ctions whatever. He should, perhaps, have known better; but he was
acting upon his belief that nothing so braces a man as the absolute
confidence of his friends, and to have stayed in camp on Ford's account
would, according to Mason's code, have been an affront to Ford's
manifest determination to "make good."

It is true that neither had mentioned the matter since the day of Ford's
arrival at the ranch; men do not, as a rule, harp upon the deeper issues
within their lives. For that month, it had been as though the subject
of intemperance concerned them as little as the political unrest of a
hot-tempered people beyond the equator. They had argued the matter to a
more or less satisfactory conclusion, and had let it rest there.

Ford had ridden with him a part of the way, and when they came to a
certain fork in the trail, he had sent a whimsically solemn message to
Buddy, had pulled the collar of his coat closer together under his chin,
and had faced the wind with a clean conscience, and with bowed head and
hat pulled low over his brows. There were at least three perfectly valid
reasons why Ford should ride into town that day. He wanted heavier socks
and a new pair of gloves; he was almost out of tobacco, and wanted to
see if he could "pick up" another man so that the hours of
night-guarding might not fall so heavily upon the crew. Ford had been
standing the last guard himself, for the last week, to relieve the
burden a little, and Mason had been urgent on the subject of another
man--or two, he suggested, would be better. Ford did his simple
shopping, therefore, and then rode up to the first saloon on the one
little street, and dismounted with a mind at ease. If idle men were to
be found in that town, he would have to look for them in a saloon; a
fact which every one took for granted, like the shortening of the days
as winter approached.

Perhaps he over-estimated his powers of endurance, or under-estimated
the strength of his enemy. Certain it is that he had no intention of
drinking whisky when he closed the door upon the chill wind; and yet, he
involuntarily walked straight up to the bar. There he stuck. The
bartender waited expectantly. When Ford, with a sudden lift of his head,
turned away to the stove, the man looked after him curiously.

At the stove Ford debated with himself while he drew off his gloves and
held his fingers to the welcome heat which emanated from a red glow
where the fire burned hottest within. H