the earth, made itself
known to her for the first time. Elizabeth never forgot that ride
through the beautiful brooding night. Nature seemed larger and deeper
and grander to her ever after.

As they came among the houses of the town she reined in the bronco and
went quietly, lest she should wake the people. There was a light burning
in the room over the store, and the window was open. A woman answered
her summons. It was the wife of the storekeeper. Her husband was absent,
she said, and she was up with a sick baby. She readily filled the little
flask, and was sympathetic and eager to help. Shouldn't she send
somebody over to the ranch? There wasn't any doctor in Cameron City, but
Cy Willows knew a heap about physic.

No. Elizabeth said her father was better already, only he seemed in
need of a stimulant. No, she did not want an escort. The night was
lovely, and she wouldn't miss her solitary ride home for anything. She
was so glad Mrs. Stiles had the whisky. It would be just what her father
needed when he waked up.

And when, some hours later, Jacob Stanwood awoke, he found his daughter
sitting beside him in the gray dawn.

"Why, Elizabeth!" he said, "is anything the matter? Did I disturb you?"

She leaned toward him, and laid her hand on his.

"You were ill in the night, papa, and asked for a stimulant, and I got
it for you."

"A stimulant?" he repeated vaguely. "What stimulant? Where did you get
it?"

"I got it at the store. It's whisky."

"Whisky?" he cried, with a sudden, eager gleam.

Elizabeth was enchanted to find that she had done the right thing.

"Here it is, papa," she said, drawing the flask from her pocket, and
pouring a little of the contents into a glass that stood ready.

He watched her with that intense, eager gleam.

"Fill it up! Fill it up!" he cried impatiently. "A drop like that is no
good to a man."

He was sitting straight up again, just as she found him in the night. He
reached his thin hand for the glass, which he clutched tightly. The
smell of the liquor was strong in the room. His eyes were glittering
with excitement.

The girl stood beside him, contemplating with affectionate delight the
success of her experiment. Her utter innocence and unsuspiciousness
smote him to the heart. Something stayed his hand so that he did not
even lift the glass to his lips. Slowly, with his eyes fixed upon the
sweet, young face, he extended his arm out over the side of the bed, the
glass shak