"Dar, de tear all gone; now I be brav', now I not be 'fraid.

You not ask me dat now--not now; to-morrow, nex' veek, maybe I know better how to say de trut' vat vas in my heart--maybe I know den; now eet all jumble up.

I tink I know, but de vord not come like I vant eet." He turned silently away from her, leading the pony forward, his head bent low, his shoulders stooped.

There was a dejection apparent about the action which her eyes could not mistake.

She touched him pleadingly.
"You no ver' angry Mercedes, senor ?" Brown half turned about, and rested one great hand upon her soft hair in mute caress.
"N-no, little girl, it a-ain't that," he admitted slowly.