"
"But why DID they ever make you a trustee, for goodness' sake?"
said Milly, naively. "Was there no one grown up at that time that
they could have called upon?"
"Those were the EARLY days of California," responded Paul, with
great gravity, although he was conscious that Yerba was regarding
him narrowly, "and I probably looked older and more intelligent
than I really was. For, candidly," with the consciousness of
Yerba's eyes still upon him, "I remember very little about it. I
dare say I was selected, as you kindly suggest, 'for goodness'
sake.'"
"After all," said the volatile Milly, who seemed inclined, as
chaperone, to direct the conversation, "there was something pretty
and romantic about it. You two poor young things taking care of
each other, for of course there were no women here in those days."
"Of course there WERE women here" interrupted Yerba, quickly, with
a half-meaning, half-interrogative glance at Paul that made him
instinctively uneasy. "You later comers"--to Milly--"always seem
to think that there was nothing here before you!" She paused, and
then added, with a naive mixture of reproach and coquetry that was
as charming as it was unexpected, "As to taking care of each other,
Mr.
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