h him. Shall I
ask him?'

'Please do,' said Jack. 'I'm ready to start any minute they want to
go, an' I promise I won't give 'em any trouble. Oh, Steve, I must get
away from here!'

'All right! I'll try an' fix it for you,' returned Steve. 'Wouldn't
it be a surprise for your folks if they saw you walk in one fine day?
I don't quite know where they live, except that they're somewhere on
the Cochetopa Creek, but I reckon if you do get that far as you'll find
'em. I'll see the miner to-morrow. He's campin' t'other side o' the
village. I guess he won't object to takin' you, as I'll tell him
you're a handy little chap. I believe I'd have gone an' seen you safe
there myself, but I'm goin' to look after cattle down on the Huerfano.'

'You are good to me, Steve!' cried Jack, throwing his arms round the
cowboy's neck and hugging him. 'I thought you'd save me somehow, an' I
do love you so.'

'There! That'll do, young un,' said Steve good-naturedly. 'Go home
an' keep quiet, for if that woman gets wind o' our plans, it'll be all
up, for she ain't goin' to give up a slavey like you. But, look here!
How shall I let you know if he'll take you?' as Jack was turning to go.

He stopped, and after a little more talking it was decided that Steve
was to interview the miner on Jack's behalf, and if the man agreed to
let the boy go with him to the mountains, Steve was to ride past his
father's house the next morning and wave a red handkerchief as a sign
of success.

They parted in great spirits, for both were too young to understand
what a great undertaking they were contemplating for a little child.
Jack had no notion of the distance it was to his parents' new home, and
Steve was rather vague about it. Jack's one idea was to start off and
find his father and mother somehow.

The next day Mrs. Byrne was in a very bad temper and was a great trial
to poor Jack. Nothing he could do was right in her eyes, and being in
a state of anxious excitement himself over the result of Steve's
mission, he made some trifling blunders which brought swift correction
upon him, and many a time his ear tingled from a blow from her hand.

He was busily engaged in washing the kitchen floor when he heard a
horse coming rapidly along the dusty road. He knew what it was, and,
unable to resist the temptation, he jumped up from his knees and rushed
to the door. Unluckily for him, Mrs. Byrne came in from the garden at
that moment and met him at