us the queerest prayer you ever heard in your life. He
stood on one toe and clawed chunks out of the air while he
delivered it.

"He seemed to have it in for me in particular. 'You villain! You
rascal! You red-headed rascal! You did this! I know you did!'

"'Oh, uncle!' says I, 'forgive me!' With that I hugged him right
up to me, and he filled my bosom full of smothered language.

"'Cheese it, you little cuss!' I whispered in his ear, 'or I'll
break every rib in your poor old chest!' I came in on him a
trifle, Just to show him what I could do if I tried.

"'Nuff!' he wheezes. 'Quit. 'Nuff.'

"'Go up and congratulate 'em,' I whispered again.

"'I won't,' says he. 'Ouch! Yes, I will! I will!' So up he
goes, grinding his teeth.

"'I wish you every happiness,' he grunts.

"'Won't you forgive me, uncle?' begs Loys.

"'Some other time; some other time!' he hollers, and he pranced
out of the house like a hosstyle spider, the maddest little man in
the Territory.

"Loys had a hard time of it until Kyle got so he could travel, and
they went up to the Yellowstone with a team for a wedding trip.

"The rest of Loys's folks was in an unpleasant frame of mind, too.
They sent out her brother, and while I'd have took most anything
from Loys's brother, there comes a place where human nature is
human nature, and the upshot of it was I planked that young man
gently but firmly across my knees. Suffering Ike! But he was one
sassy young man! Howsomever, the whole outfit came round in
time--all except uncle and me. He used to grit his teeth together
till the sparks flew when he saw me. I was afraid he'd bust a
blood-vessel in one of them fits, so I quit. I hated to let go of
the old ranch, but I'm pretty well fixed--I'm superintendent here.
It's Kyle's ranch, you know. That's his brand--the queer-looking
thing on the left hip of that critter, over the vented hash-knife.
Loys's invention, that is. She says it's a cherublim, but we call
it the 'flying flap-jack.' There's a right smart lot of beef
critters toting that signal around this part of the country.
Kyle's one of the fellers that rises like a setting of bread--quiet
and gentle, but steady and sure. He's going to the State
Legislature next year. 'Twon't do no harm to have one honest man
in the outfit.

"Now, perhaps if I'd married some nice woman I might have had 1,000
steers of my own, and a chance to make rules and regulations for my
feller-citi