rd shrill
above the click of mowing-machines, and the tramp of horses' hoofs.

At last came the day when the last load of alfalfa was housed under
cover; then Mr. Clark said to Thornton:

"Well, Thornton, there seems to be nothing more for which we shall be
needed at present. You can deal out the rations and send them to the
three central camps without me; you can also order necessary supplies
from Glen City. Some repairs remain for you to oversee, but I am sure
you fully understand about them, and can manage them without my help.
To-morrow, therefore, if the day is fine, Donald and I will set out for
the range, I think."

Donald threw his hat into the air.

"To join Sandy, father?" he asked eagerly.

"That is my plan."

"Hurrah!"

Mr. Clark looked amused at his enthusiasm.

"One would think you a born shepherd, Don, instead of a boy who has only
been out on the range with a herder."

"Why do you call Sandy just a herder, father?" Donald asked, seeming to
fear that the term was a slight to his friend the Scotchman.

"Because he is a herder, son. A shepherd is a man who herds or tends his
own sheep--sheep that belong to him; a herder, on the contrary, is a man
hired to care for other people's sheep. There is a great difference, you
see. Generally speaking, a shepherd will take more pains with a flock
than a herder will on the principle that we are more interested in our
own possessions than in those which are not our own."

"No one could take better care of sheep, father, than Sandy does."

"I feel sure of that," agreed his father, gravely. "In fact all our
herders are honest men--I am convinced of it. After the next shearing I
mean to give to each man a small band of sheep for his own. He may run
them with the flocks, sell the wool, and keep the money as a nest-egg.
The men deserve a share in the profits of Crescent Ranch and I should
like them to have it in return for their splendid spirit of loyalty."

"Even Thornton?"

Mr. Clark hesitated.

"I have been watching Thornton," he admitted slowly. "That is why I kept
him with me, and why I stayed behind."

"Why, I never thought of that being the reason!"

"It was my chief reason."

"But now you are going off and leaving Thornton alone," Donald said,
somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, and I am leaving him in a position of trust, too. The supplies and
much of our business is in his hands. He knows it. If he proves himself
worthy, I shall appoint him, when we