Chapter XII: Farewell to California

A fortnight afterwards, Ben Overleigh and Jesse Holles saw Hilda Strafford off at the station. She looked very pale, and glanced at Ben uneasily from time to time. There was neither scorn nor anger in his manner now, but just the old gentle chivalry, which was the outcome of his best self. His face, too, had lost its expression of restless anxiety, and there was a dignity about his whole bearing, which might well have been the outward and visible sign of the quiet dignity of his mind, won after a fierce struggle.

“You shall have news of the ranch,” he said. “When the lemons come into bearing, you shall know.”

She smiled her thanks, and turning to Jesse, she asked whether she could do anything for him in England.

“Yes,” he said sadly, “kiss the dear ground for me.” And he added more cheerfully: “And send me an illustrated paper sometimes.”

“And for you?” she asked of Ben, hesitatingly.

“Kiss the dear ground for me, too,” he answered.

And this time he held out his hand to her, and she grasped it.

Then the train moved off.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.