Atlanta Daily World

'Miles and miles between towns,' Jaxie continued, as if she were meditating. 'Only a few lonely isolated huts scattered here and there. Do you know what I was thinking about them before you spoke to me, Dr. Meady?'

'I was wondering. That out here, people seem to be content with humble shelter, as if with such wide expanse of beauty all about them, they scorn the very idea of vying with nature for height and grandeur.'

He nodded slowly. 'A splendid thought—splendid! You express yourself admirably. Your newspaper is fortunate to have you on its staff.'

'Thank you, Dr. Meady, and I am fortunate to have met you. May I quote you in my column?'

'I should be honored. Sorry I did not speak with you before. I am stopping at Winslow, the next station. Due there at one-thirty, I believe.'

'Oh, then you are not going on to the coast?'

'No, I always spend my summers exploring in isolated places, with only a pack mule and meager equipment. I love the desert and the rocks, probing into the world's past—not the past of recent history, but of countless ages before man inhabited the world. We think of a century as a long period of time. Ten thousand years is a brief period in geology,' he smiled.

A porter came into the observation car with the first call for lunch. Dr. Meady consulted his watch.

'There is nothing the matter with your brain, Miss Cameron. It has been most delightful to talk with you. But we must all be petty at times and think in terms of minutes, so long as we are dealing with man-regulated time tables and mortal requirements. I must have an early lunch—my last civilized food for two months—and be ready to leave the train at Winslow.'

He had just left Jaxie when Kirby returned. He was surprised at the reflection of her interest which glowed in her face. 'What's happened?' he asked. 'You look as if you had been having a wonderful time while I was away. I had visions of you pining away with loneliness. Come now—who was entertaining you in my absence?'

'Oh Kirby dear, I did miss you, and wished you were here, too. But I had the most interesting talk with that odd little old man in the khaki uniform, and who do you suppose he is?'

'You're telling me.'

'Dr. Allen Meady from Yale—a geologist!'

'Really?' Kirby answered. 'Well, I also have some news.'

'What is it?' anxiously.

'That the murder on the train last night was not a murder at all. Pronounced a suicide. The automatic pistol which the man always carried on duty was found beside the body with two shots fired from it. It was lying on the left side, but they discovered that the fellow was left-handed. And nothing in the car had been disturbed. So all the excitement over a murderer being aboard the train was all for nothing.'

'That's some relief,' Jaxie agreed.

Then a slight frown creased her smooth, high forehead. 'But how do I know you're not one? Do you realize that you haven't told me a thing about yourself and your work?' she asked wistfully.

'That's right,' he admitted lightly. 'But how could you expect me to talk about myself, when I had wonderful you to talk about, and love? We have been together such a little while, and love is so much nicer a subject than ourselves, don't you think so?'

Silence. Her troubled eyes met his. 'But you still haven't answered my question, Kirby,' she chided him gently.

He sobered and looked away into the distance for a long minute. Finally his gaze returned to her face and he inquired earnestly, in a low voice, 'Jaxie, do you love me enough to believe in me when things might be against me? Will you love me enough to trust me and wait a while for the answer to that question?'

His eyes pleaded, were deeply blue with anxiety.

A shadow of pain crossed her happy face. 'I don't understand you, Kirby.'

'Of course you don't, my sweet. But can't you believe in me for a little longer without understanding? You loved me and trusted me last night, without knowing more about me. Can't you go on like that for just a little longer?'

Her hand reached out to clasp his for reassurance. She said softly, 'I will, if you ask me, Kirby.'

'And believe in me, no matter what happens?'

She hesitated for an instant. 'And believe in you.'

'Thank you, darling.' His hand covered hers and pressed it hard. 'You shall not be sorry, I promise. And please don't think of this again. I want you to be as happy as you were this morning, when I gave you the little papoose.'

'I am happy, dearest. So happy! Nothing can change my loving you, ever.'

So sure is love.

Jaxie joined the Misses Yates and Colbin and Mrs. Sanders for a rubber of bridge before lunch.

While they were playing, Dr. Meady again passed through the aisle. His reserved smile recognized Jaxie. Miss Colbin voiced her exasperation. 'There's that brazen man trying to make advances again. I think I shall report him to the conductor.'

'He only smiled at me.' Jaxie defended him with impish delight. 'I was talking with him a little while ago, and who do you suppose he is?'

'He certainly can't be anyone very important,' Myra Colbin seethed with disdain.

(To be continued)

Copyright, Edna Robb Webster.

Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.