years, and along with those
the names of some who had never before had a place in that mystic order
of the saints of God. And, indeed, with some of these Shock had had his
own difficulty, not in persuading them to offer themselves as
candidates, but in persuading himself to assume the responsibility of
accepting them. To Shock with his Highland training it was a terribly
solemn step to "come forward." The responsibility assumed, bulked so
largely in the opinion of those whom Shock had always regarded as
peculiarly men of God, that it almost, if not altogether, obliterated
the privilege gained.

When a man like Sinclair, whose reputable character and steady life
seemed to harmonize with such a step, he had little difficulty; and had
the Kid, with his quick intelligence, his fineness of spirit and his
winning disposition, applied for admission, Shock would have had no
hesitation in receiving him. But the Kid, although a regular attendant
on the services, and though he took especial delight in the Sabbath
evening gatherings after service, had not applied, and Shock would not
think of bringing him under pressure; and all the more because he had
not failed to observe that the Kid's interest seemed to be more
pronounced and more steadfast in those meetings in which Marion's
singing was the feature. True, this peculiarity the Kid shared with
many others of the young men in the district, to Shock's very
considerable embarrassment, though to the girl's innocent and frank
delight; and it is fair to say that the young men, whom Shock had put
upon their honor in regard to one who was but a child, never by word or
look failed in that manly and considerate courtesy that marks the noble
nature in dealing with the weak and unprotected.

The truth about the Kid was that that gay young prince of broncho
busters, with his devil-may-care manner and his debonair appearance,
was so greatly sought after, so flattered and so feted by the riotous
and reckless company at the Fort, of which the Inspector and his wife
were the moving spirits, that he was torn between the two sets of
influences that played upon him, and he had not yet come to the point
of final decision as to which kingdom he should seek.

It was with Ike and men like Ike, however, that Shock had his greatest
difficulty, for when the earnest appeal was made for men to identify
themselves with the cause that stood for all that was noblest in the
history of the race, and to swear