l the tinselled
trappings of an artificial world, distant the clamorings of a disturbing
civilization with its tears and terrors. Battle and striving, anxiety
and doubt, apprehension and repinings--the envy and the jealousies and
little fears of life--none of these lay in the lap of old and calm
Carrizo. Peace, rest, and pause,--these things were here.

The ravens of the Lord had cared for those who had come hither, pausing,
dreaming, for a pulse-beat in a frenzied century of rapacity and greed.
Would the ravens care for a now pale-faced, trembling girl?

"It's perty, ain't it, ma'am?" said Curly. She looked at him and
understood many things.

But Curly left them traitorously, almost as soon as they entered the
lower end of the street, intent upon plans of his own. Those in the
slower buckboard, whose tired team could ill afford any gait beyond a
walk, saw him set spurs to his horse and dash ahead. There came more
and more plainly to their ears the sound of a vast confused shouting,
mingled with rapid punctuation of revolver fire. As they came into full
view of the middle portion of the street, they saw it occupied by the
entire population of Heart's Desire, all apparently gone mad with some
incomprehensible emotion.

"What's the matter? What's the matter?" Mr. Ellsworth called out to
one man after another as they passed; but none of them answered him.
Coherent speech seemed to have deserted all. "Here, you, Curly!" he
shouted. "What's all this about?"

Curly, after a swift dash up the street, was now spurring back madly,
his hat swinging in the air, himself crazed as the others.

"He's in!" he yelled. "We done it!"

"Who's in? What've you done?"

"Dan Anderson--nomernated him for Congress--day 'fore yestidday, over to
Cruces. Whole convention went solid--Cruces and Dona Ana, Blanco--whole
kit and b'ilin' of 'em. Ben Stillson done it--boys just heard--heard
the news!" After which Curly relapsed into a series of yells which
closed the incident.

Constance listened, open-eyed and silent. So then, he had succeeded!
The joy in his success, the pride in his victory, brought a flush to her
cheek; but in the same moment the light faded from her eye. She caught
her father by the shoulder almost fiercely. "Look at them!" she
exclaimed. "They're proud of their victory, but they do not think of
_him_. See! He is not here."

Her father, sniffing politics, was forgetting all else; but sobered at
thi