Couldn't, under
the circumstances, and besides, it would not be kind of me to transfer
my burden to them. I much prefer to paddle my own canoe."
He noticed a rush of color to the face as she turned abruptly toward
him now. "What a heritage of pride you have, Miguel. But are you
quite certain Anita does not love you? You should have heard all the
nice things she said about you to-day."
"She ought to say nice things about me," he replied casually. "When
she was quite a little girl she was given to understand that her
ultimate mission in life was to marry me. Of course I always realized
that it would not be a compliment to Anita to indicate that I was not
head over heels in love with her; I merely pretended I was too bashful
to mention it. Finally one day Anita suggested, as a favor to her and
for the sake of my own self-respect, that I abandon the pose; with
tears in her eyes she begged me to be a gallant rebel and save her from
the loving solicitude of her parents to see her settled in life. At
that moment I almost loved her, particularly when, having assured her
of my entire willingness and ability to spoil everything, she kissed me
rapturously on both cheeks and confided to me that she was secretly
engaged to an engineer chap who was gophering for potash in Death
Valley. The war interrupted his gophering, but Anita informs me that
he found the potash, and now he can be a sport and bet his potash
against Senora Sepulvida's crude oil.
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