t. For such was
the whim of Fate, and such is the limit of human understanding, she did
not know, and never would know, save by the grace of that Fate, that Pat
had been born in just that service, born to just that oppression; that
only by the kindness of Fate he had been released from that service,
that oppression, that he had been guided out of that environment and
cast into a more kindly, bigger, and truer environment--her own!

But Pat only blinked stolid indifference at the spectacle. He appeared
to care nothing for the misery of other horses, nor to appreciate her
tenderness when directed elsewhere than toward himself. After a time, as
if to reveal this, he set out of his own volition toward a particularly
inviting bit of flower, dainty yellow in the brown of the desert.
Plucking this morsel, he fell to munching it in contentment, and
continued to munch it till the last vestige disappeared. Then, again of
his own volition, he broke into a canter. Helen smiled and pulled him
down.

"You're a strange horse, Pat," she declared, and fell to stroking him
again. "And not the least strange thing about you is your history.
Sometimes I wonder whether you are actually blooded. Certainly you look
it, and at times assuredly you act it; yet if you are so valuable, why
didn't somebody claim you that time? It is all very mysterious." And she
relapsed into silence, gazing at him thoughtfully.

Aroused by sudden faint gusts of wind, she glanced around and overhead.
She saw unmistakable signs of an approaching storm, and swung Pat about
toward home. As the horse broke into a canter the gusts became more
fitful and sharper, while the sun, growing dim and hazy, cast
ever-increasing shadow before her. Presently, as far as the eye could
reach, she saw the landscape spring into active life. Dust-devils
whirled about in quick eddies, stray sheets of paper leaped up,
tumbleweed began steady forward movement, rabbit-like, scurrying before
the winds, the advance occupied by largest growths, the rear brought up
with smallest clumps, the order determined by the area each presented to
the winds. It was all very impressive, but, knowing the uncertain
character of the elements, and uncertain whether this foretold violent
sand-storm or milder wind-storm, she was gripped with apprehension. She
urged Pat to his utmost.

And Pat responded, though he really needed but little urging. With each
sudden gust he became increasingly afraid. Holding him