u, who raised up the dead
Christ, to give po' Cap'n Tom back his reason, that he may fulfill
the things in life ordained by You that he should fulfill since the
beginning of things.

"An' hold Jack Bracken to the mark, Almighty God,--let him toe the
line an' shoot, hereafter, only for good. An' guide me, for I need
it--me that in spite of all You've done for me, doubted You but
yestiddy. Amen."

It was a simple, homely prayer, but it comforted even Captain Tom,
and when Jack Bracken put him to bed that night, even the outlaw felt
that the morning of a new era would awaken them.

CHAPTER X

THE SWAN-SONG OF THE CREPE-MYRTLE

It was twilight when Mrs. Westmore heard the clatter of horses' hoofs
up the gravelled roadway, and two riders cantered up.

Richard Travis sat his saddle horse in the slightly stooping way of
the old fox-hunter--not the most graceful seat, but the most natural
and comfortable for hard riding. Alice galloped ahead--her fine
square shoulders and delicate but graceful bust silhouetted against
the western sky in the fading light.

Mrs. Westmore sat on the veranda and watched them canter up. She
thought how handsome they were, and how well they would look always
together.

Alice sprang lightly from her mare at the front steps.

"Did you think we were never coming back? Richard's new mare rides so
delightfully that we rode farther than we intended. Oh, but she
canters beautifully!"

She sat on the arm of her mother's chair, and bent over and kissed
her cheek. The mother looked up to see her finely turned profile
outlined in a pale pink flush of western sky which glowed behind her.
Her cheeks were of the same tinge as the sky. They glowed with the
flush of the gallop, and her eyes were bright with the happiness of
it. She sat telling of the new mare's wonderfully correct saddle
gaits, flipping her ungloved hand with the gauntlet she had just
pulled off.

Travis turned the horses over to Jim and came up.

"Glad to see you, Cousin Alethea," he said, as she arose and advanced
gracefully to meet him--"no, no--don't rise," he added in his half
jolly, half commanding way. "You've met me before and I'm not such a
big man as I seem." He laughed: "Do you remember Giant Jim, the big
negro Grandfather used to have to oversee his hands on the lower
place? Jim, you know, in consideration of his elevation, was granted
several privileges not allowed the others. Among them was the
privilege of ge