avings left."

It is true that the sister gave the brother money more than once; and as
our ways lay together, I had chances to see them both, and to wonder if
her joy at being with him once again was going to last. On the road to
Riverside I certainly heard Jessamine beg him to return home with her;
and he ridiculed such a notion. What proper life for a live man was that
dead place back East? he asked her. I thought he might have expressed
some regret that they must dwell so far apart, or some intention to
visit her now and then; but he said nothing of the sort, though he
spoke volubly of himself and his prospects. I suppose this spectacle of
brother and sister had rubbed Lin the wrong way too much, for he held
himself and Billy aloof, joining me on the road but once, and then
merely to give me the news that people here wanted no more of Nate
Buckner; he would be run out of the country, and respect for the sister
was all that meanwhile saved him. But Buckner, like so many spared
criminals, seemed brazenly unaware he was disgraced, and went hailing
loudly any riders or drivers we met, while beside him his sister sat
close and straight, her stanch affection and support for the world to
see. For all she let appear, she might have been bringing him back from
some gallant heroism achieved; and as I rode along the travesty seemed
more and more pitiful, the outcome darker and darker.

At all times is Riverside beautiful, but most beautiful when the sun
draws down through the openings of the hills. From each one a stream
comes flowing clearly out into the plain, and fields spread green along
the margins. It was beneath the long-slanted radiance of evening that
we saw Blue Creek and felt its coolness rise among the shifting veils of
light. The red bluff eastward, the tall natural fortress, lost its stern
masonry of shapes, and loomed a soft towering enchantment of violet and
amber and saffron in the changing rays. The cattle stood quiet about
the levels, and horses were moving among the restless colts. These the
brother bade his sister look at, for with them was his glory; and I
heard him boasting of his skill--truthful boasting, to be sure. Had
he been honest in his dealings, the good-will that man's courage and
dashing appearance beget in men would have brought him more employment
than he could have undertaken. He told Jessamine his way of breaking a
horse that few would dare, and she listened eagerly. "Do you remember
when