and hat boxes on the hanging
shelf behind the coach and saw that they were lashed securely into
place. Then he threw the mail bag upon his seat, climbed after it and
started on his journey with a whoop and rush, for this trip was to be a
record-breaker. Shields had said it was thirty miles, and it behove
the driver to make it seem as short as possible.

The unexpected arrival of the women had driven everything else from
his mind, even The Orphan, and after he had covered a mile he had a
strong desire to smoke. Giving his whip a jerk he threw it along the top
of the coach and slipped the handle under his arm. Then he felt for
his pouch, and as his fingers closed upon it he suddenly stiffened and
gasped. He had forgotten The Orphan's half pound! Swearing earnestly
and badly frightened at the close call he had from incurring the anger of
a man like the outlaw, he pulled on the reins with a suddenness which
caused the sextet to lay back their ears and indulge in a few heartfelt
kicks. But the darting whip kept peace and he swung around and returned
to town.

As he drove past the station Mary Shields, the sheriff's elder sister,
poked her head out of the door and called to him.

"Driver!" she exclaimed. "Driver!"

Bill craned his neck and looked down.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied anxiously.

"Are we there already?" she asked.

"Why, no, ma'am, it's ei--thirty miles yet," he responded as he sprang
to the ground.

"Then where are we, for goodness' sake?"

"Back in Sagetown, ma'am," he hurriedly replied. "I shore forgot
something," he added in explanation of the return as he ran toward
the saloon.

She turned to her companions with a gesture of despair:

"Isn't it awful," she asked, "what a terrible thing drinking is? A most
detestable habit! Here we are back to where we started from and just
because our driver must have a drink of nasty liquor! Why, we would have
been there by this time. I will most assuredly speak to James about this!"

"Well, I suppose we may go on now!" she exclaimed as Bill bolted into
sight again, holding a package firmly in his two hands. "I suppose he
feels quite capable of driving now."

Bill, blissfully ignorant of the remarks he had called forth, tossed
the tobacco upon the mail bag and climbed to his seat again. The long
whip hissed and cracked as he bellowed to the team, and once more they
started for Ford's Station.

The passengers had all they could do to keep their seats because