ng
thought.

So, as they drew into the great Saskatchewan Valley, her hand in his, and
hope in his eyes, and such a look of confidence and pride in her as
brought back his old, strong beauty of face and smoothed the careworn
lines of self-indulgence, she gave him his course: as a private he must
join the North-West Mounted Police, the red-coated riders of the plains,
and work his way up through every stage of responsibility, beginning at
the foot of the ladder of humbleness and self-control. She believed that
he would agree with her proposal; but her hands clasped his a little more
firmly and solicitously--there was a faint, womanly fear at her heart--as
she asked him if he would do it. The life meant more than occasional
separation; it meant that there would be periods when she would not be
with him; and there was great danger in that; but she knew that the risks
must be taken, and he must not be wholly reliant on her presence for his
moral strength.

His face fell for a moment when she made the suggestion, but it cleared
presently, and he said, with a dry laugh: "Well, I guess they must make me
a sergeant pretty quick. I'm a colonel in the Kentucky Carbineers!"

She laughed, too; then a moment afterward, womanlike, wondered if she was
right, and was a little frightened. But that was only because she was not
self-opinionated, and was anxious, more anxious than any woman in all the
North.

It happened as Jim said; he was made a sergeant at once--Sally managed
that; for, when it came to the point, she saw the conditions in which the
privates lived, and realized that Jim must be one of them, and clean out
the stables, and groom his horse and the officers' horses, and fetch and
carry, her heart failed her, and she thought that she was making her
remedy needlessly heroical. So, she went to see the commissioner, who was
on a tour of scrutiny on their arrival at the post, and, as better men
than he had done in more knowing circles, he fell under her spell. If she
had asked for a lieutenancy, he would probably have corrupted some member
of Parliament into securing it for Jim.

But Jim was made a sergeant, and the commissioner and the captain of the
troop kept their eyes on him. So did other members of the troop who did
not quite know their man, and attempted, figuratively, to pinch him here
and there. They found that his actions were greater than his words, and
both were in perfect harmony in the end, though his words oft