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CHAPTER 7
ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES

SUMMARY OF QUESTIONS BY OBJECTIVES AND BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Item SO BT Item SO BT Item SO BT Item SO BT Item SO BT
True-False Statements
1. 1 C 9. 3 K 17. 5 C 25. 6 C 33. 4 K
2. 1 K 10. 3 K 18. 5 K 26. 6 K 34. 4 K
3. 1 K 11. 3 K 19. 5 K 27. 6 K 35. 5 K
4. 1 K 12. 3 C 20. 5 C 28. 6 K 36. 5 K
5. 1 C 13. 3 K 21. 5 K 29. 8 K 37. 6 K
6. 2 K 14. 3 C 22. 5 C 30. 8 K
7. 2 K 15. 4 C 23. 5 K 31. 1
8. 2 K 16. 5 K 24. 5 C 32. 3
Multiple Choice Questions
38. 1 K 56. 3 K 74. 4 K 92. 5 K 110. 7 C
39. 1 K 57. 3 K 75. 4 C 93. 5 K 111. 7 C
40. 1 K 58. 3 K 76. 4 K 94. 5 K 112. 7 K
41. 1 K 59. 3 K 77. 4 K 95. 5 K 113. 7 K
42. 1 K 60. 3 K 78. 4 AP 96. 5 K 114. 7 K
43. 1 K 61. 3 K 79. 5 K 97. 5 K 115. 7 K
44. 1 K 62. 3 K 80. 5 K 98. 5 K 116. 7 K
45. 1 K 63. 3 K 81. 5 AP 99. 5 K 117. 4 K
46. 1 K 64. 3 K 82. 5 AP 100. 5 K 118. 5 K
47. 1 C 65. 3 K 83. 5 K 101. 5 K 119. 5 K
48. 2 C 66. 3 K 84. 5 K 102. 5 K 120. 5 K
49. 2 K 67. 3 K 85. 5 AP 103. 5 C 121. 6 K
 50. 2 K 68. 3 K 86. 5 AP 104. 6 K 122. 6 K
51. 2 K 69. 3 K 87. 5 K 105. 6 K 123. 8 K
52. 2 K 70. 3 K 88. 5 K 106. 6 K
53. 2 C 71. 4 K 89. 5 K 107. 6 C
54. 2 K 72. 4 K 90. 5 AP 108. 6 C
55. 3 AP 73. 4 K 91. 5 K 109. 6 C
Exercises
124. 2–5 K 128. 7 AP 132. 7 AP 136. 4,5 K 140. 5 AP
125. 3 K 129. 7 AP 133. 7 AP 137. 7 AP 141. 4,5 AN
126. 3 K 130. 4,5 AP 134. 4,5 C 138. 7 AP 142. 6 K
127. 4 K 131. 5 K 135. 4,6 C 139. 7 AP
Completion Statements
143. 1 K 146. 2 K 149. 3 K 152. 7 K
144. 1 K 147. 3 K 150. 4 K 153. 6 K
145. 1 K 148. 3 K 151. 7 K 154. 6 K
7-2 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-2

Brief Exercises
160. 1 K 162. 4 K 164. 6 AP 166. 7 AP 168. 7 AP
161. 3 K 163. 5 K 165. 7 AP 167. 7 AP

SUMMARY OF STUDY OBJECTIVES BY QUESTION TYPE

Item Type Item Type Item Type Item Type Item Type Item Type Item Type
STUDY OBJECTIVE 1
1. TF 4. TF 38. MC 41. MC 44. MC 47. MC 145. C
2. TF 5. TF 39. MC 42. MC 45. MC 143. C 160. BE
3. TF 31. TF 40. MC 43. MC 46. MC 144. C
Study Objective 2
6. TF 8. TF 49. MC 51. MC 53. MC 146. C
7. TF 48. MC 50. MC 52. MC 54. MC 124. Ex
Study Objective 3
9. TF 14. TF 58. MC 63. MC 68. MC 124. Ex 149. C
10. TF 32. TF 59. MC 64. MC 69. MC 125. Ex 161. BE
11. TF 55. MC 60. MC 65. MC 70. MC 126. Ex
12. TF 56. MC 61. MC 66. MC 147. C
13. TF 57. MC 62. MC 67. MC 148. C
Study Objective 4
15. TF 71. MC 74. MC 77. MC 124. Ex 134. Ex 141. Ex
33. TF 72. MC 75. MC 78. MC 127. Ex 135. Ex 150. C
34. TF 73. MC 76. MC 117. MC 130. Ex 136. Ex 162. BE
Study Objective 5
16. TF 24. TF 84. MC 92. MC 100. MC
17. TF 35. TF 85. MC 93. MC 101. MC 130. Ex
18. TF 36. TF 86. MC 94. MC 102. MC 131. Ex 140. Ex
19. TF 79. MC 87. MC 95. MC 103. MC 141. Ex
20. TF 80. MC 88. MC 96. MC 118. MC 163. BE
21. TF 81. MC 89. MC 97. MC 119. MC 134. Ex
22. TF 82. MC 90. MC 98. MC 120. MC 136. Ex
23. TF 83. MC 91. MC 99. MC 124. MC
Study Objective 6
25. TF 37. TF 106. MC 109. MC 135. Ex 154. C
26. TF 104. MC 107. MC 121. MC 142. Ex 164. BE
27. TF 105. MC 108. MC 122. MC 153. C
28. TF
Study Objective 7
110. MC 113. MC 116. MC 132. Ex 138. Ex 152. C 167. BE
111. MC 114. MC 128. Ex 133. Ex 139. Ex 165. BE 168. BE
112. MC 115. MC 129. Ex 137. Ex 151. C 166. BE
7-3 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-3

Study Objective 8
29. TF 30. TF 112. MC 123. MC

Note: TF = True-False C = Completion BE = Brief Exercise

MC = Multiple Choice Ex = Exercise

The chapter also contains one set of twelve Matching questions and four Short-Answer Essay
questions.
7-4 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-4

CHAPTER STUDY OBJECTIVES

1. Explain the meaning of generally accepted accounting principles and identify the key
items of the conceptual framework. Generally accepted accounting principles are a set of
rules and practices that are recognized as a general guide for financial reporting purposes.
Generally accepted means that these principles must have "substantial authoritative support."
The key items of the conceptual framework are: (1) objectives of financial reporting; (2)
qualitative characteristics of accounting information; (3) elements of financial statements; and
(4) operating guidelines (assumptions, principles, and constraints).

