her. "It's me. It's Charlie Bylow. Won't you
be after having a drink of water?"

Hartigan raised himself on his elbow, peered out of his bloodshot eyes,
and drank eagerly. The cup was three times emptied.

"You better come over to my shanty and go to bed," said Charlie
seriously. The Preacher groaned:

"Oh! God what have I done? What have I done?" He clutched his throbbing
brow with both hands, as he rose and shakily followed Charlie.

"Oh! fool that I am. Oh, God! Ruined. All is ruined. I wish I were
dead!" he exclaimed. "Oh! God forgive me."

As they passed the fence where Blazing Star had been hitched, Hartigan
stopped and stared. Charlie said:

"It's all right, Mr. Hartigan, I took care of him. He is in the stable."

Coming to Bylow's house, Jim passed the entrance and went on to the
stable. With trembling hands he opened the door and hesitated. He half
expected Blazing Star to spurn and disown him. He was prepared for any
and every humiliation, but the long, joyous neigh that greeted him was a
shock, and a help.

"Oh! Blazing Star, if you only knew, you would not even look at me."

Charlie took the Preacher by the arm and led him to the house.

"Here, Mr. Hartigan, take off your clothes and go to bed. I will give
you a wet towel for your head and, by and by, I will bring you some
coffee."

"Oh! God be merciful, or strike me dead," and Jim broke down in an agony
of remorse. "This is the end. All I hoped for gone. I don't want to live
now."

"Mr. Hartigan, sure now I know how you feel. Ain't I been through it?
But don't be after making plans that are rash when you ain't just
yourself. Now go to bed and rest awhile," and his kind Irish heart was
wrung as he looked on the utter degradation of the manly form before
him, and the shocking disfigurement of the one-time handsome face.
Charlie and his wife left Hartigan alone. They shut the door and Charlie
went back to his brother's shanty to help the other victims of the orgy.

Jim tossed around uneasily, winning snatches of sleep, groaning,
talking, abasing himself.

"Oh, Belle!" he moaned aloud. "Will you ever look at me again? Oh, God!
And me a preacher."

Cedar Mountain was not so big but that every one knew everybody else's
business; and Mary Bylow understood when she heard the name "Belle." But
she didn't know just what to do. After an hour she again heard him.

"Oh! Belle, Belle, what will you say?"

Taking the hot coffee from the stove, Mrs. By