e took to drink, and shot to death his
dearest friend.

For the second offense he received a life sentence. My regret over
securing his pardon, and the subsequent loss of human life, affected
me as no other event has ever done in my career. This man would have
died for me or one of mine, and what I thought to be a generous act to
a man in prison proved a curse that haunted me for many years. But all
is well now between us. I make it a point to visit him at least once a
year; we have talked the matter over and have come to the conclusion
that the law is just and that he must remain in confinement the
remainder of his days. That is now the compact, and, strange to say,
both of us derive a sense of security and peace from our covenant such
as we had never enjoyed during the year of his liberty. The wardens
inform me that he is a model prisoner, perfectly content in his
restraint; and I have promised him that on his death, whether it
occurs before or after mine, his remains will be brought back to the
home ranch and be given a quiet grave in some secluded spot.

For any success that I may have achieved, due acknowledgment must be
given my helpmate. I was blessed with a wife such as falls to the lot
of few men. Once children were born to our union and a hearthstone
established, the family became the magnet of my life. It mattered not
where my occupation carried me, or how long my absence from home, the
lodestar of a wife and family was a sustaining help. Our first cabin,
long since reduced to ashes, lives in my memory as a palace. I was
absent at the time of its burning, but my wife's father always enjoyed
telling the story on his daughter. The elder Edwards was branding
calves some five miles distant from the home ranch, but on sighting
the signal smoke of the burning house, he and his outfit turned the
cattle loose, mounted their horses, and rode to the rescue at a
break-neck pace. When they reached the scene our home was enveloped in
flames, and there was no prospect of saving any of its contents. The
house stood some distance from the other ranch buildings, and as there
was no danger of the fire spreading, there was nothing that could be
done and the flames held undisputed sway. The cause of the fire was
unknown, my wife being at her father's house at the time; but on
discovering the flames, she picked up the baby and ran to the burning
cabin, entered it and rescued the little tin trunk that held her
girlhood trinkets