2. Describe the basic objectives of financial reporting. The basic objectives of financial
reporting are to provide information that is (1) useful to those making investment and credit
decisions; (2) helpful in assessing future cash flows; and (3) helpful in identifying economic
resources (assets), the claims to those resources (liabilities), and the changes in those
resources and claims.

3. Discuss the qualitative characteristics of accounting information and elements of

financial statements. To be judged useful, information should possess the following qualitative
characteristics: relevance, reliability, comparability, and consistency. The elements of financial
statements are a set of definitions that can be used to describe the basic terms used in
accounting.

4. Identify the basic assumptions used by accountants. The major assumptions are:
monetary unit, economic entity, time period, and going concern.

5. Identify the basic principles of accounting. The major principles are revenue recognition,
matching, full disclosure, and cost.

6. Identify the two constraints in accounting. The major constraints are materiality and
conservatism.
7. Understand and analyze classified financial statements. We presented classified balance
sheets and classified (multi-step) income statements in Chapters 4 and 5, respectively. Two
new items added to the classified income statement in this chapter are income taxes and
earnings per share. Three items used to analyze the balance sheet are the current ratio,
working capital, and debt to total assets. Earnings per share, profit margin percentage (return
on sales), return on assets, and return on common stockholders’ equity are used to analyze
profitability.

8. Explain the accounting principles used in international operations. There are few
recognized worldwide accounting standards. The International Accounting Standards Board,
of which the United States is a member, is working to obtain conformity in international
accounting practices.
7-5 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-5

TRUE-FALSE STATEMENTS
1. In order to compare the financial statements of different companies, it would be desirable
to have each company develop its own set of accounting rules and practices.

2. Pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board are considered to have

"substantial authoritative support."

3. The SEC is a governmental agency that was established in 1933 to regulate U.S.
securities markets.

4. The FASB and the SEC are standard-setting bodies responsible for making GAAP.

5. An advantage of developing accounting principles on a problem-by-problem basis is that it

results in consistent rules and practices over time.

6. The FASB concluded that the last level in developing the conceptual framework was to
determine the objectives of financial reporting.

7. The FASB conceptual framework identifies providing information useful to those making
investment and credit decisions as an objective of financial reporting.

8. An objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is helpful in assessing

future cash flows.

9. Accounting information is reliable if it makes a difference in a decision.

10. The elements of financial statements include assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, and
expenses.

11. The FASB conceptual framework identifies future cash flows as a major element of
financial statements.

12. Information is relevant if it provides a basis for predicting future earnings.

13. Comparability means that a company uses the same accounting principles and methods
from year to year.

14. A company cannot change its accounting methods because of the need for consistency.

15. The going concern assumption assumes that the business will continue in operation long
enough to carry out its existing objectives.

16. The economic entity assumption states that the economic life of the business can be
broken into artificial time periods.

17. The cost of inventory is expensed in the accounting period when the inventory is sold to a
customer.

18. The matching principle dictates that expenses be recognized when cash is paid or when
the work is performed.
7-6 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-6

19. Firms often comply with the full disclosure principle by providing information in notes that
accompany the financial statements.

20. Costs become expenses when they are charged against revenue.

21. Operating expenses typically include costs for advertising, salaries and rent.

22. The full disclosure principle requires that events that make a difference to financial
statement users be disclosed.

23. The cost of an asset is considered reliable but not relevant.

24. Constraints in accounting allow a company to modify generally accepted accounting

principles without reducing the usefulness of the reported information.

25. Materiality and conservatism are two constraints in applying operating guidelines.

26. The use of accelerated depreciation methods for capital assets is an application of the
materiality constraint.

27. Conservatism in accounting means the accounting should understate assets and income.

28. The valuation of inventory at the lower of cost or market is an application of conservatism.

29. International accounting standards are developed by the IASB and are followed by large
multinational companies.

30. Generally accepted accounting principles are uniform throughout the world.

31. To be considered part of generally accepted accounting principles, a principle should have
substantial authoritative support.

32. Comparability means using the same accounting principles and methods from year to
year within a company.

33. The economic entity assumption states that the economic life of a business can be divided
into artificial time periods.

34. The monetary unit assumption states that only transaction data capable of being
expressed in terms of money should be included in the accounting records of the
economic entity.

35. When the savings and loan industry recorded a large portion of its fees for granting a loan
as revenue immediately, many thought this may have violated the revenue recognition
principle.

36. For most companies, the first note to the financial statements is the summary of significant
accounting policies.

37. An item is material if its inclusion or omission has no impact on a decision maker.
7-7 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-7

Answers to True-False Statements

Item Ans. Item Ans. Item Ans. Item Ans. Item Ans. Item Ans. Item Ans.
1. F 7. T 13. F 19. T 25. T 31. T 37. F
2. T 8. T 14. F 20. T 26. F 32. F
3. T 9. F 15. T 21. T 27. F 33. F
4. T 10. T 16. F 22. T 28. T 34. T
5. F 11. F 17. T 23. F 29. T 35. T
6. F 12. T 18. F 24. T 30. F 36. T

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

38. The standards and rules that are recognized as a general guide for financial reporting are called
a. generally accepted accounting standards.
b. generally accepted accounting principles.
c. operating guidelines.
d. standards of financial reporting.

39. "Generally accepted" in the phrase generally accepted accounting principles means that the
principles
a. are proven theories of accounting.
b. have substantial authoritative support.
c. have been approved by the Internal Revenue Service.
d. have been approved for use by the managements of business firms.

40. The conceptual framework developed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board
a. was approved by a vote of all accountants.
b. are rules that all accountants must follow.
c. is viewed as providing a constitution for setting accounting standards for financial reporting.
d. is legally binding on all accountants.

41. Accounting principles must be

a. proven and tested.
b. hypothesized and theorized.
c. developed or decreed.
d. universally accepted.

42. FASB has had the responsibility for developing accounting principles since the early
a. 1900s.
b. 1920s.
c. 1940s.
d. 1970s.

43. The SEC is a governmental agency that

a. was established in 1934.
b. administers the laws and regulations relating to the exchange of securities and the publication
of financial information.
c. has no authority to mandate accounting principles.
d. regulates the accounting profession.
7-8 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-8

44. The conceptual framework does not include

a. objectives of financial reporting.
b. elements of financial statements.
c. operating guidelines.
d. quantitative characteristics of accounting information.

