of hair and eye as Jean herself, full of quiet fun,
but with a dignity which forbade familiarity. She was the first person
who had ever given Angus a handle to his name. This was at dinner, and
Turkey yelped joyously:

"Ah, there, 'Mister' Mackay!" he cried. "A little more meat, 'Mister'
Mackay, and a dose of spuds and gravy, 'Mister' Mackay. I see you missed
some of the feathers by your left ear when you was shavin', 'Mister'
Mackay!"

Having just begun the use of the razor, Angus reddened to the ear
aforesaid. Like most taciturn, reserved people he was keenly sensitive
to ridicule.

"'Meester' Mackay! Haw-haw!" rumbled big Gus through a mouthful of food.
"He's shave hees viskers! Das ban purty good von. Ho-ho!"

Dave Rennie grinned. Angus' black brows drew down, but just then he
choked on a crumb of bread which went the wrong way.

"Pat 'Mister' Mackay on the back!" shrieked Turkey.

"I'll pat you, young fellow!" Angus wheezed.

But Alice Page saw how the land lay; saw also that the black-browed,
awkward boy was in danger of losing his temper.

"Shall I call you 'Angus'?" she asked, and there was something in her
tone and friendly smile which calmed him.

"That would be fine," he said. "And if you would lick Turkey Monday
morning it would be a great favor."

A month afterward Alice Page came to live at the ranch. Her
companionship meant much to Jean. It meant more to Angus, who presently
suffered a severe attack of calf-love.

Being in love, Angus began to suffer the pangs of jealousy, for there
were others who found Alice Page attractive. Chief among these was Nick
Garland, the young man who had accompanied Mr. Braden on his first
visit to the ranch. His visits became frequent, and he made himself very
much at home at the ranch, treating Angus with a careless superiority
and seniority which the latter found intensely irritating.

Now Garland, who esteemed himself a devil of a fellow, was merely
attempting a flirtation with the pretty school teacher. He could not but
notice Angus' attitude toward himself, and in a flash of perception
divined the cause. He found it humorous, as no doubt it was. He did not
like Angus, which made it the more amusing. He intended to tell Alice
Page the joke, but in the meantime kept it to himself.

He rode up one moonlight night while Angus was in the stable dressing by
the light of a lantern the leg of a horse which had calked himself, put
his mare in a stall and forked