He caught at this eagerly. "That's so! There ain't much to keep him,
anyway," and he rode off to his lonely ranch far up in the hills.

I looked after the swaying figure and tried to picture his past with its
tragedy; then I found myself wondering how he would end and what would
come to his little girl. And I made up my mind that if the missionary
were the right sort his coming might not be a bad thing for the Old
Timer and perhaps for more than him.



CHAPTER IV

THE PILOT'S MEASURE


It was Hi Kendal that announced the arrival of the missionary. I was
standing at the door of my school, watching the children ride off
home on their ponies, when Hi came loping along on his bronco in the
loose-jointed cowboy style.

"Well," he drawled out, bringing his bronco to a dead stop in a single
bound, "he's lit."

"Lit? Where? What?" said I, looking round for an eagle or some other
flying thing.

"Your blanked Sky Pilot, and he's a beauty, a pretty kid--looks too
tender for this climate. Better not let him out on the range." Hi was