"I got to go, honey," sez I.

"Ain't ya never comin' back?" asked she.

"Oh, I'll come back some day, ridin' a big black hoss with silver
trimmed leather--an' what shall I bring little Barbie?" sez I,
tryin' to be gay.

"Just bring me yourself, Happy, that's all the present I want. I
love you because you're the handsomest man in the world"--yes, it
was me she meant, only o' course that was some years ago an' the
child was unthinkable young--"an' cause you tell me the nicest
stories, an' train pintos, an'--an' I'm goin' to marry you when I
grow up."

"Marry me, kitten?" sez I, laughin' free an' natural this time.
"Why, bless your heart, where did you ever hear o' marriage?"

"My Daddy tells me of my mother, an' what a beautiful lady she was,
an' how happy they were together--an' I'm goin' to marry you when
you come back."

"Well, Barbie," sez I right soberly, "you be true to me an' I'll be
true to you, an' now we'll kiss to bind the promise."

So I lifted her to my saddle an' kissed her. "How did you get here,
child?" sez I.

She didn't answer for a minute. "I rode old Kate," said she at last,
"but I didn't want you to know it. She's over behind that rock. And