_Ah Love! could you and I with Him conspire_ _To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire,_ _Would not we shatter it to bits--and then_ _Remould it nearer to the Heart’s Desire!_ Raising his head he saw a rattlesnake sunning itself on a rocky patch of ground near the trail and his gun leaped into crashing life. The snake writhed, trying in vain to coil. A second shot stretched it lifeless. "There, d--n you!" shouted Tex, shaking his fist at the quivering body, "that’s how I feel!" and, the burst of passion gone as quickly as it had come, he shook his head and rode on again, calm and determined. At last he came to the top of the last hill hiding the ranchhouse and drew rein as he looked down into the north branch of the SV valley. A boy was riding along the bottom of the slope and Tex hailed him. "Hey, sonny!" shouted the ex-marshal. "I’m lookin’ for Hopalong Cassidy. Know where he is?" "He’s at th’ house!" replied the boy. "Yo’re Tex Ewalt! Foller me, an’ I’ll beat you to him!" "Bet yo’re Charley!" responded Tex. "Yo’re shore goin’ to ride some, cowboy, if you aim to beat me!" and a race was on. There came a flurry of movement at the ranchhouse door and three men ran to their saddled horses. A sudden cloud of dust rolled up and the three, bunched leg to leg, raced toward the galloping newcomer. Heedless of Charley’s vexatious appeal they shot past him and kept on while he swung his pony around and saw them sweep up to the slowing roan and surround him and his rider. More soberly, after a hilarious welcome, the four, with Charley endeavoring to wedge into shifting openings not half large enough for his pony, they rode up to the ranchhouse, where Jerry had run out to meet them, Margaret Nelson at his heels. As soon as he could Tex asked for Jane and learned that she was resting. "She has been under a very heavy strain, Mr. Ewalt," Margaret told him. "She asked that you see her as soon as you came; but she is sleeping, now, and it will be better for her if you wait. Her remorse is as great as her horror and fatigue." "I suppose so," replied Tex. "That’s the woman of it. She shot a beast in plain self-defense and now she’s remorseful. Shucks--it’s all my fault. I should have done it, myself, days before." "I didn’t say just what I think is causing her remorse," replied Margaret, smiling enigmatically; "but that is something a man should find out for himself," and, turning quickly, she entered the house. Tex stared after her and then around the circle of happy, grinning faces. An answering smile crept to his own, a smile wistful, but shaded with pain.