"But, you know, while they were doing that, they were folding back against their long stems, and the stems were folding back against the branches, and the straight branches were all folding downwards against the main stalk. What I mean is that everything worked together, like this--" Janet extended both arms with her fingers widely spread; then, as her arms gradually lowered, her fingers closed together. "It was something like that," she added, "but not exactly; it was ten times as much--something like the ribs of an umbrella going down all around, with stems and rows of locust leaves all along them closing together. And every little leaf was like a rabbit laying back its ears." "Yes; I know what you mean," said Steve. "They are a kind of mimosa. Some people call them that." "Well," said Janet, "I sat and watched one. I just touched it with a hatpin and it did that. A person would almost think it had intelligence. And after a while--when it thought I was gone, I suppose--it began to open its leaves and stems and put its arms out again." She raised her arms slowly, spreading her fingers. Steve was a most attentive listener and spectator. He rather wished there were other plants to imitate. "But that wasn't really what I started to tell about," she went on. "As I was walking along I came to a--well, you might say a whole _crowd_ of them. There was quite a growth like a patch of ferns. I had n't got to them yet, or even taken particular notice of them,--I must have been ten or twelve feet away,--when they all began to close up. I stopped perfectly still; and pretty soon the green leaves were gone and the place was all changed. Now, how do you suppose those plants ever _knew_ I was coming? I would give anything to know how such things can be." "How much would you give?" inquired Steve. For a moment, the spirit of this question hung in the balance. He felt the spell of her inquiring eyes as her hand dropped idly on Shep's back. "Why--do you know?" she asked doubtfully. "I think I do," he answered. "You see, that kind of plants have very long roots; they run away out. You stepped on their toes." "Well, I declare," said Janet, enthusiastic again. "And what a way of saying it." "It looks simple enough, does n't it?" he remarked. "And I never thought of it. Why, it was enough to make a person superstitious. Isn't nature wonderful!" As she took up the coffee, too long neglected, Steve got an imaginary taste of it, and finding it neither hot nor cold, he arose and took her cup. Having refilled it and offered her more of the beans, which to his surprise and gratification she accepted, he made another trip to the corral. In a little while he returned and promptly took his place. "You were saying this morning," he began, "that you were going to the county-seat. Were you sure that you could find your way all alone?"