“Wait！Ihavenottoldyoueverything。WhenItookovertheresponsibilityofbeingAllenMacGlowrie’swidow，IhadtotakeoverHERrelationsandHERhistoryasIgathereditfromthefrontiersmen。Ineverfrightenedanygrizzly——Ineverjabbedanybodywiththescissors；itwasSHEwhodidit。IneverwasamongtheInjins——Ineverhadanyfightingrelations；mypawwasaplainfarmer。IwasonlyapeacefulBlueGrassgirl——there！I
neverthoughttherewasanyharminit；itseemedtokeepthemenoff，andleavemefree——untilIknewyou！AndyouknowIdidn’twantyoutobelieveit——don’tyou？“
Shehidherflushedfaceanddimplesinherhandkerchief。
“Butdidyouneverthinktheremightbeanotherwaytokeepthemenoff，andsinkthenameofMacGlowrieforever？“saidBlairinalowervoice。
“Ithinkwemustbegoingbacknow，“saidthewidowtimidly，withdrawingherhand，whichBlairhadagainmysteriouslygotpossessionofinherconfusion。
“Butwaitjustafewminuteslongertokeepmecompany，“saidBlairpleadingly。“Icameheretoseeapatient，andastheremusthavebeensomemistakeinthemessage——Imusttrytodiscoverit。“
“Oh！Isthatall？“saidthewidowquickly。“Why？“——sheflushedagainandlaughedfaintly——“Well！Iamthatpatient！Iwantedtoseeyoualonetoexplaineverything，andIcouldthinkofnootherway。I’mafraidI’vegotintothehabitofthinkingnothingofbeingsomebodyelse。“
“Iwishyouwouldletmeselectwhoyoushouldbe，“saidthedoctorboldly。
“Wereallymustgoback——tothehorses，“saidthewidow。
“Agreed——ifwewillridehometogether。“
Theydid。Andbeforetheyearwasover，althoughtheybothremained，thenameofMacGlowriehadpassedoutofLaurelSpring。
AWARDOFCOLONELSTARBOTTLE’S
“Thekernelseemsalittleoffcolorto-day，“saidthebarkeeperashereplacedthewhiskeydecanter，andgazedreflectivelyafterthedepartingfigureofColonelStarbottle。
“Ididn’tnoticeanything，“saidabystander；“hepassedthetimeo’daycivilenoughtome。“
“Oh，he’salluspoliteenoughtostrangersandwimminfolkevenwhenheisthatway；it’sonlyhisoldchums，orthemezliketobethoughtso，thathe’spepperywith。Why，eztothat，afterhe’dhadthatquo’llwithhisoldpartner，JudgePratt，inoneo’themspells，Isawhimthenextminitgohalfablockoutofhiswaytodirectanentirestranger；andezforwimmin！——well，Ireckonifhe’djustgotaheaddrawnonaman，andawomanspoketohim，he’ddrophisbatteryandtakeoffhishattoher。No——yecan’tjudgebythat！“
Andperhapsinhislargerexperiencethebarkeeperwasright。Hemighthaveadded，too，thatthecolonel，inhisgeneraloutwardbearingandjauntiness，gavenoindicationofhisinternalirritation。Yethewasundoubtedlyinoneofhis“spells，“
sufferingfromamoodycynicismwhichmadehimassusceptibleofaffrontashewasdangerousinresentment。
Luckily，onthisparticularmorninghereachedhisofficeandenteredhisprivateroomwithoutanyseriousrencontre。Hereheopenedhisdesk，andarranginghispapers，heatoncesettoworkwithgrimpersistency。HehadnotbeenoccupiedformanyminutesbeforethedooropenedtoMr。Pyecroft——oneofafirmofattorneyswhoundertookthecolonel’sofficework。
“Iseeyouareearlytowork，Colonel，“saidMr。Pyecroftcheerfully。
“Yousee，sir，“saidthecolonel，correctinghimwithaslowdeliberationthatbodednogood——“youseeaSoutherngentleman——
blankit！——whohasstoodattheheadofhisprofessionforthirty-
