--where he had never been, where the
hostility against him was most bitter, and,
that day, he knew he was ``up against''
Waterloo, the crossing of the Rubicon,
holding the pass at Thermopylae, or any
other historical crisis in the history of
man. I was saddling the mules when the
cackling of geese in the creek announced
the coming of the Hon. Samuel Budd,
coming with his chin on his breast-deep
in thought. Still his eyes beamed cheerily,
he lifted his slouched hat gallantly to the
Blight and the little sister, and he would
wait for us to jog along with him. I told
him of our troubles, meanwhile. The
Wild Dog had restored our mules and
the Hon. Sam beamed:

``He's a wonder--where is he?''

``He never waited--even for thanks.''

Again the Hon. Sam beamed:

``Ah! just like him. He's gone ahead
to help me.''

``Well, how did he happen to be here?''
I asked.