45. The conceptual framework includes all of the following except

a. objectives of financial reporting
b. elements of financial statements
c. statement presentation and analysis
d. qualitative characteristics

46. Operating guidelines that are part of FASB's conceptual framework would best be described as
a. laws.
b. rules.
c. regulations.
d. principles.

47. All of the following are objectives of financial reporting except

a. provide information that is helpful in making investment decisions.
b. provide information that is helpful is assessing future cash flows.
c. provide information that identifies economic resources.
d. maximize social welfare.

48. Determining the objectives of financial reporting requires answers to each of the following except
a. who uses financial statements?
b. what information do financial statement users need?
c. how knowledgeable about accounting are financial statement users?
d. how should financial information be recorded in the accounting records?

49. Which one of the following is not an objective of financial reporting according to the conceptual
framework?
a. To provide information that will increase the value of the company
b. To provide information in assessing future cash flows
c. To provide information that is useful for making investment and credit decisions
d. To provide information that identifies economic resources, the claims to those resources, and
the changes in those resources and claims

50. The FASB concluded that the first level in developing the conceptual framework was to determine
the
a. elements of financial statements.
b. operating guidelines.
c. objectives of financial reporting.
d. qualitative characteristics of accounting information.

51. Operating guidelines include all of the following except

a. assumptions.
b. constraints.
c. principles.
d. qualitative characteristics.
7-9 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7-9

52. Which of the following is not a goal of financial reporting?

a. To provide information that is useful to those making investment decisions
b. To provide information that is useful to those making credit decisions
c. To provide information that is useful in understanding everything about the company
d. To provide information that identifies changes in resources and claims

53. Qualitative characteristics include all of the following except

a. profitability.
b. relevance.
c. comparability.
d. reliability.

54. An objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is mainly useful to

a. governmental taxing bodies.
b. employees and labor unions.
c. investors and creditors.
d. internal and external auditors.

55. Accounting information is relevant if it

a. has either predictive or feedback value.
b. is consistently presented from year to year.
c. is verifiable.
d. is neutral.

56. An overriding criterion in evaluating the accounting information to be presented is

a. fairness.
b. legality.
c. management's goals.
d. decision usefulness.

57. Which one of the following is not a qualitative characteristic of useful accounting information?
a. Relevance
b. Reliability
c. Conservatism
d. Comparability

58. In order for accounting information to be relevant, it must

a. have very little cost.
b. have predictive or feedback value.
c. not be reported to the public.
d. be used by a lot of different firms.

59. Accounting information should be verifiable in order to enhance

a. comparability.
b. reliability.
c. consistency.
d. feedback value.

60. If accounting information has feedback value, it

a. has been verified by external audit.
b. is prepared on an annual basis.
c. confirms or corrects prior expectations.
d. is neutral in its representations.
7 - 10 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7 - 10

61. If accounting information has predictive value, it is useful in making predictions about
a. future IRS audits.
b. new accounting principles.
c. foreign currency exchange rates.
d. the outcomes of past, present, and future events of a company.

62. Reliable accounting information

a. has predictive or feedback value.
b. enhances comparisons between companies.
c. is free of error and bias.
d. allows for meaningful trend analysis across years.

63. Which of the following is not a qualitative characteristic associated with reliability?
a. Verifiability
b. Conservatism
c. Neutrality
d. Representational faithfulness

64. A company can change to a new method of accounting if management can justify that the new
method results in
a. more meaningful financial information.
b. a higher net income.
c. a lower net income for tax purposes.
d. less likelihood of clerical errors.

65. Accounting information should be neutral in order to enhance

a. reliability.
b. predictive value.
c. feedback value.
d. relevancy.

66. Which of the following statements is not true?

a. Comparability means using the same accounting principles from year to year within a
company.
b. Reliability is the quality of information that gives assurance that it is free of error or bias.
c. Relevant accounting information must be capable of making a difference in the decision.
d. The FASB concluded that the overriding criterion by which accounting choices can be judged is
decision usefulness.

67. Which of the following is a violation of consistency?

a. A company uses LIFO inventory costing in its first year of business, then switches to FIFO the
next year in order to increase reported profits.
b. A company uses straight-line depreciation for financial reporting purposes but an accelerated
method for tax accounting.
c. A company’s financial statements are audited annually.
d. A company uses weighted average inventory costing because most of the other firms in its
industry use that method.

68. Which of the following is not an element of financial statements?

a. Assets
b. Revenues
c. Cash Flows
d. Equity
7 - 11 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7 - 11

69. Qualitative characteristics associated with relevant accounting information are

a. consistency, faithful representation, and timeliness.
b. predictive value, feedback value, and timeliness.
c. neutrality, predictive value, reliability.
d. going concern, cost principle, and materiality.

70. Reliability means that

a. the information is a faithful representation of what it purports to be.
b. a company uses the same accounting principles from year to year.
c. accounting information can be compared with that of other enterprises in the industry.
d. the information has feedback value.

71. The assumption that states that the activities of each company be kept separate from the activities
of its owners and all other companies is the
a. economic entity assumption.
b. going concern assumption.
c. monetary unit assumption.
d. time period assumption.

72. The economic entity assumption states that

a. the economic life of a business can be divided into artificial time periods.
b. economic events can be identified with a particular entity.
c. the accounting period should not exceed one year.
d. it is assumed that the business will operate indefinitely.

73. The going concern assumption assumes that the business

a. will be liquidated in the near future.
b. will be purchased by another business.
c. is in a growth industry.
d. will continue in operation long enough to carry out its existing objectives and commitments.

74. The time period assumption states that the economic life of a business can be divided into
a. equal time periods.
b. cyclical time periods.
c. artificial time periods.
d. perpetual time periods.

75. The assumption that the unit of measure stays relatively stable over time is the
a. going concern assumption.
b. time period assumption.
c. economic entity assumption.
d. monetary unit assumption.

76. The going concern principle may be inapplicable when

a. the business is just starting-up.
b. liquidation is assumed.
c. fair market values are higher than costs.
d. net realizable values cannot be obtained.

