could succeed at it. 'It is a contest of wits,' he explained.
'You've got to outguess the other fellow. You've got to know
everything he's doing and keep him from knowing anything you're
doing. The minute he knows as much as you do, he's got it on you.'
That seemed to prove to Henry that no woman could win at it, for
men are such superior creatures. They know so much more than a
woman can possibly learn; their wits are so much keener!

"I was duly impressed. I asked him to call this evening, for I did
so wish to have him teach me what little I was capable of
learning. But he couldn't come, because he had been called to
Dallas, unexpectedly. That was my cue. In my most sweetly girlish
manner I said: 'Oh, indeed! Do you expect to see Knute Hoaglund while
you're there?'"

Two hectic spots had come into "Bob's" cheeks during this recital;
she was teetering upon the desk now like a nodding Japanese doll,
and her blue eyes were dancing.

"I heard Old Bell's chair creak and I saw him shoot a quick glance
at Henry. Henry admitted, casually, that he might drop in on
Knute. Why?"

"'You'll be wasting time,' I told him, even more sweetly, 'for dad
and I have that twenty west of Burkburnett.'

"_Well!_ You'd have thought I had stuck a hatpin into Bell. And
Henry's mouth actually dropped open. Think of it: Colonel Henry
Nelson, the hero of Whatever-it-is, with his imperial mouth open
and nothing coming out of it--not even the imperial breath!"