where congregated the human jackals which hunt on the outskirts
of such places.

And in these places he met many friends and acquaintances with whom he
fraternized for the time being. And his sojourn cost him a good many
dollars, dollars which he shed unstintingly, even without counting.
Nor was he the man to part with his money in this casual manner
without obtaining adequate return, and yet all he had to show as a
result of his expedition was a word of information here and there, a
suggestion or two which would scarcely have revealed to the outsider
the interest which they held for him. Yet he seemed satisfied. He
seemed very well satisfied indeed, and his reckless spirit warmed as
he progressed in his peregrinations.

Then, too, he "dined" the sheriff of the county at the only restaurant
worth while. He spent more than two hours in this man's company, and
his wine bill was in due proportion to the hardy official's almost
unlimited capacity for liquid refreshment. Yet even to the most
interested his purpose would have needed much explanation. He asked so
few questions. He seemed to lead the conversation in no particular
direction. He simply allowed talk to drift whither it would. And
somehow it always seemed to drift whither he most desired it.

Yes, his movements were quite curious during his visit, and yet they
were commonplace enough to suggest nothing of the depth of subtlety
which really actuated them. There was even an absurd moment which
found him in a candy-store purchasing several pounds of the most
sickly candy he could buy in so rough a place as the new silver town.

However, the time came for him at last to get out on the road again
for home. And, having prepared his team for the journey, he hitched
them up to his spring-cart himself, paid his bill, and, with a
flourish of his whip, and a swagger which only a team of six such
magnificent horses as he possessed could give him, left the hotel at a
gallop, the steely muscles of his arms controlling his fiery children
as easily as the harsh voice of a northern half-breed controls a
racing dog-train.

And on the journey home his thoughts were never idle for a moment. So
busy were they that the delicious calm of the night, the wonders of
the following dawn, the glory of a magnificent sunrise over a green
world of mountain, valley and plain, were quite lost to his unpoetic
soul. The only things which seemed able to distract his concentrated
thoughts were th