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THE LAST DROP OF WATER
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to seeing again the faces of those who loved her.
' ' Here she is ! " exclaimed Jim, triumphantly, as he lifted the slim young girl from the steps of the train and presented her to his new-found friend.
' ' Pleased to meet you, Miss Mary, ' ' said Johnnie, now thoroly cleansed, clothed, and in his right mind. He extended his hand, and his face illumined with a smile so bright, so winsome, and so fascinating, that Mary, like others before her, at once fell a victim to his charms.
There still lingered about John Elliot a touch of the East. Clothes seemed to set more jauntily upon him than upon the other boys at the ranch. Moreover, he was the nephew of the wealthiest man in that part of the country, and, unconsciously, Mary Baird was influenced by these considerations, and it was soon evident to all that Mary, the pet of the ranch, was yielding to the genial charm of the smiling young Easterner.
Jim's honest face was radiant with happiness for the next few weeks. No thought of jealousy ever entered his mind. Mary was home, and he could see her, and hear her voice, every day. His protege and friend, Johnnie, was doing well, and keeping his compulsory promises to the letter, and it pleased Jim to have Mary approve his choice of a friend.
"He's simply splendid," she exclaimed, one day, when sounding John's praises in Jim's ear, with as little restraint as tho the latter had been her brother. "I've never admired any one so much in my life as I "
Mary paused abruptly, realizing that she had said too much. Jim was gazing upon her with a look such as she had never seen on his face before. Surprise, dismay and disappointment were plainly mingled in the glance. There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation.
"What's the matter, Jim?" Mary inquired. "Isn't John all right?" and Jim's keen eyes seemed to read her very soul.
"Yes," he replied, with a half suppressed sigh, "he's all right — now. I'm — I'm glad you like him."
That was all. If Mary liked John, it was not in Jim's nature to interfere, no matter what he himself suffered in renunciation. The course before him seemed plain. John must be kept straight for Mary's sake.
John lost no time in his wooing, and it was only a few weeks before every one for miles around was present at the marriage of pretty Mary Baird to John Elliot, nephew of Squire Harris, of Cat's Paw.
Mary had expected that her handsome young husband would take her for her long-dreamed-of trip East. He had often talked of his mother,
MAKING UP THE CARAVAN
and had promised his little bride that the trip should be made very soon. Then came the tidings that gold had been discovered farther West, and pandemonium reigned among the plainsmen.
"We'll make our fortunes first, my dear," said the happy bridegroom, laughing away his wife's disappointment, "then we'll go East in style."
Reluctantly, Mary joined in the hasty preparations for the long trip across the plains to the gold fields. Others wTere going besides themselves. The wagon trains were to meet just before the long stretch was to be crossed.
"It's a bad time to start out," warned an old hunter, riding toward Cat's Paw for a supply of provisions.