ts set out in fine,
well-grown cottonwood trees, delightful to look upon, or to listen to,
as they swayed and rippled in the wind. Uncle Billy had been one of the
most worthless old drunkards who ever sat on a store box and told filthy
stories. One night he played hide-and-seek with a switch engine and got
his sodden brains knocked out. But his grove, the one creditable thing
he had ever done in his life, rustled on. Beyond this grove the houses
of the depot settlement began, and the naked board walk, that had run in
out of the sunflowers, again became a link between human dwellings.

One afternoon, late in the summer, Dr. Howard Archie was fighting his
way back to town along this walk through a blinding sandstorm, a silk
handkerchief tied over his mouth. He had been to see a sick woman down
in the depot settlement, and he was walking because his ponies had been
out for a hard drive that morning.

As he passed the Catholic Church he came upon Thea and Thor. Thea was
sitting in a child's express wagon, her feet out behind, kicking the
wagon along and steering by the tongue. Thor was on her lap and she held
him with one arm. He had grown to be a big cub of a baby, with a
constitutional grievance, and he had to be continually amused. Thea took
him philosophically, and tugged and pulled him about, getting as much
fun as she could under her encumbrance. Her hair was blowing about her
face, and her eyes were squinting so intently at the uneven board
sidewalk in front of her that she did not see the doctor until he spoke
to her.

"Look out, Thea. You'll steer that youngster into the ditch."

The wagon stopped. Thea released the tongue, wiped her hot, sandy face,
and pushed back her hair. "Oh, no, I won't! I never ran off but once,
and then he didn't get anything but a bump. He likes this better than a
baby buggy, and so do I."

"Are you going to kick that cart all the way home?"

"Of course. We take long trips; wherever there is a sidewalk. It's no
good on the road."

"Looks to me like working pretty hard for your fun. Are you going to be
busy to-night? Want to make a call with me? Spanish Johnny's come home
again, all used up. His wife sent me word this morning, and I said I'd
go over to see him to-night. He's an old chum of yours, isn't he?"

"Oh, I'm glad. She's been crying her eyes out. When did he come?"

"Last night, on Number Six. Paid his fare, they tell me. Too sick to
beat it. There'll come a time when that