"Are you game for so long a walk?" he asked.

"I'm game for anything up in this air," she assured him with conviction.

But, as was not infrequently the case, Ann's spirit outstripped her
physical strength. The slope indicated was much farther away than it
appeared and "the going was bad," as Tony phrased it. Blue gentians proved
tantalisingly elusive, and at length, rather disheartened by their
unprofitable search, Ann came to a standstill.

"I think I'm beginning to feel a keener interest in tea than gentians,
Tony," she confessed at last, ruefully. "It's very contemptible of me, I
own. But when I contemplate the distance we've already got to cover before
we reach the hotel again, I feel distinctly disinclined to add to it."

"I've let you walk too far!" Tony was overwhelmed with compunction. "Look
here, sit down in this little hollow and rest for a few minutes before we
turn back, while I just go a bit further and see if I can find you a
gentian."

He stripped off his overcoat as he spoke and rolled it together to make a
cushion for her.

"No, no, I don't want your coat," she protested. "I don't need it--really!"

But Tony was suddenly masterful.

"You'll do as you're told," he asserted. And somewhat to her own surprise
she found herself meekly obeying him.