And the colonel, who is completely in his hands,--trusting him for everything, even the language,--doesn't see it." "But he is extravagant in the praise of his friends only, and you certainly justify all he can say." She was taking off her hat, and stopped for a moment to look at him thoughtfully, with the soft tendrils of her hair clinging to her forehead.

"Did the colonel talk much about me ?" "A great deal.

In fact, I think we talked of nothing else.

He has told me of your triumphs and your victims; of your various campaigns and your conquests.

And yet I dare say he has not told me all--and I am dying to hear more." She had laid down her hat and unloosed a large bow of her mantle, but stopped suddenly in the midst of it and sat down again.
"I wish you'd do something for me." "You have only to name it." "Well, drop all this kind of talk! Try to think of me as if I had just come from California--or, better, as if you had never known anything of me at all--and we met for the first time.