77. It is assumed that the activities of John and Mary Pool can be distinguished from those of Pool
Enterprises because of the
a. Cost principle
b. Economic Entity assumption
c. Periodicity assumption
d. Going concern assumption
7 - 12 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7 - 12

78. It is assumed that the activities of Daimler Chrysler Corporation can be distinguished from those of
General Motors because of the
a. going concern assumption.
b. economic entity assumption.
c. monetary unit assumption.
d. time period assumption.

79. The basic principles of accounting include each of the following except the
a. cost principle.
b. full disclosure principle.
c. going concern principle.
d. matching principle.

80. The revenue recognition principle

a. states that revenue should be recognized in the period when received.
b. states that expense recognition is tied to revenue recognition.
c. requires that revenue be recognized in the accounting period when it is earned.
d. requires that events which make a difference to financial statement users be disclosed.

81. The principle that dictates that expense be matched with revenues in the period in which efforts are
made to generate revenues is the
a. revenue recognition principle.
b. matching principle.
c. cost expiration principle.
d. cash flow principle.

82. In a merchandising enterprise, revenue should be recognized

a. when a order from a customer is received.
b. at the point of sale.
c. when cash is received from the customer.
d. when the goods are received by the customer.

83. According the matching principle, the cost of inventory becomes an expense
a. when the inventory is purchased.
b. when the inventory is paid for.
c. when the inventory is sold.
d. when the inventory is used.

84. An example of an expired cost is

a. inventory.
b. sales salaries.
c. prepaid expenses.
d. plant assets.

85. The revenue recognition principle dictates that revenue should be recognized in the accounting
period in which it is
a. collected.
b. earned.
c. most likely to be collected.
d. earned and collected.

86. All of the following costs are operating expenses except

a. advertising expense.
b. interest expense.
c. rent expense.
d. loss on the sale of plant assets.
7 - 13 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7 - 13

87. Costs become expenses

a. when they are paid.
b. when they are charged against revenues.
c. when they are purchased.
d. at the end of the accounting period.

88. All of the following are typically included in the summary of significant accounting policies except
a. inventory costing method.
b. names, ages and salaries of executive management.
c. depreciation methods.
d. revenue recognition policies.

89. Cost is relevant because

a. it is objectively measurable.
b. it is factual.
c. it is verifiable
d. it represents the price paid, the assets sacrificed, or the commitment made at acquisition.

90. The cost principle has been criticized for being

a. unverifiable.
b. biased.
c. not determinable.
d. irrelevant.

91. The full disclosure principle requires that

a. revenue should be recognized in the period in which it is earned.
b. expenses should be matched against revenues in the period when the effort was expended to
earn the revenue.
c. circumstances and events that make a difference to financial statement users should be
disclosed in the financial statements.
d. the economic life of the business be divided into artificial time periods.

92. The matching principle states that

a. expenses become costs when they expire.
b. liabilities should be matched against assets on the balance sheet.
c. expenses should be matched against the revenues they help generate.
d. costs should be expensed when paid.

93. The practice of "letting the expense follow the revenue" is referred to as the
a. full disclosure principle.
b. installment method.
c. matching principle.
d. revenue recognition principle.

94. Costs that will generate revenues only in the current accounting period represent
a. accrued costs.
b. expired costs.
c. unexpired costs.
d. operating costs.

95. Costs that will generate revenues in current and future accounting periods are called
a. unexpired costs.
b. operating costs.
c. expired costs.
d. accrued costs.
7 - 14 Test Bank for Financial Accounting, Fifth Edition Financial Accounting 7 - 14

96. Each of the following is an example of an unexpired cost except

a. merchandise inventory.
b. plant assets.
c. prepaid expenses.
d. repairs.

97. The summary of significant accounting policies footnoted in the financial statements would not
normally discuss
a. depreciation methods.
b. board of directors salaries.
c. method of inventory costing.
d. amortization of intangible assets.

98. The cost principle states that assets are recorded at their cost because cost is
a. relevant.
b. reliable.
c. objectively measurable.
d. all of these.

99. The information provided in the notes that accompany financial statements is required because of
the
a. cost principle.
b. full disclosure principle.
c. matching principle.
d. revenue recognition principle.

100. A cost that is not expected to provide future benefits is an

a. expired cost.
b. accrued cost.
c. operating cost.
d. unexpired cost.

101. The cost principle is the basis for preparing financial statements because it is
a. a conservative value.
b. relevant and objectively measured, and verifiable.
c. an international accounting standard.
d. the most accurate measure of purchasing power.

102. The principle that states that revenue should be recognized in the period in which it is earned is the
a. Revenue Recording Principle.
b. Revenue Recognition Principle.
c. Matching Principle.
d. Earned Income Principle.

103. Cost of goods sold is expensed when

a. the cash is paid for the product.
b. the work is performed.
c. the product is produced.
d. the product makes its contribution to revenue.

