"And," incredulously, "the fact that we love each other doesn't count?" He shook his head. "I must say I don't understand. I didn't know that you were so happy here--" "Happy!" The color flooded her face as she cried fiercely, "Mostly it's--hell!" "I don't comprehend at all." "In the first place, your world and mine are far apart--that girl you brought to the corrals made me see that clearer than ever before. I might, in time, adapt myself--I don't know. I'm not ignorant of the things one can learn from books, and I'm not dull, but it would be an experiment, and if it failed it might be like that experience at the Prouty House on a larger scale. I would humiliate you and make you ashamed." Then, looking at him searchingly, she added: "Tell me the truth, Hughie--haven't you thought something of this yourself?" "I realize, of course," he admitted candidly, "that naturally there would be situations which would be difficult for you at first; but what of that? You'll learn. You are more than intelligent--you have brains, and your instincts are right from first to last. I tell you I love you, and nothing else counts. I'm so sure of the result that I'm willing to risk the experiment." Her eyes, fixed upon him, shone with pride, and there was a note of exultation in her voice as she cried: "I hoped you would say that!" He smiled back: "You're tricky, Kate. You set traps for me. But," impatiently, "go on; if your other reasons are not more serious than this--" She looked at him speculatively and doubtfully: "I wonder, if I can make you see things from my point of view--if it's possible for you to understand how I feel. Our lives and experiences have been so different. I'm afraid I shall fail. It's just this--" an expression of grim purpose which he saw was not new to it settled upon her face--"I've set myself a goal; it's in sight now and I've got to reach it. If I stopped, I know that the feeling that I had been a quitter when a real temptation came to me would gnaw inside of me until I was restless and discontented, and I would have a contempt for myself that I don't believe ever would leave me. "When people live alone a lot they get to know themselves--the way their minds work, their moods and the causes, their dispositions; and I know that whether my judgment is right or wrong I've got to follow the trail stretching away before me until I've reached my destination." "What is it you want to do, Kate? Why can't I help you?"