"
"Oh, Diana, I beg of you, don't soil your hands with that!" groaned
Enoch.
"I must! I must, Enoch!" Then Diana's voice broke and again the room
was silent. They stood clinging to each other until Frank's voice was
heard in the rear of the house.
"It's an infernal shame, I say. President or no President!"
"I'm going to my room for a little while," whispered Diana. And when
Frank stamped into the room, Enoch was standing alone, his great head
bowed in the firelight.
"Can't you stall 'em off a little while?" demanded Frank.
Enoch shook his head with a smile. "I've played truant too long to
dictate now. Jonas and I must pull out to-night. Perhaps it's best,
after all, Frank, and yet, it seemed for a moment as if it were
physically impossible for me to give up that trip down Bright Angel.
I've dreamed of it for twenty-two years. And to go down with Diana and
you--"
"It's life!" said Frank briefly. He sank into an armchair and neither
man spoke until Na-che announced supper.
Diana appeared then, her cheeks and eyes bright and her voice steady.
Enoch never had seen her in a more whimsical mood and the meal, which
he had dreaded, passed off quickly and pleasantly.
Not long after dinner, Frank announced the buck-board ready for the
drive to the station.
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