“That’s because you won’t see,” she told him impatiently. “I have it all analyzed, but I can’t do anything myself to help Stillwater—they call me ‘Queen Isabelle,’ and say I’m stuck up, and like my father. But you—if you can make them like you, the work is half done. Won’t you try, Mr. O’Neill? I heard how you talked to father, and while I admit he is terribly exasperating, still, that attitude of yours won’t make him love the service any better. If you’d seize every opportunity to make each individual like you personally——” “I will that!” cried Patrick O’Neill, beaming upon her with the Irish twinkle which she had perhaps noticed. “I grasp the idea, and I find it wonderful! But I shall need encouragement and advice—and might I begin with yourself, Miss Boyce?” “Get along with you!” cried Queen Isabelle. “I _told_ you the Irish——” She struck her horse with the quirt and galloped away from him, flushed and biting her lip to keep back the laughter. Then she halted and wheeled, a short distance away. “I’ll advise you about the best way to approach father,” she called to him sweetly. “I can get his real opinion of you as a man——” “Sure, and I had that same by word of mouth, Miss Boyce!” “And if you really need help or advice at any time, I’ll be glad to have you call on me.” “It’s a great deal of trouble you are taking, Miss Boyce, just for a lone ranger, but I’ll be delighted to avail myself of the privilege you so kindly ex——” Queen Isabelle laughed and rode toward him again. “Remember, Mr. O’Neill, that I have lived in this isolated place for more than a year—ever since I finished school. I’m like the rest of the natives—bored to death. Only, I know it and am seizing a small opportunity to direct my energy in some useful channel. You may laugh, but I really mean it. Just living is not enough. I must be doing something. So if I can help you win the Stillwater over to the forest service and make friends of the two, I shall be much more contented with my lot in life; which is staying at home with father and making him as happy as possible. “That,” she added with dignity, “is my sole reason for waylaying you in this bold manner. I could see that you were getting an entirely erroneous view of the situation in your district, and that you were in a fair way to widen the breach between the settlers and the government. We’d be having regular feuds over the forest reserve in another year, just as some of the mountaineers of Kentucky fight the revenue officers. Oh, I have given the matter careful thought, I assure you! You are not like the other rangers, and if you really have the interests of the service at heart, you will do all in your power to promote a better feeling here.” “I will that, Miss Boyce! It’s a sweet little task you’ve set me, but with your constant guidance and encouragement I’ll do it.”