"What agreement?"

"The one we made out in the hills, of course, that 'While the grass
grows, the sun shines, and the water flows we will be friends.' Friends
help one another, do they not? Although I am anxious to get to the
settlement, yet I could not think of leaving you to lose yourself in
the woods. I would never forgive myself, and what would Jean think of
me?"

"She thinks a great deal of you now, young man, and I believe you are
worthy of her regard."

"I hope I am, and for her sake, at least, I am glad that my life has
been clean. I have travelled in strange ways, and lived at times among
base and vicious men, but I have always kept myself apart from their
evil doings. I owe it all to my mother's teaching and influence."

"She must have been a noble woman," the Colonel remarked, as he resumed
his journey.

"She was," Dane replied, "and I know of but one who resembles her. You
know to whom I refer. Until I met Jean, I thought that my mother was
the only one who reached my ideal of what a woman should be. Since
meeting her, I have been very happy. Without her, the world would be
very dreary to me. But perhaps you cannot fully understand what I
mean."

"I understand better than you imagine," was the quiet reply. "When I
say that Jean is just like her mother, you can be assured that I
understand exactly what you mean."