Mr。McLeanlaughedmirthfullyatthelover。“Well，“hesaid，“Mrs。McLeanwillbeglad。Shetoldmetogiveyu’hercongratulationsquiteawhileago。Iwastohave’emreadyjustassoonaseveryu’askedfor’emyourself。“Linhadbeenmadeahappymansometwelvemonthsprevioustothis。Andnow，bywayofanexchangeofnews，headded:“We’reexpectin’alittleMcLeandownonBoxElder。That’swhatyou’llbeexpectin’someofthesedays，Ihope。“
“Yes，“murmuredtheVirginian，“Ihopesotoo。“
“AndIdon’tguess，“saidLin，“thatyouandIwilldomuchshufflin’ofotherfolks’childrenanymore。“
WhereuponheandtheVirginianshookhandssilently，andunderstoodeachotherverywell。
OnthedaythattheVirginianpartedwithMolly，besidetheweightoffarewellwhichlayheavyonhisheart，histhoughtswerealsogravewithnews。Thecattlethieveshadgrownmoreaudacious。Horsesandcattlebothwerebeingmissed，andeachmanbeganalmosttodoubthisneighbor。