father. "Thank you, lad, and God bless you!"

He took Laddie's hand, and almost lifted him from the floor, then he
wiped his glasses, gathered up his books with a big, deep breath of
relief, and went into his room. If the others had looked to see why he
was gone so long, they would have seen him on his knees beside his bed
thanking God, as usual. Leon couldn't have come closer than when he
said, "The same yesterday, to-day, and forever," about father.

Leon had his arms around the neck of his horse now, and he was kissing
her, patting her, and explaining to Shelley just why no other horse was
like her. He was pouring out a jumble all about the oasis of the
desert, the tent dwellers, quoting lines from "The Arab to His Horse,"
bluegrass, and gentleness combined with spirit, while Shelley had its
head between her hands, stroking it and saying, "Yes," to every word
Leon told her. Then he said: "Just hop on her back from that top step
and ride her to the barn, if you want to see the motion she has."

Shelley said: "Has a woman ever been on her back? Won't she shy at my
skirts?"

"No," explained Leon. "I've been training her with a horse blanket
pinned around me, so Susie could ride her! She'll be all right."

So Shelley mounted, and the horse turned her head, and tried to rub
against her, as she walked away, tame as a sheep. I wondered if she
could be too gentle. If she went "like the wind," as Leon said, it
didn't show then. I was almost crazy to go along, and maybe Leon would
let me ride a little while; but I had a question that it would help me
to know the answer and I wanted to ask father before I forgot; so I
waited until he came out. When he sat down, smiled at me and said,
"Well, is the girl happy for brother?" I knew it was a good time, and
I could ask anything I chose, so I sat on his knee and said: "Father,
when you pray for anything that it's all perfectly right for you to
have, does God come down from heaven and do it Himself, or does He send
a man like Laddie to do it for him?"

Father hugged me tight, smiling the happiest.

"Why, you have the whole thing right there in a nutshell, Little
Sister," he said. "You see it's like this: the Book tells us most
distinctly that 'God is love.' Now it was love that sent Laddie to
bind himself for a long, tedious job, to give Leon his horse, wasn't
it?"

"Of course!" I said. "He wouldn't have been likely to do it if he
hated him. It was love,