ust watch carefully, if he would keep it
healthy. He knew that, and each day had its own little battle-ground.
Sometimes he won, and sometimes the fight went against him--as is the
way with the world.

CHAPTER XIX

THE BRAVE BUCKAROO

"BOISE, IDAHO, _December_ 23.

"BRAVE BUCKAROO,--

"I wonder if you ever in your whole life got a Christmas present? I've
been cultivating the Louise of me, and here are the first fruits of my
endeavor; I guess that's the way they say it. I've spent so much time
sitting by mommie when she's asleep, and I get tired of reading all the
time, so a nurse in this ward--mommie has a room to herself of course,
but not a special nurse, because I can do a lot of the little
things--well, the nurse taught me how to hemstitch. So I got some silk
and made some nice, soft neckerchiefs--one for you and one for me.

"This one I made last. I didn't want your eagle eyes seeing all the
bobbly stitches on the first one. I hope you like it, Ward. Every
stitch stands for a thought of the hills and our good times. I've
brought Minervy back to life, and I try to play my old pretends
sometimes. But they always break up into pieces. I'm not a kid now,
you see. And life is a lot different when you get out into it, isn't
it?

"Mommie doesn't seem to get much better. I'm worried about her. She
seems to have let go, somehow. She never talks about the ranch much,
or even worries about whether Phoebe is keeping the windows washed.
She talks about when she was a little girl, and about when she and
daddy were first married. It gets on my nerves to see how she has
slipped out of every-day life. The nurse says that's common, though,
in sickness. She says I could go home and look after things for a week
or so just as well as not. She says mommie would be all right. But I
hate to leave her.

"I'm awfully homesick for a good old ride on Blue. I miss him
terribly. Have you seen anything of the Cove folks lately? Seems like
I'm clear out of the world. I hate town, anyway, and a hospital is the
limit for dismalness. Even the Louise of me is getting ready to do
something awful if I have to stay much longer. Mommie sleeps most of
the time. I believe they dope her with something. She doesn't have
that awful pain so bad. So I don't have anything to do but sit around
and read and sew and wait for her to wake up and want something.

"Pal, the Billy of me is at the exploding point! I believe