was he a fine, upstanding, broad-minded man; he was a man, no
longer in the first flush of youth, who had made himself what he was
and who from forty-five vividly recalled twenty-five. He had learned
caution, but he had known what it was to plunge head-first into deep
waters. That now, a man established, he no longer had to take long
chances, was due largely to the successes met in long chances taken
when all of life lay before him, inviting. When now Alan Howard came
to him in his office at the bank and put his case before him
straightforwardly and without evasion or reservation, he came to the
one man in the world who because of his position and his character
could best help him.

'Take it slow, Alan,' said Engle quietly. 'I can give you the whole
day, if necessary. I've got to know just where you stand and just
which way you are headed before I can get anywhere.'

He drew out his pad and very methodically began to set down figures as
the cattleman talked. Finally:

'It's the bank's money, not my own, that I'll be advancing you, you
know. I am pretty well sewed up personally as usual. Consequently,
while I can see you over a few of the immediate bumps in your trail, I
can't give you all that you'll want. But I fancy you can get across
with it.' His keen eyes took fresh stock of the cattleman, marking the
assertive strength, the clean build, the erect carriage, the hard
hands, the lean jaw and finally the steady eyes which always met his
own. The personal equation always counts, perhaps with the banker more
than most men imagine, and John Engle found no sign of any
deterioration in the security offered by Alan Howard's personality.
'It's a good thing, anyway,' he went on, with the first hint of a
twinkle in his regard, 'for a youngster like you to have to scrap
things out after the old fashion. Not married yet, are you?'

'No,' said Alan.

Engle laughed.

'But hoping to be? Well, it's time. That's a good ballast for a man.
Now, I've got this pretty straight, let's have your plans. You hope to
swing the ranch all right, or you wouldn't be calling on me. You're in
deep already and, of course, if it's a human possibility you've got to
swing it. What do you figure to do?'

Howard during his long ride had considered his problem from all angles,
and now, leaning forward eagerly, told in detail what he had decided.
Engle, a rancher himself with broad experience, nodded now and then,
asked his few per