r mind, and the gift of his beautiful horse,
his valor with the fighting rebels, and all this strange regard for him,
especially that of her brother, made her exceedingly regret the cowboy's
present behavior.

Meanwhile Stillwell was so earnest and zealous that one not familiar
with the situation would have believed he was trying to find and reclaim
his own son. He made several trips to little stations in the valley, and
from these he returned with a gloomy face. Madeline got the details from
Alfred. Stewart was going from bad to worse--drunk, disorderly, savage,
sure to land in the penitentiary. Then came a report that hurried
Stillwell off to Rodeo. He returned on the third day, a crushed man. He
had been so bitterly hurt that no one, not even Madeline, could get
out of him what had happened. He admitted finding Stewart, failing to
influence him; and when the old cattleman got so far he turned purple in
the face and talked to himself, as if dazed: "But Gene was drunk. He was
drunk, or he couldn't hev treated old Bill like thet!"

Madeline was stirred with an anger toward the brutal cowboy that was
as strong as her sorrow for the loyal old cattleman. And it was when
Stillwell gave up that she resolved to take a hand. The persistent faith
of Stillwell, his pathetic excuses in the face of what must have been
Stewart's violence, perhaps baseness, actuated her powerfully, gave
her new insight into human nature. She honored a faith that remained
unshaken. And the strange thought came to her that Stewart must somehow
be worthy of such a faith, or he never could have inspired it. Madeline
discovered that she wanted to believe that somewhere deep down in the
most depraved and sinful wretch upon earth there was some grain of good.
She yearned to have the faith in human nature that Stillwell had in
Stewart.

She sent Nels, mounted upon his own horse, and leading Majesty, to Rodeo
in search of Stewart. Nels had instructions to bring Stewart back to the
ranch. In due time Nels returned, leading the roan without a rider.

"Yep, I shore found him," replied Nels, when questioned. "Found him half
sobered up. He'd been in a scrap, an' somebody hed put him to sleep, I
guess. Wal, when he seen thet roan hoss he let out a yell an' grabbed
him round the neck. The hoss knowed him, all right. Then Gene hugged the
hoss an' cried--cried like--I never seen no one who cried like he did. I
waited awhile, an' was jest goin' to say somethin' to