ohnson at the depot.'

"Luke comes over to me shaking all over. I never saw him lose his
nerve before.

"'Bud,' says he. 'I've never had that boy out of my mind one day or
one night since he was took away. But I never let on. But can we hold
him?-- Can we make him stay?-- I'll make the best man of him that ever
put his foot in a stirrup. Wait a minute,' says he, all excited and
out of his mind--'I've got some-thing here in my desk--I reckon it'll
hold legal yet--I've looked at it a thousand times--"Cus-to-dy of the
child,"' says Luke--'"Cus-to-dy of the child." We can hold him on
that, can't we? Le'me see if I can find that decree.'

"Luke begins to tear his desk to pieces.

"'Hold on,' says I. 'You are Order and I'm Law. You needn't look for
that paper, Luke. It ain't a decree any more. It's requisition papers.
It's on file in that Magistrate's office in New York. I took it along
when we went, because I was office deputy and knew the law.'

"'I've got him back,' says Luke. 'He's mine again. I never thought--'

"'Wait a minute,' says I. 'We've got to have law and order. You and me
have got to preserve 'em both in Mojada County according to our oath
and conscience. The kid shot Pedro Johnson, one of Bildad's most
prominent and--'

"'Oh, hell!' says Luke. 'That don't amount to anything. That fellow
was half Mexican, anyhow.'"

XXII

TRANSFORMATION OF MARTIN BURNEY

In behalf of Sir Walter's soothing plant let us look into the case of
Martin Burney.

They were constructing the Speedway along the west bank of the Harlem
River. The grub-boat of Dennis Corrigan, sub-contractor, was moored
to a tree on the bank. Twenty-two men belonging to the little green
island toiled there at the sinew-cracking labour. One among them, who
wrought in the kitchen of the grub-boat was of the race of the Goths.
Over them all stood the exorbitant Corrigan, harrying them like the
captain of a galley crew. He paid them so little that most of the
gang, work as they might, earned little more than food and tobacco;
many of them were in debt to him. Corrigan boarded them all in the
grub-boat, and gave them good grub, for he got it back in work.

Martin Burney was furthest behind of all. He was a little man, all
muscles and hands and feet, with a gray-red, stubbly beard. He was too
light for the work, which would have glutted the capacity of a steam
shovel.

The work was hard. Besides that, the banks of the river were humming