tlaw
horses famous for their vicious, unsubdued spirits, and their fierce,
untamed strength, were brought to match their wicked, unbroken wills
against the cool, determined courage of the riders. From the wide
ranges, the steers that were to participate in the roping and
bull-dogging contests were gathered and driven in. From many a ranch the
fastest and best of the trained cow-horses were sent for the various
cowboy races. And the little city, in its rocky, mile-high basin, upon
which the higher surrounding mountains look so steadfastly down, again
decked itself in gala colors, and opened wide its doors to welcome all
who chose to come.

From the Cross-Triangle and the neighboring ranches the cowboys, dressed
in the best of their picturesque regalia, rode into the town, to witness
and take part in the sports. With them rode Honorable Patches.

And this was not the carefully groomed and immaculately attired
gentleman who, in troubled spirit, had walked alone over that long,
unfenced way a year before. This was not the timid, hesitating,
shamefaced man at whom Phil Acton had laughed on the summit of the
Divide. This was a man among men--a cowboy of the cowboys--bronzed, and
lean, and rugged; vitally alive in every inch of his long body; with
self-reliant courage and daring hardihood written all over him,
expressed in every tone of his voice, and ringing in every note of his
laughter.

The Dean and Mrs. Baldwin and Little Billy drove in the buckboard, but
the distinguished guest of the Cross-Triangle went with the Reid family
in the automobile. The professor was not at all interested in the
celebration, but he could not well remain at the ranch alone, and, it
may be supposed, the invitation from Kitty helped to make the occasion
endurable.

The celebration this year--the posters and circulars declared--was to be
the biggest and best that Prescott had ever offered. In proof of the
bold assertion, the program promised, in addition to the usual events,
an automobile race. Shades of all those mighty heroes of the saddle,
whose names may not be erased from the history of the great West, think
of it! An automobile race offered as the chief event in a Frontier Day
Celebration!

No wonder that Mrs. Manning said to her husband that day, "But Stan,
where are the cowboys?"

Stanford Manning answered laughingly, "Oh, they are here, all right,
Helen; just wait a little and you will see."

Mr. and Mrs. Manning had arrived fro