p that had gathered about them. "I forced
my horse into it and we swam for the other bank. Joe was very much
distressed for fear we would not get across."

"I wouldn't have taken that swim for all of Dakota," said Joe.

At Dickinson, a gray-faced, lean man pushed his way through the crowd.
It was Maunders, who had prospered, in spite of his evil ways. "Why,"
exclaimed Roosevelt, "it does me good to see you. You remember when I
needed a hammer so badly and you loaned it to me? You loaned me a
rifle also. I never shall forget how badly I needed that hammer just
then."

Maunders, who had always been affable, grinned with delight and joined
the Governor's party.

The train moved on to Medora. Roosevelt and Joe Ferris sat by the
window, and it seemed that every twisted crag and butte reminded them
of the days when they had ridden over that wild country together.

As the train neared Medora, Roosevelt was palpably moved. "The romance
of my life began here," he said.

There were forty or fifty people at the station in Medora. They hung
back bashfully, but he was among them in an instant.

"Why, this is Mrs. Roberts!" he exclaimed. "You have not changed a
bit, have you?"

She drew his attention to George Myers, who was all smiles.

"My, my, George Myers!" exclaimed Roosevelt, "I did not even hope to
see you." Roosevelt turned to the crowd. "George used to cook for me,"
he said, with a wry expression.

"Do you remember the time I made green biscuits for you?" asked
George, with a grin.

"I do," said Roosevelt emphatically, "I do, George. And I remember the
time you fried the beans with rosin instead of lard. The best proof in
the world, George, that I have a good constitution is that I ate your
cooking and survived."

"Well, now, Governor," exclaimed George, "I was thinking it would be a
good idea to get that man Bryan up here and see what that kind of
biscuit would do for him."

Roosevelt looked about him, where the familiar buttes stretched gray
and bleak in every direction. "It does not seem right," he exclaimed,
"that I should come here and not stay."

Some one brought a bronco for Roosevelt. A minute later he was
galloping eastward toward the trail leading up to the bluff that rose
a thousand feet behind Medora. "Over there is Square Butte," he cried
eagerly, "and over there is Sentinel Butte. My ranch was at Chimney
Butte. Just this side of it is the trail where Custer marched westward
to the Yellowstone