"Guess the work's pretty tough," he said. "You don't need to fergit you bin a mighty sick man. If you do, why, you'll be li'ble to find yourself on Nan's hands again." "I couldn't wish for better." The reply had come on the instant. It must have warned even Bud that he had found a key to the man's abstraction. "That's so--sure." The emphasis was unmistakable. Nan waited almost breathlessly in a delicious condition of apprehension. "Wher's Nan?" Jeff's demand came sharply. "Som'eres around inside." "I came up to see her." "So?" "Yes." The lowing of the cattle in the pastures was dying with the deepening twilight. The calves seemed to have found their mothers and all was contentment. Nan glad of the growing shadows. For her, obscurity the only thing just now. Jeff's voice again broke the silence. There was something utterly simple in the manner of his words. "I love Nan, Bud," he said. "I want to tell her so. If she'd marry me, I don't guess there'd be a thing left worth asking for. But I don't guess she will. Why should she? I'm not worth her. Gee! But I want her bad." Nan buried her face in her hands. Then she drew back, back, far into the dusk of the room. But she could not escape the voices. Bud's answer came slowly, deliberately. There was a curious note of emotion in it. "You sure aren't. No man is. Ther' ain't a feller on earth worthy my little Nan. But it's up to her. Guess she's around inside som'eres." There was the sound of swift footsteps on the veranda. Nan drew further back into the room. The far wall alone stayed her progress. The door was to her hand, but she made no attempt to avail herself of it. Oh, those delicious moments of terror. It seemed to her as if every joy of life was concentrated in them. Her breath came pantingly. The moments became insupportable. Suddenly a figure, tall, slim, filled the open window. Swift as a flash the mind of the girl went back to the long months of nursing when he had lain helpless in her hands. He had been hers then in his helplessness. Now, in his full manhood's strength, he was coming to her again. A choking sensation seized her, a mist grew before her eyes. "Nan!" The tone of it The softness. The thrilling passion. "Yes, Jeff." The answer was low, almost inaudible. Nor did the man have to search the darkened room. The love which he had for so long thrust aside was--waiting for him.