nkly confessed that he believed
him from that unusual fact alone. Unfortunately, neither the practical
lesson conveyed in this grim admission, nor the sentiment of gratitude,
remained long with Jim. Another idea had taken possession of his fancy.
Although the land nominated in his bill of sale had been, except on the
occasion of his own temporary halt there, always unoccupied,
unsought, and unclaimed, and although he was amply protected by legal
certificates, he gravely collected a posse of three or four idlers from
Fair Plains, armed them at his own expense, and in the dead of night
took belligerent and forcible possession of the peaceful domain which
the weak generosity and unheroic dollars of Clarence had purchased for
him! A martial camp-fire tempered the chill night winds to the pulses of
the invaders, and enabled them to sleep on their arms in the field they
had won. The morning sun revealed to the astonished Hopkins family
the embattled plain beyond, with its armed sentries. Only then did Jim
hooker condescend to explain the reason of his warlike occupation, with
dark hints of the outlying "squatters" and "jumpers," whose incursions
their boldness alone had repulsed. The effect of this romantic situation
upon the two women, with the slight fascination of danger imported
into their quiet lives, may well be imagined. Possibly owing to some
incautious questioning by Mr. Hopkins, and some doubts of the discipline
and sincerity of his posse, Jim discharged them the next day; but
during the erection of his cabin by some peaceful carpenters from the
settlement, he returned to his gloomy preoccupation and the ostentatious
wearing of his revolvers. As an opulent and powerful neighbor, he took
his meals with the family while his house was being built, and generally
impressed them with a sense of security they had never missed.

Meantime, Clarence, duly informed of the installation of Jim as his
tenant, underwent a severe trial. It was necessary for his plans that
this should be kept a secret at present, and this was no easy thing for
his habitually frank and open nature. He had once mentioned that he had
met Jim at the settlement, but the information was received with such
indifference by Susy, and such marked disfavor by Mrs. Peyton, that
he said no more. He accompanied Peyton in his rides around the rancho,
fully possessed himself of the details of its boundaries, the debatable
lands held by the enemy, and listened with b