104. Constraints in accounting include each of the following except

a. conservatism.
b. matching.
c. materiality.
d. All of these are constraints.
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The others exchanged bulletins with him. He was, he said, as
rampageous as a long-legged hill two-year-old.
“Mr. Hollister!” Betty quavered.
The engineer was nowhere to be seen. They called, and no answer
came. Betty’s heart dropped like a plummet. She turned upon her
father anguished eyes. They begged him to do something. He
noticed that her cheeks were blanched, the color had ebbed from her
lips. His daughter’s distress touched him nearly. He could not stand
that stricken look.
“I’ll find him,” he promised.
Jammed between two trees, upside down, with one end sticking out
of the snow, they found the wagon bed at the bottom of the ravine.
Forbes spoke to Reed in a low voice, for his ears alone.
“Not a chance in fifty of findin’ him in all this snow, an’ if we do, he’ll
not be alive.”
“Yes,” agreed the ranchman. “If a fellow knew where to look. But no
telling where the snow carried him.”
“Might still be under the wagon bed, o’ course.”
“Might be.”
A low groan reached them. They listened. It came again, from under
the bed of the wagon apparently.
“He’s alive,” Clint called to Betty.
The drooping little figure crouched in the snow straightened as
though an electric current had been shot through it. The girl waded
toward them, eager, animate with vigor, pulsing with hope.
“Oh, Dad. Let’s hurry. Let’s get him out.”
Reed rapped the wagon bed with his knuckles. “How about it,
Hollister? Hurt much?”
“Knocked out,” a weak voice answered. “Guess I’m all right now. Arm
scraped a bit.”
The handle of a shovel stuck out of the snow like a post. Lon worked
it loose, tore the lower part free, and brought it to the bed. He began
to dig. Reed joined him, using his leather gauntlets as spades. It took
nearly half an hour to get Hollister out. He came up smiling.
“Cold berth down there,” he said by way of comment.
“You’re not really hurt, are you?” Betty said.
“Nothing to speak of. The edge of the sled scraped the skin from my
arm. Feels a bit fiery. How about the horses?”
Lon and his employer were already at work on them. Three of the
animals had pawed and kicked till they were back on their feet. The
men helped them back to the road, after unhitching them from the
sled. It was necessary to dig the fourth horse out of a deep drift into
which it had been flung.
Betty sat beside Hollister in the wagon bed on a pile of salvaged
blankets. She felt strangely weak and shaken. It was as though the
strength had been drained out of her by the emotional stress through
which she had passed. To be flung starkly against the chance, the
probability, that Tug was dead had been a terrible experience. The
shock had struck her instantly, vitally, with paralyzing force. She
leaned against the side of the bed laxly, trying to escape from the
harrowing intensity of her feeling. That she could suffer so acutely,
so profoundly, was a revelation to her.
What was the meaning of it? Why had the strength and energy
ebbed from her body as they do from one desperately wounded? It
was disturbing and perplexing. She had not been that way when her
father was shot. Could she find the answer to the last question in the
way she had put it? Desperately wounded! Had she, until hope
flowed back into her heart, been that?
“You’re ill,” she heard a concerned, far-away voice say. “It’s been too
much for you.”
She fought against a wave of faintness before she answered. “I
suppose so. It’s—silly of me. But I’m all right now.”
“It’s no joke to be buried in an avalanche. Hello! Look there!”
Her gaze followed the direction in which he was pointing, the edge of
the bluff above. Two men were looking down from the place where
the slide had started. It was too far to recognize them, but one
carried a rifle. They stood there for a minute or two before they
withdrew.
“Do you think—that they—?”
His grave eyes met hers. “I think they attempted murder, and, thank
God! failed.”
“Don’t say anything to Dad—not now,” she cautioned.
He nodded assent. “No.”
Reed had looked at his watch just before the avalanche had come
down on them. The time was then ten o’clock. It was past two before
the outfit was patched up sufficiently to travel again.
Not till they were safely out of the hills and gliding into Paradise
Valley did the cowman ask a question that had been in his mind for
some time.
“Why do you reckon that slide came down at the very moment we
were in the ravine?”
“I’ve been wonderin’ about that my own se’f. O’ course, it might just
a-happened thataway.” This from Forbes.
“It might, but it didn’t.”
“Meanin’?”
“There was an explosion just before the slide started. Some one
dynamited the comb to send it off the bluff.”
“Are you guessin’, Clint? Or do you know it for a fact?”
“I’m guessing, but I pretty near know it.”
Betty spoke up, quietly, unexpectedly. “So do Mr. Hollister and I.”
The two ranchmen pivoted simultaneously toward her. They waited,
only their eyes asking the girl what she meant.
“While you were digging, Mr. Hollister saw two men up there. He
pointed them out to me.”
“And why didn’t you show ’em to me?” demanded her father.
“What would you have done if I had?” she countered.
“Done! Gone up an’ found out who they were, though I could give a
good guess right now.”
“And do you think they would have let you come near? We could see
that one of them had a rifle. Maybe both had. They didn’t stay there
long, but I was afraid every second that you’d look up and see them.”
The foreman grunted appreciation of her sagacity. “Some head she’s
got, Clint. You’d sure have started after them birds, me like as not
trailin’ after you. An’ you’d sure never have got to ’em.”
The cowman made no comment on that. “He timed it mighty close.
Saw us coming, of course, an’ figured how long it would take us to
reach where we did. Good guessing. An old fox, I’ll say.”
“Same here.”
“He didn’t miss smashing us twenty seconds,” Hollister said. “As it
was, that’s no kind of snowstorm to be out in without an umbrella
and overshoes.”
Betty looked at him and smiled faintly. It was all very well to joke
about it now, but they had missed being killed by a hair’s breadth. It
made her sick to think of that cackling little demon up there on the
bluff plotting wholesale murder and almost succeeding in his plan.
She lived over again with a bleak sinking of the heart that five
minutes when she had not known whether Tug Hollister was dead or
alive.
If he had been killed! She knew herself now. Justin’s instinct of
selfishness had been right, after all. His niggardliness resolved itself
into self-protection. He had been fighting for his own. Even his
jealousy stood justified. She had talked largely of friendship, had
deceived herself into thinking that it was expression of herself she
craved. That was true in a sense, but the more immediate blinding
truth was that she loved Hollister. It had struck her like a bolt of
lightning.
She felt as helpless as a drowning man who has ceased struggling.
 CHAPTER XXXII
WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON

