“I believed in him,” replied Radlett quietly, “and he has justified my belief. I have known him all my life, and I trust and respect him.” “You say that he has made good with you?” inquired Mr. Cameron sharply. “He has.” Mr. Cameron was a man of honest enthusiasms, but of equally honest hatreds. When man had once failed him, he was loath to believe that there could be good in him. “I hope you will find that he keeps it up,” was all that he said. He did not say it with complimentary conviction, either. “He will,” Radlett answered shortly. Jean was moved by Baird’s faithful defense of his friend. “It is characteristic of you to stand by him as you have done,” she said, “and if ever a man needed a good friend, it was Mr. Loring.” “You knew him well?” asked Radlett, with surprise. From what Loring had told him of his position in camp, he had not imagined that he would know Miss Cameron personally at all. “He saved my life,” answered Jean. Her voice was soft, but there was a hint of challenge in the glance that she sent toward her father. “Saved your life!” ejaculated Radlett. “He never said anything to me about that. Just like him! He told me only of his failures.” “You have known him all your life. What was he?” asked Mr. Cameron. “Another case of a worthless fellow whom every one liked?” “He never was worthless,” said Baird. “Only until now he never showed what he was worth, and never was there a man whom his friends loved so much, to whom they forgave so much, and from whom they continued to hope so much.” “He took a peculiar way of showing his worth with me,” remarked Mr. Cameron. “Really now, Radlett, killing men by your carelessness is a pretty serious thing. And from what I can gather, I judge that for the past few years his life has been far from creditable; that he has been getting into trouble of some sort all the time. His record shows that he has been permanently inefficient and frequently drunk.” “Yes, it is all true,” answered Baird, “but in all those years he was being hammered and forged, and in the end the experience has strengthened him. The things that he has gone through, even the wrong things which he has done, all have molded his character, and for the better. It was a big risk, a big chance, but by it the metal in him has been turned to steel.” “Is not that rather an expensive process by which to obtain a product like Loring?” asked Mr. Cameron dryly. “I hope very much that when you see what Loring has done at Kay, you will change your mind,” said Radlett. “I understand of course what you must feel about him; but I think that he has wiped his slate clean. If two lives were lost through him at Quentin, by preventing a fight at Kay he has saved twenty.” “Not to mention saving my life,” added Jean, rising. “That alone should extenuate everything,” said Radlett earnestly.