f the rope as he came, followed by a
red-cheeked, star-eyed girl of four, who brandished a huge branding
iron. Upon the prostrate cowpuncher they precipitated themselves with a
yell, the boy deftly throwing a bight of the rope about Ken's feet and
drawing up the slack. Then placing one foot on Douglass's neck he
laconically announced:

"Tied! Put the iron to 'im, Yule."

The little girl thrust the end of the brand against the brawny shoulder
now quivering with the suppressed laughter of its owner and made a
quaint sizzling noise with her puckered lips. The cowboy emitted an
agonized bawl wonderfully like that of a calf in the throes of the
red-hot iron's bite and the boy stooped to a critical examination.
Bueno! he said approvingly, and then he untied the restraining coils,
stepped back a pace and gave Ken the ethical kick in the ribs.

"Get up, you chump!" he ejaculated in comical imitation of Ken's accent
and manner when at work in the branding corrals. Douglass was his model
in everything, and only the week before he had the beatitude of seeing
his hero actively engaged In a similar employment of the branding iron.
But the little girl laid her soft cheek against the bronzed one of the
cowboy and whispered sweetly, "Oh! Ten, youse is weally mine vewy own
now, ain't youse? Buddy said youse would be if ve doed it."

The man made two attempts before he could answer. Then he laid his lips
reverently on the rosebud mouth. "Yes, honey, I'm sure in your brand
now," he said gently. And he quietly but firmly declined the glass of
whiskey proffered him by her father as he sat her on the end of the
dingy counter. The sweetness of those little lips was too fresh for
that. Old Blount gave him a keen look of approval as he set the bottle
back. "Your head's level," he said, misinterpreting Douglass's motive.
"Matlock is a quick mover even if he is a cur. And he's ugly to-night."

"That so?" said Douglass indifferently, playing with the curls of the
little child nestling against his breast. Mrs. Blount, coming to
announce that supper was ready, shivered slightly and her kind brown
eyes were filled with an unspoken entreaty. But he evaded their
wistfulness and a certain doggedness gloomed in his own. All throughout
the meal he held the child in his lap, and when he relinquished her to
the troubled woman he said not unkindly: "I am not going to get drunk
to-night and I shall do all I can to avoid trouble. Of course I am not
going