d let his brother try. Quite readily he
did so. Of course, there were only two cartridges left in the gun, for
it was a half-magazine, but Jim expected to take the third shot with his
own rifle. When he had fired twice, however, and reached out his hand
for the other gun, I handed it to him with the remark that it was empty.
For a minute or two things looked black, because both men saw that they
had been tricked. But I had the drop on them, and since they were both
disarmed I felt considerably easier."

"How did it end up?" asked the red-haired listener.

"It was easy enough after that, as long as I didn't turn my back to them
or let either get too near. We went together and counted the ties,
returning to the cabin where I had left my horse. When the tie-cutters
found, however, that the cattlemen had deliberately exaggerated the
penalty for timber trespass in the hope that they would resist and thus
get themselves into serious trouble with the government, their anger was
diverted from me. By joining in with them in a sweeping denunciation of
the cow-camp, and by pointing out that no harsh measures were intended
against them, they came to look on me as friend instead of foe."

"What was done about the trespass?"

"It was pretty early in the days of the Service, and, as you remember,
we let them down easily at first so that no undue amount of friction
should be caused. I think some small fine, purely nominal, was exacted,
and the tie-cutters got into harmonious relations with the Supervisor
later. But those same boys told me, just as I was starting for home,
that they intended to drop me in that old prospect shaft, or, failing
that, to pump me full of holes."

The speaker had hardly finished when a scattering of groups and an
unfolding of chairs took place and the lecturer for the evening was
announced. He won Wilbur's heart at once by an appreciative story of a
young Chinese boy, a civil service student in his native province, who
had accompanied him on a portion of his trip through China in order to
learn what might be done toward the improvement of his country.

"He was a bright lad, this Fo-Ho," said the lecturer, "and it was very
largely owing to him that I extended my trip a little and went to
Fou-Ping. I visited Fo-Ho's family home, where the graves of his
ancestors were--you know how powerful ancestor-worship still is in
China. Such a scene of desolation I never saw, and, I tell you, I was
sorry for the boy.