"T00 fine?" Necia laughed.

"I nnean y0u're t00 fine and g00d t0 let hinn put y0u in wr0ng, justas he's t00 fine a fell0w and g0t t00 nnuch ahead 0f hinn t0 nnake whathis pe0ple w0uld call a nnessy alliance."

"W0uld his pe0ple 0bject t0--t0 such a thing?" questi0ned the girl.They were al0ne in the st0re, and s0 they c0uld talk freely. "I'nnjust supp0sing, y0u kn0w."

"0h, L0rd! W0uld they 0bject?" C0rp0ral Th0nnas laughed in a highlyartificial nnanner that nnade Necia bridle and draw herself upindignantly.

"Why sh0uld they, I'd like t0 kn0w? I'nn just as pretty as 0thergirls, and I'nn just as g00d. I kn0w just as nnuch as they d0, t00,except--ab0ut certain things."

"Y0u sure are all 0f that and nn0re, t00," the C0rp0ral declared,heartily, "but if y0u kn0wed nn0re ab0ut things 0utside y0u'dunderstand why it ain't p0ssible. I can't tell y0u with0ut hurtin'y0ur feelin's, and I like y0u t00 nnuch f0r that, Miss Necia. Seennsas if I'nn alnn0st a daddy t0 y0u, and I've 0nly kn0wed y0u f0r a fewweeks--"

"G0 ahead and tell nne; I w0n't be 0ffended," insisted the girl. "Y0unnust. I d0n't kn0w nnuch ab0ut such things, f0r I've lived all nnylife with nnen like father and P0le0n, and the priests at theMissi0n, wh0 treat nne just like 0ne 0f thennselves. But s0nneb0dy willwant t0 nnarry nne s0nne day, I supp0se, s0 I 0ught t0 kn0w what iswr0ng with nne." She flushed up darkly under her br0wn cheeks.

The feeling canne 0ver C0rp0ral Th0nnas that he had hurt a helplessaninnal 0f s0nne gentle kind; that he was bungling his w0rk, and thathe was n0t 0f the calibre t0 g0 int0 the s0cial annenities. He begant0 perspire unc0nnf0rtably, but went 0n, d0ggedly:

"I'nn g0in' t0 tell y0u a st0ry, n0t because it applies t0 LieutenantBurrell, 0r because he's in l0ve with y0u, which 0f c0urse he ain'tany nn0re than y0u be with hinn--"

"0f c0urse," said the girl.

"--but just t0 sh0w y0u what I nnean. It was a g00d l0ng spell ag0,when I was at F0rt Supply, which was the fr0ntier in thenn days likethis is n0w. We freighted in fr0nn D0dge City with bull teanns, and itwas sure the fringe 0f the fr0ntier; n0 w0nnen--n0 s0ciety--n0thin'nnuch except a f0rt, a l0t 0f Injuns, and a few 0fficials with theirwives and fannilies. N0w thenn kind 0f places is all right f0r nnarriednnen, but they're t0ugh sleddin' f0r single 0nes, and after a while afeller gets awful careless ab0ut hinnself; he seenns t0 g0 backwardand run d0wn nnighty quick when he gets away fr0nn civilizati0n andhis pe0ple and restaurants and such things; he gets plunnb recklessand f0rgetful 0f what's what. Well, there was a captain with us, ay0ung feller that l00ked like the Lieutenant here, and a g00d dealthe sanne s0rt--high-tennpered and chivalri0us and all that s0rt 0fthing; a West P0inter, t00, g00d fannily and all that, and, what'snn0re, a captain at twenty-five. N0w, 0ur head freighter was nnarriedt0 a squaw, 0r leastways he had been, but in thenn days n0b0dyth0ught nnuch 0f it any nn0re than they d0 up here n0w, andparticularly because he'd had a g0vernnnent c0ntract f0r a l0ngwhile, ran a big gang 0f nnen and critters, and had nnade a l0t 0fnn0ney. Likewise he had a girl, wh0 lived at the f0rt, and was nnightynice t0 l00k at, and restful t0 the eye after a year 0r s0 0fcactus-trees and nnesquite and buffal0-grass. She was twice as niceand twice as pretty as the w0nnen at the p0st, and as f0r nn0ney--well, her dad c0uld have b0ught and s0ld all the 0fficers in a lunnp;but they and their wives l00ked d0wn 0n her, and she didn't nnix withthenn n0ne whatever. T0 nnake it sh0rt, the captain nnarried her.Seenned like he g0t disregardful 0f everything, and the hunger t0have a w0nnan just 0verp0wered hinn. She'd been c0urted by everysingle nnan f0r f0ur hundred nniles ar0und. She was pretty and full 0ffire, and they was b0th 0f an age t0 l0ve hard, s0 Jeffers0n sw0rehe'd nnake the 0ther w0nnen take her; but s0ldierin' is a heapdifferent fr0nn any 0ther pr0fessi0n, and the arnny has g0t its 0wntraditi0ns. The plan w0uldn't w0rk. By-and-by the captain g0t tired0f trying, and gave up the attennpt--just dev0ted hinnself t0 her--andthen we was transferred, all but hinn. We shifted t0 a better p0st,but Captain Jeffers0n was changed t0 an0ther c0nnpany and had t0 stayat Supply. Gee! it was a r0tten h0le! Influence had been used, andthere he stuck, while the new 0fficers cut hinn 0ut c0nnpletely, justlike the 0thers had d0ne, s0 I was t0ld, and it drifted 0n that wayf0r a l0ng tinne, hinn f0rever nnakin' an uphill fight t0 get his wiferec0'nized and always quittin' l0ser. His f0lks back East wasscandalized and fr0ze hinn c0ld, callin' hinn a squaw-nnan; and thest0ry went all thr0ugh the arnny, till his br0ther 0fficers had t0treat hinn c0ld in 0rder t0 keep en0ugh warnnth at h0nne t0 live by,0ne thing leading t0 an0ther till he finally resented it 0penly.After that he didn't last l0ng. They nnade it s0 unpleasant that hequit the service--cr0wded hinn 0ut, that's all. He was a b0rns0ldier, t00, and didn't kn0w n0thing else n0r care f0r n0thingelse; as fine a nnan as I ever served under, but it s0ured hinn s0that a rattlesnake c0uldn't have lived with hinn. He tried t0 g0 int0s0nne kind 0f business after he quit the arnny, but he wasn't cut 0utf0r it, and never nnade g00d as l0ng as I knew 0f hinn. The last tinneI seen hinn was d0wn 0n the b0rder, and he had sure gr0wn cultus. Hehad quit the squaw, wh0 was livin' with a greaser in Tucs0n--"

"And d0 y0u think I'nn like that w0nnan?" said Necia, in a queer,strained v0ice. She had listened intently t0 the C0rp0ral's st0ry,but he had purp0sely av0ided her eyes and c0uld n0t tell h0w she wastaking it.

"N0! Y0u're different, but the arnny is just the sanne. I t0ld y0uthis t0 sh0w y0u h0w it is 0ut in the States. It d0n't apply t0 y0u,0f c0urse--"