A Prairie Courtship

"But you had seen me for only two or three days!"

Thorne laughed softly.

"I think if I had seen you for only an hour it would have had the same result. Anyway, I tried farming, and – though I was very nearly beaten – you can see what I have made of it."

He stooped a little toward her.

"The house is almost ready, dear, and I want you to drive in to the railroad with me to-morrow. A man from Winnipeg will be at the hotel then, and I should like you to choose what you think is needed from his lists of furnishings."

Alison looked down, for she was conscious of a warmth in her cheeks. "If you will come over early, I'll be ready."

Thorne drew her hand within his arm and they moved on slowly in the faint moonlight that etherealized the plain.

"It is a marvelous night!" he exclaimed. "The wilderness gripped me when I came out, but I don't think I ever realized how wonderful it is as I do just now. And there are people who can see in it only an empty, wind-swept land!"

He drew her impulsively to him.

"Still, there are excuses for them. Only part of the glamour is in the prairie. The rest of it is due to the supreme good fortune that has fallen to me."

"You are very sure of that?" murmured Alison.

"Yes," declared Thorne, with resolute decisiveness, "it's a certainty that will only grow deeper as the years roll on!"

THE END