"I suppose," he said, after a moment's painful silence, "that I had
better go back to the range where I belong. I'm out of place here."
The girl was touched by the hopelessness in his voice, but she felt that
it would be no kindness to offer him the relief of an encouraging word.
Her day with her eastern friends, and the memories that her meeting with
Mrs. Manning had aroused, convinced her more than ever that her old love
for Phil, and the life of which he was a part, were for her impossible.
When she did not speak, the cowboy said bitterly, "I noticed that your
fine friends did not take quite all your time. You found an opportunity
for a quiet little visit with Honorable Patches."
Kitty was angry now in earnest. "You are forgetting yourself, Phil," she
answered with cold dignity. "And I think that as long as you feel as you
do toward my friends, and can speak to me like this about Mr. Patches,
you are right in saying that you belong on the range. Mr. and Mrs.
Manning are here, I see. I am going to dine with them. Good-by!" She
turned away, leaving him standing there.
A moment he waited, as though stunned; then he turned to make his way
blindly out of the hotel.
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