On a transcontinental train crossing Nevada, Miss Jennie Dwyer and Mr. Lombard spar over the desert's severe, luminous beauty, their teasing arguments hiding a growing attraction. Lombard, witty and impulsive, engineers a private moment on the rear platform, but his confident flirtation turns clumsy when he mistakes politeness for encouragement and blunders into a painful rejection. Humiliated, he vows to abandon the journey—only to be stranded in the moonless wilderness when the train breaks down, where he discovers Jennie has been left behind as well. Forced into uneasy companionship, the two face bitter cold, a ruined shelter, and a dust storm that strips away their defenses. When a circle of Piute Indians suddenly surrounds them, Lombard responds with outrageous nerve, turning terror into an improvised song-and-dance act that buys time until a rescue train appears. Barely escaping an arrow at the last moment, they return to safety changed by danger, hardship, and laughter. Back aboard, Mrs. Eustis pieces together Jennie's cryptic telegram and learns the astonishing truth: Jennie and Lombard are engaged, and the desert ordeal has become the unlikely beginning of their romance. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