It was an upsetting thing, this that had happened to Betty, as

decided and far less explainable than a chemical reaction. It seemed
to her as though life had suddenly begun to move at tremendous
speed, without any warning to her whatever that Fate intended to
step on the accelerator. She was caught in the current of a stream of
emotion sweeping down in flood. Though it gave her a great thrill,
none the less it was devastating.
She wanted to escape, to be by herself behind a locked door, where
she could sit down, find herself again, and take stock of the situation.
To sit beside this stranger who had almost in the twinkling of an eye
become of amazing import to her, to feel unavoidable contact of
knee and elbow and shoulder, magnetic currents of attraction
flowing, was almost more than she could bear.
Betty talked, a little, because silence became too significant. She felt
a sense of danger, as though the personality, the individuality she
had always cherished, were being dissolved in the gulf where she
was sinking. But what she said, what Hollister replied, she could
never afterward remember.
Ruth ran to meet them with excited little screams of greeting. “Hoo-
hoo, Daddy! Hoo-hoo, Betty! Oh, goody, goody!”
Her sister was out of the sled and had the child in her arms almost
before the horses had stopped. “You darling darling!” she cried.
Buxom Bridget came to the door, all smiles of welcome. “And is it
your own self at last, Betty mavourneen? It’s glad we are to see you
this day.”
Betty hugged her and murmured a request. “Better fix up the south
bedroom for Mr. Hollister. He ought to rest at once. I’m kinda tired.”
“Sure, an’ I’ll look after him. Don’t you worry your head about that.
The room’s all ready.”
The girl’s desire to question herself had to be postponed. She had
reckoned without Ruth, who clung to her side until the child’s
bedtime. Pleading fatigue, Betty retired immediately after her sister.
She slipped into a négligée, let her dark hair down so that it fell a
rippling cascade over her shoulders, and looked into the glass of her
dressing-table that reflected a serious, lovely face of troubled youth.
A queer fancy moved in her that this girl who returned her gaze was
a stranger whom she was meeting for the first time.
Did love play such tricks as this? Did it steal away self-confidence
and leave one shy and gauche? She saw a pulse fluttering in the
brown slender throat. That was odd too. Her nerves usually were
steel-strong.
She combed her hair, braided it, and put on a crêpe-de-chine
nightgown. After the light was out and she was between the sheets,
her thoughts settled to more orderly sequence. She could always
think better in the dark, and just now she did not want to be
distracted by any physical evidences of the disorder into which she
had been flung.
How could she ever have thought of marrying Justin? She had spent
a good deal of time trying to decide calmly, without any agitation of
the blood, whether she was in love with him. It was no longer
necessary for her to puzzle over how a girl would know whether she
cared for a man. She knew. It was something in nature, altogether
outside of one’s self, that took hold of one without rhyme or reason
and played havoc with dispassionate tranquillity; a devouring flame
clean and pure, containing within itself all the potentialities of tragedy
—of life, of death, of laughter, love and tears.
And then, as is the way of healthy youth, in the midst of her
puzzlement she was asleep—and with no lapse of time, as though a
curtain had rolled up, she was opening her eyes to a new day.
If Tug had let himself count on long full hours with Betty in the
pleasant living-room, of books and ideas to be discussed together, of
casual words accented to meaning by tones of the voice and flashes
of the eye, he was predestined to disappointment. In the hill cabin
they had been alone together a good deal. She contrived to see that
this never occurred now. Except at table or in the evening with Ruth
and her father, he caught only glimpses of her as she moved about
her work.
Her eyes did not avoid his, but they did not meet in the frank, direct
way characteristic of her. She talked and laughed, joined in the give-
and-take of care-free conversation. To put into words the difference
was not easy. What he missed was the note of deep understanding
that had been between them, born less of a common point of view
than of a sympathy of feeling. Betty had definitely withdrawn into
herself.
Had he offended her? He could not think how, but he set himself to
find out. It took some contriving, for when one will and one will not a
private meeting is not easily arranged.
He was in the big family room, lying on a lounge in the sunshine of
the south window. Ruth had finished her lessons and was on the
floor busy with a pair of scissors and a page of magazine cutouts.
She babbled on, half to herself and half to him. They had become
great friends, and for the time she was his inseparable, perhaps
because he was the only one of the household not too busy to give
her all the attention she craved. Her talk, frank with the egotism of
childhood, was wholly of herself.
“I been awful bad to-day,” she confided cheerfully, almost proudly.
“Gettin’ in Bridget’s flour bin ’n’ ev’ryfing to make a cake ’n’ spillin’ a
crock o’ milk on the floor.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Oh, I been the baddest,” she reflected aloud enjoyably. Then,
unhampered by any theory of self-determination, she placed the
blame placidly where it belonged, “When I said my prayers last night
I asked God to make me good, but he didn’t do it.”
Tug did not probe deeper into this interesting point of view, for Betty
came into the room with an armful of books and magazines.
“Thought from what you said at breakfast you’re hungry for reading,”
she said. “So I brought you some. If you’re like I am, you’ll want to
browse around a bit before you settle down. This Tarkington story is
good—if you haven’t read it. But maybe you like Conrad better.”
Through the open door came a delicious odor of fresh baking from
the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye Tug took in Ruth. He sniffed
the spicy aroma and audibly sounded his lips.
“My! Cookies!” he murmured.
Instantly Ruth responded to the suggestion. She scrambled to her
feet and trotted out, intent on achieving cookies at once. Betty turned
to follow, but her guest stopped her with a question.
“What’s the Tarkington story about?”
“About a girl who’s hanging on to the outskirts of society and making
all kinds of pretenses—a pushing kind of a girl, who has to fib and
scheme to get along. But he makes her so human you like her and
feel sorry for her.”
“Sounds interesting.” He fired his broadside while he still held her
eyes. “Miss Reed, why am I being punished?”
Into her cheeks the color flowed. “Punished?” she murmured, taken
aback.
Betty had stopped by the table and half turned. He reached for the
umbrella he used as a support and hobbled toward her. “Yes. What
have I done?”
A turmoil of the blood began to boil in her. “The doctor said you were
to keep off your feet,” she evaded.
“Yes, and he said you were to entertain me—keep me interested.”
“That was when you were too sick to read. And I’m busy now. Lots of
work piled up while I was away.”
“Then you’re not offended about anything.”
She had picked up a book from the table and was reading the title.
Her eyes did not lift to his. “What could I be—offended about?” In
spite of the best she could do, her voice was a little tremulous.
“I don’t know. Are you?”
“No.” The lashes fluttered up. She had to meet his gaze or confess
that she was afraid to.
“You’re different. You—”
He stopped, struck dumb. A wild hope flamed up in him. What was it
the shy, soft eyes were telling him against her will? He stood on the
threshold of knowledge, his heart drumming fast.
During that moment of realization they were lost in each other’s
eyes. The soul of each was drawn as by a magnet out of the body to
that region beyond space where the spirits of lovers are fused.
Betty’s hands lifted ever so slightly in a gesture of ultimate and
passionate surrender to this force which had taken hold of her so
completely.
Then, with no conscious volition on the part of either, they were in
each other’s arms, swept there by a rising tide of emotion that
drowned thought.
 CHAPTER XXXIII
THE BLUEBIRD ALIGHTS AND THEN TAKES
WING

