"You want to come up to my claim some time," he said, looking over his shoulder while he rested a minute. "I'll show you how a man keeps house, William Louisa. Once a week I pile my two stools on the table, put the cat up on the bunk--and she looks just about as comfortable and happy as mommie's daughter looks right now--and get busy with the broom and good creek water." He resettled his hat on the back of his head and went to work again. "Mill Creek goes dry down below, on the days when little Wardie cleans his cabin," he assured her gravely, and damming up a muddy pool with the broom, he yanked open the door and swept out the water with a perfectly unnecessary flourish, just because he happened to be in a very exuberant mood. Billy Louise gave a squeal of consternation and then sat absolutely still, staring round-eyed through the doorway. Ward stepped back--even his composure was slightly jarred--and twisted his lips amusedly. "Hello," he said, after a few blank seconds. "You missed some of it, didn't you?" His tone was mildly commiserating. "Will you come in?" "N-o-o, thank you, I don't believe I will." The speaker looked in, however, saw Billy Louise perched upon the table, and took off his hat. He was well plastered with dirty water that ran down and left streaks of mud behind. "I must have gotten off the road," he said. "I'm looking for Mr. Jason Meilke's ranch." Billy Louise tucked her feet farther under her skirts and continued to stare dumbly. Ward, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, stepped considerately between her and the stranger so that his broad shoulders quite hid her from the man's curious stare. "You've struck the right place," he said calmly. "This is it." He picked up another pail of water and sloshed it upon the wet floor to rinse off the mud. "Is--ah--Mrs. Meilke in?" One could not accuse the young man of craning, but he certainly did try to get another glimpse of the person on the table and failed because of Ward. "She's down in the meadow," Billy Louise murmured. "She's down in the meadow," Ward repeated to the bespattered young man. "You just go down past the stable and follow on down--" he waved a hand vaguely before he took up the broom again. "You'll find her, all right," he added encouragingly. "Oh, Ward! That must be Marthy's nephew. What will he think?" "Does it matter such a h-- a deuce of a lot what he thinks?" Ward went on with his interrupted scrubbing. "His name is Charlie Fox, and he's been to college and he worked in a bank," Billy Louise went on nervously. "He's going to live here with Marthy and run the ranch. What must he have thought! To have you sweep all that dirty water on him--" "Oh, not all!" Ward corrected cheerfully. "Quite a lot missed him." Billy Louise giggled. "What does he look like, Ward? You stood squarely in the way, so I--"