pain. That is why God made them strong above all his created things."

They sat in silence, thinking it over between them. Outside there was
sunshine over the brown rangeland; within there dwelt the lifting
confidence that their feet had passed the days of trouble and were
entering the bounds of an enlarging peace.

"And Major King?" said he.

"Father has relented, as I knew he would, out of regard for their
friendship of the past, and will not bring charges based on Major
King's plottings with Chadron."

"It's better that way," he nodded. "Do you suppose there's nothing
between him and Nola?"

"I think she'll have him after her grief passes, Alan."

"Better than he deserves," said he. "There's a lump of gold in that
little lady's heart, Frances."

"There is, Alan; I'm glad to hear you say that." There was moisture in
her tender eyes.

"There was something in that man, too," he reflected. "It's
unfortunate that he allowed his desire to humiliate you and me to
drive him into such folly. If he'd only have held those brigands here
for the civil authorities, as I requested, we could have forgotten the
rest."

"Yes, father says that would have saved him in his eyes, in spite of
his scheming with Chadron against your life, and against father's
honor and all that he holds sacred. But it's done, and he's genuinely
despised in the service for it. And there's the ambulance coming over
the hill."

"Ambulance for me!" said he, in disgust of his slow mending.

"Be glad that it isn't--oh, I shouldn't say that!"

"I am," said he, nodding his slow, grave head.

"We'll have to say good-bye to Mrs. Chadron," said she, bustling
around, or making a show of doing so to hide the tears which had
sprung into her eyes at the thought that it might have been a
different sort of conveyance coming to Alamito to take Alan Macdonald
away.

"And to Alamito," said he, looking out into the frost-stricken garden
with a tenderness in his eyes. "I shall always have a softness in my
heart for Alamito, because it gave me you. That garden out there
yielded me the dearest flower that any garden ever gave a man"--he
took her hands, and folded them above his heart--"a flower with a soul
in it to keep it alive forever."

She bowed her head as he spoke, as if receiving a benediction.

"I hate saying good-bye to Mrs. Chadron," she said, her voice
trembling, "for she'll cry, and I'm afraid I'll cry, too."

"It will not be farewell, only _hasta