for his adventure.

Into the work that followed Jim threw himself with all his might. Never
had instructors a more willing pupil, and it was a proud day for Jim
when he was passed out of the training-school as a qualified trooper.

Jim found himself one of an exceedingly small party located apparently a
hundred miles from anywhere. Their nearest neighbours were a tribe of
Indians, whose mixture of childishness and cunning shrewdness made them
an interesting study. These gave little trouble; they had more or less
accepted the fact that the white man was now in possession of the
domains of their forefathers, and that their best course was to behave
themselves. When the presence of the police was required, Jim was almost
amused at the docility with which his directions were generally obeyed.

He delighted in the life--the long rides, the occasional camping out on
the plains far from any dwelling, the knowledge that he must rely upon
himself. He felt more of a man; his powers of endurance increased until
he took a positive pleasure in exercising them to their fullest possible
extent. Meanwhile, nothing more exciting happened than the tracking and
capture of an occasional horse-thief.

Winter set in early and hard. Snow fell until it lay feet deep, and
still the stormy winds brought more. One day the sergeant came in with a
troubled face.

"Wightman's horses have stampeded," he announced. "They'll be gone coons
if they're not rounded up and brought in."

"Let me go, sergeant!" said Jim.

The sergeant shook his head. "It's no work for a young hand. The oldest
might lose his bearings in weather like this."

"Let me go, sergeant!" Jim repeated. "If those horses are to be brought
in I can do it." There was a world of pleading in his tone, and the
sergeant guessed the reason.

"I meant no reflection on you, my lad," said he. "It's no weather for
anybody to be out in. All the same, if those horses aren't to be a dead
loss, somebody's got to round them up."

Finally Jim got his way. In a temporary lull about midday he set out on
his stout horse, well wrapped up in the thick woollen garments provided
for such times as these, and determined to bring in those horses, or
perish in the attempt.

"They went off sou'-west," shouted the sergeant. "I should----" A
furious blast as the gale recommenced carried away whatever else he
might have said, and Jim was alone with his good horse on the prairie.

There was no hesitancy i