There are," and he hesitated, "things one really has to do." His companion nodded.

She liked his diffidence, which, while very evident, was wholly genuine, and the faint color in his face gave him an appearance of boyish candor.
"Even when the odds against you are quite steep ?" she said.

"In the case we are discussing the result was no doubt that bruise on your face." Then she changed the subject.

"If he was a famous mineralogist, why is he cooking in a railroad camp ?" "Everybody knows," said Weston.

"The usual trouble--whisky." The girl made a little gesture of comprehension that had in it also a hint of disgust, and then seeing that he would say nothing further until she gave him a lead she spoke again.
"What brought you out here ?" she inquired.
Weston had been asked the same question several times before, and had never answered it.