Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil

k, boyish face of her companion. -You-d have to be taller, I think.- -But not much thinner,- observed Bob cheerfully. -Skinny cowboys are always in demand, Betty. They do more work. Well, what do you know about that!- He broke off his speech abruptly and stared at the table directly behind Betty. Betty paid little attention to his silence. She was busy with her own thoughts, and now, pouring golden cream into her coffee, voiced one of them. -I-m glad we-re going to Oklahoma,- she announced. -I think it is heaps more fun to stop before you get to the other side of the continent. I want to see what is in the middle. The Arnolds, you know, went direct to California, and now they-ll probably never know what kind of country takes up the space between Pineville and Los Angeles. Of course they saw some of it from the train, but that isn-t like getting off and staying. Is it, Bob?- -I suppose not,- agreed Bob absently. -Betty Gordon,- he added with a change of tone, -is that coffee you-re drinking?- Betty nodded guiltily. -When I-m traveling,- she explained in her defense, -I don-t see why I can-t drink coffee for breakfast. And when I-m visiting-that-s the only two times I take it, Bob.- Bob had been minded to read her a lecture on the evils of coffee drinking for young people, but his gaze wandered again to the table behind Betty, and his scientific protest remained unspoken. -For goodness sake, Bob,- complained Betty, -what can you be staring at?-