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ring her with a long kiss. Breathless, she wriggled partially away, but he still held her in his arms. "Why wont you, Grace?" he begged. "Therell never be anybody else for me or for you. Father and mother and Eva love you almost as much as I do, and on your side your mother and Guy have always seemed to take it as a matter of course that wed marry. It isnt the drinking, is it, dear?" "No, its not that, Custer. Of course Ill marry you--some day; but not yet. Why, I havent lived yet, Custer! I want to live. I want to do something outside of the humdrum life that I have always led and the humdrum life that I shall live as a wife and mother. I want to live a little, Custer, and then Ill be ready to settle down. You all tell me that I am beautiful, and down, away down in the depth of my soul, I feel that I have talent. If I have, I ought to use the gifts God has given me." She was speaking very seriously, and the man listened patiently and with respect, for he realized that she was revealing for the first time a secret yearning that she must have long held locked in her bosom. "Just what do you want to do, dear?" he asked gently. "I--oh, it seems silly when I try to put it in words, but in dreams it is very beautiful and very real." "The stage?" he asked. "It is just like you to understand!" Her smile rewarded him. "Will you help me? I know mother will object." "You want me to help you take all the happiness out of my life?" he asked. "It would only be for a little while--just a few years, and then I would come back to you--after I had made good." "You would never come back, Grace, unless you failed," he said. "If you succeeded, you would never be contented in any other life or atmosphere. If you came back a failure, you couldnt help but carry a little bitterness always in your heart. It would never be the same dear, care-free heart that went away so gayly. Here you have a real part to play in a real drama--not make-believe upon a narrow stage with painted drops." He flung out a hand in broad gesture. "Look at the setting that God has painted here for us to play our parts in--the parts that He has chosen for us! Your mother played upon the same stage, and mine. Do you think them failures? And both were beautiful girls--as beautiful as you." "Oh, but you dont understand, after all, Custer!" she cried. "I thought you did." "I do understand that for your sake I must do my best to persuade you that you have as full a life before you here as upon the stage. I am fighting first for your happiness, Grace, and then for mine. If I fail, then I shall do all that I can to help you realize your ambition. If you cannot stay because you are convinced that you will be happier here, then I do not want you to stay." "Kiss me," she demanded suddenly. "I am only thinking of it, anyway, so lets not worry until there is something to worry about." II The man bent his lips to hers again, and her arms stole about his neck. The calf, in the meantime, perhaps disgusted by such absurdities, had scampered off to try his brand-new legs again, with the result that he ran into a low bush, turned a somersault, and landed on his back. The mother, still doubtful of the intentions of the newcomers, to whose malevolent presence she may have attributed the accident, voiced a perturbed low; whereupon there broke from the vicinity of the live oak a deep note, not unlike the rumbling of distant thunder. The man looked up. "I think well be going," he said. "The Emperor has issued an ultimatum." "Or a bull, perhaps," Grace suggested, as they walked quickly toward her horse. "Awful!" he commented, as he assisted her into the saddle. Then he swung to his own. The Emperor moved majestically toward them, his nose close to the ground. Occasionally he stopped, pawing the earth and throwing dust upon his broad back. "Doesnt he look wicked?" cried the girl. "Just look at those eyes!" "Hes just an old bluffer," replied the man. "However, Id rather have you in the saddle, for you cant always be sure just what theyll do. We must call his bluff, though; it would never do to run from him--might give him bad habits." He rode toward the advancing animal, breaking into a canter as he drew near the bull, and striking his booted leg with a quirt. "Hi, there, you old reprobate! Beat it!" he cried. The bull stood his ground with lowered head and rumbled threats until the horseman was almost upon him; then he turned quickly aside as the rider went past. "Thats better," remarked Custer, as the girl joined him. "Youre not a bit afraid of him, are you, Custer? Youre not afraid of anything." "Oh, I wouldnt say that," he demurred. "I learned a long time ago that most encounters consist principally of bluff. Maybe Ive just grown to be a good bluffer. Anyhow, Im a better bluffer than the Emperor. If the rascal had only known it, he could have run me ragged." As they rode up the side of the basin, the mans eyes moved constantly from point to point, now