Tug pushed Betty from him. Out of a full tide of feeling he came to
consciousness of what he was doing.
“I can’t. I can’t,” he whispered hoarsely.
She understood only that something in his mind threatened their
happiness. Her eyes clung to his. She waited, breathless, still under
the spell of their great moment.
“Can’t what?” at last she murmured.
“Can’t ... marry you.” He struggled for expression, visibly in anguish.
“I’m ... outside the pale.”
“How—outside the pale?”
“I’ve made it impossible. We met too late.”
“You’re not—married?”
“No. I’m ... I’m—” He stuck, and started again. “You know. My vice.”
It took her a moment to remember what it was. To her it was
something done with ages ago in that pre-millennial past before they
had found each other. She found no conceivable relationship
between it and this miracle which had befallen them.
“But—I don’t understand. You’re not—”
She flashed a star-eyed, wordless question at him, born of a swift
and panicky fear.
“No. I haven’t touched it—not since I went into the hills. But—I
might.”
“What nonsense! Of course, you won’t.”
“How do I know?”
“It’s too silly to think about. Why should you?”
“It’s not a matter of reason. I tried to stop before, and I couldn’t.”
“But you stopped this time.”
“Yes. I haven’t had the headaches. Suppose they began again.
They’re fierce—as though the top of my head were being sawed off.
If they came back—what then? How do I know I wouldn’t turn to the
drug for relief?”
“They won’t come back.”
“But if they did?”
She gave him both her hands. There were gifts in her eyes—of faith,
of splendid scorn for the vice he had trodden underfoot, of faith
profound and sure. “If they do come back, dear, we’ll fight them
together.”
He was touched, deeply. There was a smirr of mist obscuring his
vision. Her high sweet courage took him by the throat. “That’s like
you. I couldn’t pay you a better compliment if I hunted the world over
for one. But I can’t let you in for the possibility of such a thing. I’d be
a rotten cad to do it. I’ve got to buck it through alone. That’s the price
I’ve got to pay.”
“The price for what?”
“For having been a weakling: for having yielded to it before.”
“You never were a weakling,” she protested indignantly. “You weren’t
responsible. It was nothing but an effect of your wounds. The doctors
gave it to you because you had to have it. You used it to dull the
horrible pain. When the pain stopped and you were cured, you quit
taking it. That’s all there is to it.”
He smiled ruefully, though he was deadly in earnest. “You make it
sound as simple as a proposition in geometry. But I’m afraid, dear, it
isn’t as easily disposed of as that. I started to take it for my
headaches, but I kept on taking it regularly whether I needed it for
the pain or not. I was a drug victim. No use dodging that. It’s the
truth.”
“Well, say you were. You’re not now. You never will be again. I’d—I’d
stake my head on it.”
“Yes. Because you are you. And your faith would help me—
tremendously. But I know the horrible power of the thing. It’s an
obsession. When the craving was on me, it was there every second.
I found myself looking for all sorts of plausible excuses to give way.”
“It hadn’t any real power. You’ve proved that by breaking away from
it.”
“I’ve regained my health from the hills and from my work. That
stopped the trouble with my head. But how do I know it has stopped
permanently?”
Wise beyond her years, she smiled tenderly. “You mentioned faith a
minute ago. It’s true. We have to live by that. A thousand times a day
we depend on it. We rely on the foundations of the house not to
crumble and let it bury us. I never ride a horse without assuming that
it won’t kick me. We have to have the courage of our hopes, don’t
we?”
“For ourselves, yes. But we ought not to invite those we love into the
house unless we’re sure of the foundations.”
“I’m sure enough. And, anyhow, that’s a poor cold sort of philosophy.
I want to be where you are.” The slim, straight figure, the dusky,
gallant little head, the eyes so luminous and quick, reproached with
their eagerness his prudent caution. She offered him the greatest gift
in the world, and he hung back with ifs and buts.
There was in him something that held at bay what he wanted more
than anything else on earth. He could not brush aside hesitations
with her magnificent scorn. He had lost the right to do it. His
generosity would be at her expense.
“If you knew, dear, how much I want you. If you knew! But I’ve got to
think of you, to protect you from myself. Oh, Betty, why didn’t I meet
you two years ago?” His voice was poignant as a wail.
“You didn’t. But you’ve met me now. If you really want me—well,
here I am.”
“Yes, you’re there, the sweetest girl ever God made—and I’m here a
thousand miles away from you.”
“Not unless you think so, Tug,” she answered softly, her dusky eyes
inviting him. “You’ve made me love you. What are you going to do
with me?”
“I’m going to see you get the squarest deal I can give you, no matter
what it costs.”
“Costs you or me?”
The sound in his throat was almost a groan. “Dear heart, I’m torn in
two,” he told her.
“Don’t be, Tug.” Her tender eyes and wistfully smiling lips were very
close to him. “It’s all right. I’m just as sure.”
He shook his head. “I’ve got to play the game,” he said miserably.
Betty talked, pleaded, argued with him, but his point of view
remained unchanged.
A reaction of irritation swept her. It was in part offended modesty.
She had offered herself, repeatedly, and he would not have her. How
did she know that he was giving the true reason? It might be only a
tactful way of getting rid of her.
“Play it then,” she replied curtly, and she walked out of the room
without another look at him.
He was astounded, shocked. He had been to blame, of course, in
ever letting his love leap out and surprise them. Probably he had not
made clear to her the obligation that bound him not to let her tie up
her life with his. He must see her at once and make her understand.
But this he could not do. A note dispatched by Ruth brought back the
verbal message that she was busy. At supper Betty did not appear.
The specious plea was that she had a headache. Nor was she at
breakfast. From Bridget he gathered that she had gone to the
Quarter Circle D E and would stay there several days.
“Lookin’ after some fencing,” the housekeeper explained. “That gir-
rl’s a wonder if iver there was one.”
Tug agreed to that, but it was in his mind that the fencing would have
had to wait if affairs had not come to a crisis between him and Betty.
He had no intention of keeping her from her home. Over the
telephone he made arrangements to stay at the Wild Horse House.
Clint, perplexed and a little disturbed in mind, drove him to town.
Most of the way they covered in silence. Just before they reached
the village, Reed came to what was in his mind.
“You an’ Betty had any trouble, Hollister?”
The younger man considered this a moment. “No trouble; that is, not
exactly trouble.”
“She’s high-headed,” her father said, rather by way of explanation
than apology. “But she’s the salt of the earth. Don’t you make any
mistake about that.”
“I wouldn’t be likely to,” his guest said quietly. “She’s the finest girl I
ever met.”
The cowman looked quickly at him. “Did she go to the Quarter Circle
D E because of anything that took place between you an’ her?”
“I think so.” He added a moment later an explanation: “I let her see
how much I thought of her. It slipped out. I hadn’t meant to.”
Reed was still puzzled. He knew his daughter liked the young fellow
by his side. “Did that make her mad?” he asked.
“No. I found out she cared for me.”
“You mean—?”
“Yes.” The face of the engineer flushed. “It was a complete surprise
to me. I had thought my feelings wouldn’t matter because she would
never find out about them. When she did—and told me that she—
cared for me, I had to tell her where I stand.”
“Just where do you stand?”
“I can’t marry. You must know why.”
Clint flicked the whip and the young team speeded. When he had
steadied them to a more sedate pace, he spoke. “I reckon I do. But
—you’ve given it up, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” He qualified the affirmative. “I’m not the first man who thought
he’d given it up and hadn’t.”
“Got doubts about it, have you?”
“No. I think I’m done with the cursed stuff. But how do I know?” Tug
went into details as to the nature of the disease. He finished with a
sentence that was almost a cry. “I’d rather see her dead than married
to a victim of that habit.”
“What did Betty say to that?”
“What I’d expect her to say. She wouldn’t believe there was any
danger. Wouldn’t have it for a minute. You know how generous she
is. Then, when I insisted on it, she seemed to think it was an excuse
and walked out of the room. I haven’t seen her since. She wouldn’t
let me have a chance.”
“I don’t see as there’s much you could say—unless you’re aimin’ to
renig.” Reed’s voice took on a trace of resentment. “Seems to me,
young fellow, it was up to you not to let things get as far as they did
between you an’ Betty. That wasn’t hardly a square deal for her. You
get her to tell you how she feels to you, an’ then you turn her down. I
don’t like that a-tall.”
Tug did not try to defend himself. “That’s one way of looking at it. I
ought never to have come to the house,” he said with humility.
“I wish you hadn’t. But wishing don’t get us anywhere. Point is, what
are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t see anything to do. I’d take the first train out if it would help
any,” Hollister replied despondently.
“Don’t you go. I’ll have a talk with her an’ see how she feels first.”
Hollister promised not to leave until he had heard from Reed.
 CHAPTER XXXIV
BORN THAT WAY

