t all out? Can't you see
where Blazing Star was taking you? It is not caprice; you will know some
day."

"I know, I know now. I'll do what you say."

"Then turn right around and go back to Fort Ryan." They turned; she led;
and they raced without pulling rein.

"Colonel, I've come to take your offer," said Hartigan.

"You're a wise man," said the Colonel. "Come into the office." He drew
up a check for five hundred dollars. Jim put it in his wallet and said
feebly, "He's yours. You'll be kind to him?" Then he covered his face
with his hands, and the tears splashed through his fingers to the floor.

"Never mind," said the Colonel, deeply touched. "He'll be treated like a
king. You'll see him in the race next summer and you'll see him win."

In all the blackness of that hour of loss that thought was the one gleam
of comfort in the realm of horse. Now he would see his racer on the
track. The Church held him, but held his horse no longer.

* * * * *

Then the Angel of Destiny as he downward gazed, said to the Angel of the
Fire--and his voice trembled a little as he spoke--"Rejoice, for the
furnace was heated exceeding hot and the metal is shining brighter, far
brighter than before."

BOOK IV

THE HORSE PREACHER AFOOT

CHAPTER XXXII

The Advent of Midnight

The ride home after that fateful decision was an event to be remembered.
Jim was on a cavalry mount, loaned for the occasion. Belle felt that
since he had given up so much for her, it was her part now to prove how
good a bargain he had made; and she exerted all her powers to double her
ample hold on his love and devotion. She had no reason to question her
power; she had almost overmuch success. Jim wanted her to name the day,
but whatever her wishes might have been, her judgment held her back.

"Jim, dear love, don't you see? We must wait a long time. Your income is
barely enough for one. You are only a probationer with one year's leave
from college, and, at most, an extension of another year possible. What
little I can bring as my share of the 'combine' won't go very far."

"Well," said Jim, "I've got the cash to furnish our house with, anyway,"
and he slapped his hand on his wallet pocket. "I'll put that in the bank
till we need it."

"Good boy!" and Belle smiled happily.

Arrived at Cedar Mountain, Jim took the cavalry mount to the livery
stable; and three days later, the little stable he had built for Bla