Why, Mrs. Herne, do you know that he worked on the streets of the city
of Chicago, and for three months with a gang of a thousand men on the
Coast Railroad between Los Angeles and San Francisco! Then he was at the
Oakdale cattle ranch, cowboying it, with that fast gang of boys that
they keep there. Then he worked for awhile at the Simmons ranch, which
is four miles from Roseland, and Simmons always keeps the hardest crew
of men on his place. They go to Roseland every other night or so and
dance at those low dancing-houses with bad women. They get drunk, fight,
and swear all the time. Simmons' ranch has got the name of being the
toughest place to work anywhere round here.

"One day when Dan was in Roseland, he saw a man he knew from the Simmons
ranch, so he thought he would hear what the fellow had to say about
Penloe, as we both are curious to find out all we can about that
singular young man.

"Dan said: 'Is Penloe working on the Simmons ranch?'

"The man said: 'Yes.'

"Dan said: 'How does he get along?'

"'Get along!' the man said. 'All I have to say is I wish I could get
along as well.'

"Dan said: 'What kind of a chap is he, anyway? I kind of want to know,
as he is a neighbor of mine.'

"'Well,' the man said, 'I will tell you, and then you can judge for
yourself. I never heard him swear or knew of his telling a lie; he don't
drink or tell smutty yarns, or have anything to do with bad women. The
boss says he works well, and when he is not at work he never joins the
boys in their foolish talk. He is by himself a great deal, praying, I
reckon, but he is very sociable if any one will talk sense. Let me tell
you what he did which will show you what kind of a man he is. One cold,
chilly night in December, when we were all sleeping in the barn, each
man having his own blankets, the boys had just turned in when a tramp
came in and asked if he could sleep in the barn. One of the boys said,
'Yes.' The fellow lay down on the hay without any blankets, and as soon
as he was laid down his teeth began to chatter and he shook all over,
for he had a chill. Penloe instantly got up and lit a lantern, took his
blankets over to the tramp and said: 'Here, brother, you have got a
chill. Take my blankets and roll yourself up in them; you will be better
in the morning.' From where I lay I could just see the tramp's face, for
Penloe was holding the lantern so the light went on his face. The fellow
looked up at Penloe thunderstruck. I