to San Francisco, Jeanie and they could
come over by the first ship that sailed. There was no down upon them,
so they could do anything they liked. The main thing was to get Jim off
safe and me and Starlight. After that the rest might come along when
they pleased. As for dad, he was to take his own road; to go and stay as
he chose. It wasn't much use trying to make him do anything else. But he
was more like to stop at the old Hollow than anywhere else. It wouldn't
have seemed home to him anywhere else, even where he was born, I
believe.

The first thing of all was to go to the old place and see mother and
Aileen. They were both back at the old cottage, and were a bit more
comfortable now. George Storefield had married a lady--a real lady, as
Aileen said--and, though she was a nice, good-tempered young woman as
ever was, Aileen, of course, wouldn't stay there any longer. She thought
home was the best place after all.

We took a couple of days figuring it out at the Hollow. Starlight had
a map, and we plotted it out, and marked all the stages which could be
safely made--went over all the back tracks and cross-country lines; some
we had travelled before, and others of which we knew pretty well from
hearsay.

After we'd got all this cut and dry, I started away one beautiful
sunshiny morning to ride over to Rocky Flat. I remember the day as well
as yesterday, because I took notice of it at the time, and had better
cause to remember it before all was over. Everything looked so lovely as
I began to clear the foot hills of Nulla Mountain. The birds seemed to
chirp and whistle gayer than they ever did before. The dewdrops on the
grass and all the twigs and shoots of the trees looked as if it was
covered with diamonds and rubies as the sun began to shine and melt some
of them. My horse stepped along limber and free. 'O Lord,' I says
to myself out aloud, 'what a happy cove I might be if I could start
fresh--knowing what I know--and not having all these things against me!'

When I got on to the tableland above Rocky Flat I took a good look at
the whole place. Everything was as quiet and peaceful as if nothing had
ever happened within miles of it--as if I hadn't had Goring's handcuffs
on me--as if Jim hadn't had the bullets whistling round him, and risked
his life on an unbridled horse--as if the four dead men had not lain
staring up to the sky in the gully up yonder for days before they were
found and buried.

But now it loo