It was impossible for Betty to escape the emotions that flooded her,
but she was the last girl to sit down and accept defeat with folded
hands. There was in her a certain vigor of the spirit that craved
expression, that held her head up in the face of disaster.
At the Quarter Circle D E she was so briskly businesslike that none
of the men would have guessed that she was passing through a
crisis. Except for moments of abstraction, she gave no evidence of
the waves of emotion that inundated her while she was giving orders
about the fencing of the northwest forty or the moving of the pigpens.
When she was alone, it was worse. Her longing for Hollister became
acute. If she could see him, talk with him, his point of view would be
changed. New arguments marshaled themselves in her mind. It was
ridiculous to suppose that a man’s past—one not of his own
choosing, but forced on him—could determine his future so greatly
as to make happiness impossible. She would not believe it. Every
instinct of her virile young personality rebelled against the
acceptance of such a law.
Tug’s persistence in renouncing joy had wounded her vanity. But at
bottom she did not doubt him. He had stood out because he thought
it right, not because he did not love her. In spite of her distress of
mind, she was not quite unhappy. A warm hope nestled in her
bosom. She loved and was loved. The barrier between them would
be torn down. Again they would be fused into that oneness which for
a blessed ten minutes had absorbed them.
Her father drove over in the rattletrap car. Ostensibly he had come to
discuss with her plans for fertilization and crops of the Quarter Circle
D E for the coming season.
“I took Hollister to town this morning. He wouldn’t stay any longer,”
Reed presently mentioned, as though casually.
“Oh! Why wouldn’t he stay?” Betty was rather proud of the
indifference she contrived to convey in her voice.
“Said he didn’t want to keep you away from home.”
“Was he keeping me away?” she asked.
“Seemed to think so. Wasn’t he?”
“I see you know all about it, Dad. What did he tell you?”
“I asked him point-blank what the trouble was between you and him.
He told me.”
A faint crimson streamed into her cheeks. “What did he say it was?”
“He’s afraid. Not for himself, but for you.”
“I think that’s awf’ly silly of him.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Bettykins. If there’s any doubt whatever,
he’d better wait till he’s certain.” He let his arm fall across her
shoulders with a gentleness she knew to be a caress. “Have you
found the man you want, dear? Sure about it?”
She smiled ruefully. “I’m sure enough, Dad. He’s the one that seems
in doubt.” To this she added a reply to a sentence earlier in his
period. “He didn’t say anything to me about waiting. His ‘No, thank
you,’ was quite definite, I thought.”
Clint’s wrath began to simmer. “If he’s got a notion that he can take
or leave you as he pleases—”
Betty put a hand on his arm. “Please, Dad. I don’t mean what I said.
It’s not fair to him. He doesn’t think that at all.”
“There’s no man in the Rockies good enough for you—”
“Are you taking in enough territory?” she teased, her face bubbling to
mirth. “I don’t even know whether you’re including Denver. Justin
came from there, and he’s too good for me.”
“Who says he’s too good?”
“Too perfect, then. I couldn’t live up to him. Never in the world.” Her
eyes fixed on something in the distance. She watched for a moment
or two. “Talking about angels, Dad. There’s the flutter of his engine
fan.”
Reed turned.
Merrick was killing the engine of his runabout. He came across to
them, ruddy, strong, well-kept. Every stride expressed the self-reliant
and complacent quality of his force.
The girl’s heart beat faster. She had not seen him since that
moment, more than two weeks ago, when they had parted in anger.
Her resentment against him had long since died. He had not been to
blame because they were incompatible in point of view and
temperament. It was characteristic of her that she had written to ask
him to forgive her if she had in any way done him a wrong. If she
could, she wanted to keep him for a friend.
He shook hands with them. Reed asked about the work.
“We’ve finished the tunnel and are laying the line of the main canal
between it and the draw where it runs into Elk Creek Cañon. Soon
as the ground is thawed out, I’ll have dirt flying on it,” the engineer
said.
“Lots of water in the dam?” asked the cowman.
“Full up. The mild weather this last week has raised it a lot. There’s a
great deal of snow in the hills. We’ll have no difficulty about a
sufficient supply.”
“Good. You’ve got old Jake Prowers beat.”
“Justin has done a big thing for this part of the country. That’s more
important than beating Mr. Prowers,” Betty said.
“Yes,” agreed Merrick impersonally. “By the way, the old fellow is still
nursing his fancied injuries. He was hanging around the dam
yesterday. I warned him off.”
“Say anything?” asked Clint.