with no promise of easier
conditions, she became dissatisfied, shrewish, and ashamed of her lack
of pretty things to wear. Little Jim was, of course, as blind to all
this as he was to his need for anything other than his overalls, shoes,
and jumper. He thought his mother was pretty and he often told her so.

Meanwhile, Big Jim tried to blind himself to his wife's growing
dissatisfaction. He was too much of a man to argue her own short-comings
as against his inability to do more for her than he was doing. But when
she did leave, with simply a brief note saying that she was tired of it
all, and would take care of herself, what hit Big Jim the hardest was
the fact that she could give up Little Jim without so much as a word
about him. Every one liked Little Jim, and the mother's going proved
something that Big Jim had tried to ignore for several years--that his
wife cared actually nothing for the boy. When Big Jim finally realized
this, his indecision evaporated. He would sell out and try his fortunes
in Arizona, where his sister Jane lived, the sister who had never seen
Little Jim, but who had often written to Big Jim, inviting him to come
and bring his family for a visit.

Big Jim had enough money from the sale of his effects to make the
journey by train, even after he had deposited half of the proceeds at
the local bank, in his wife's name. But being a true son of the open, he
wanted to see the country; so he decided to travel horseback, with a
pack-animal. Little Jim, used to the saddle, would find the journey a
real adventure. They would take it easy. There was no reason for haste.

It had seemed the simplest thing to do, to sell out, leave that part of
the country, and forget what had happened. There was nothing to be
gained by staying where they were. Big Jim had lost his interest in the
ranch. Moreover, there had been some talk of another man, in Laramie, a
man who had "kept company" with Jenny Simpson, before she became Mrs.
Jim Hastings. Mrs. Hastings was still young and quite good-looking.

It had seemed a simple thing to do--to leave and begin life over again
in another land. But Big Jim had forgotten Smiler. Smiler was a dog of
vague ancestry, a rough-coated, yellow dog that belonged solely to
Little Jim. Smiler stuck so closely to Little Jim that their shadows
were veritably one. Smiler was a sort of chuckle-headed, good-natured
animal, meek, so long as Little Jim's prerogatives were not infringed
upon, but