, when we are filled with an overpowering consciousness of the importance of them; when we feel that we are carrying such a burden that the addition of another would make the load too heavy. Then we look upon God's work and immediately a still, small voice within us cries: 'What have ye done in comparison to this?' And what have we done?" she suddenly demanded. "Nothing," he returned gravely, awed by this fleeting illuminating glimpse into her soul.