's Magazine_. They were,
however, all prepared with reference to their final use as a consecutive
series.

A. F.

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ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

"The Peak was Superb that Morning, Big and
Strong and Glittering with Snow" _Frontispiece_

"A Handful of Cottonwood Trees Clustered about
the House" 24

"The Vast Sea of the Prairie" 46

"Between his Cabin Door and 'The Range'
Stretched Twenty Miles of Arid Prairie" 60

The Keith Ranch 104

"A Half-Hearted Stream Known as 'The Creek'" 122

"The Great Dome of Snow Towered in All its Grandeur" 142

"A Town of Rude Frame Huts had Sprung up in
the Hollow below" 156

"On the Edge of a Dead Forest" 212

"It's a Kind of Double Back-Action Slant we've
Got to Tackle this Time" 228

Pine Bluff 258

"They Looked out at the Peak" 289

"The Brook, Which Came Dashing Down From The
Canon, Still Rioting on Its Way" 324

"The Ranch Gate, Which Had Swung Half To On
Its Hinges" 360

"The Wild and Beautiful Gorge" 378

A Golden Vista 388

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PEAK AND PRAIRIE

I.

A PILGRIM IN THE FAR WEST.

The Peak was superb that morning, big and strong, and glittering with
snow. Little Mrs. Nancy Tarbell turned, after shutting and locking the
door of her cottage, and looked down the street, at the end of which the
friendly giant stood out against a clear blue sky. The cottonwood trees
on either side of the road were just coming into leaf, and their
extended branches framed in her mighty neighbor in a most becoming
manner. The water in the irrigating ditch beneath the trees was running
merrily. The sound of it brought a wistful look into the cheerful old
face. It made Mrs. Nancy think of the gay little brook in the pasture
behind the house at home--at home, in far New England.

Surely it must have been a st