and he surmised that a second one would not please her.

"They're almost at your door. One would imagine that you could indulge in
a scramble among them whenever it pleased you."

"There are a good many things that look so close and still are out of
reach," Evelyn answered with a smile that somehow troubled him. Then her
manner changed. "You are content with this?"

Vane gazed about him. Purple crags lay in shadow; glistening threads of
water fell among the rocks; and long slopes lay steeped in softest color
under the cloud-flecked summer sky.

"Content is scarcely the right word for it," he assured her, "If it
weren't so still and serene up here, I'd be riotously happy. There are
reasons for this quite apart from the scenery; for one, it's remarkably
pleasant to feel that I need do nothing but what I like during the next
few months."

"The sensation must be unusual. I wonder if, even in your case, it will
last so long?"

Vane laughed and stretched out one of his hands. It was lean and brown,
and she could see the marks of old scars on the knuckles.

"In my case," he answered, "it has come only once in a lifetime, and, if
it isn't too presumptuous, I think I've earned it." He indicated his
battered fingers. "That's the result of holding a wet and slippery drill;
and those aren't the only marks I carry about with me--though I've been
more fortunate than many fine comrades."