fiveyears，obligedtoworklikeablanknigger，sir，inthedirtysquabblesofpsalm-singingYankeetraders，insteadof——er——
attendingtotheaffairsof——er——legislation！“
“Butyoumanagetogetprettygoodfeesoutofit——Colonel？“
continuedPyecroft，withalaugh。
“Fees，sir！Filthyshekels！andbarelyenoughtosatisfyadebtofhonorwithonehand，andwipeoutatavernscorefortheentertainmentof——er——afewladyfriendswiththeother！“
Thisallusiontohislossesatpoker，aswellasanoystersuppergiventothetwoprincipalactressesofthe“NorthStarTroupe，“
thenperforminginthetown，convincedMr。Pyecroftthatthecolonelwasinoneofhis“moods，“andhechangedthesubject。
“ThatremindsmeofalittlejokethathappenedinSacramentolastweek。YourememberDickStannard，whodiedayearago——oneofyourfriends？“
“Ihaveyettolearn，“interruptedthecolonel，withthesamedeadlydeliberation，“whatrightHE——orANYBODY——hadtointimatethatheheldsucharelationshipwithme。AmItounderstand，sir，thathe——er——publiclyboastedofit？“
“Don’tknow！“resumedPyecrofthastily；“butitdon’tmatter，forifhewasn’tafrienditonlymakesthejokebigger。Well，hiswidowdidn’tsurvivehimlong，butdiedintheStatest’otherday，leavin’thepropertyinSacramento——worthaboutthreethousanddollars——toherlittlegirl，whoisatschoolatSantaClara。Thequestionofguardianshipcameup，anditappearsthatthewidow——
whoonlyknewyouthroughherhusband——had，sometimebeforeherdeath，mentionedYOURnameinthatconnection！He！he！“
“What！“saidColonelStarbottle，startingup。
“Holdon！“saidPyecrofthilariously。“Thatisn’tall！NeithertheexecutorsnortheprobatejudgeknewyoufromAdam，andtheSacramentobar，scentingagoodjoke，laylowandsaidnothing。
Thentheoldfooljudgesaidthat’asyouappearedtobealawyer，amanofmatureyears，andafriendofthefamily，youwereaneminentlyfitperson，andoughttobecommunicatedwith’——youknowhishifalutin’style。Nobodysaysanything。Sothatthenextthingyou’llknowyou’llgetaletterfromthatexecutoraskingyoutolookafterthatkid。Ha！ha！Theboyssaidtheycouldfancytheysawyoutrottingaroundwithatenyearoldgirlholdingontoyourhand，andtheSenoritaDoloresorMissBellamontlookingon！
Oryourbeingcalledawayfromapokerdealsomenightbytheinfant，singing，’Gardy，deargardy，comehomewithmenow，theclockinthesteeplestrikesone！’Andthinkofthatoldfooljudgenotknowingyou！Ha！ha！“
AstudyofColonelStarbottle’sfaceduringthisspeechwouldhavepuzzledabetterphysiognomistthanMr。Pyecroft。Hisfirstlookofastonishmentgavewaytoanempurpledconfusion，fromwhichasingleshortSilenus-likechuckleescaped，butthisquicklychangedagainintoadullcopperyindignation，and，asPyecroft’slaughcontinued，fadedoutintoasallowrigidityinwhichhismurkyeyesaloneseemedtokeepwhatwasleftofhisprevioushighcolor。Butwhatwasmoresingular，inspiteofhisenforcedcalm，somethingofhishabitualold-fashionedloftinessandoratoricalexaltationappearedtobereturningtohimasheplacedhishandonhisinflatedbreastandfacedPyceroft。
“TheignoranceoftheexecutorofMrs。Stannardandthe——er——
probatejudge，“hebeganslowly，“maybepardonable，Mr。Pyecroft，sincehisHonorwouldimplythat，althoughunknowntoHIM
personally，Iamatleastamicuscuriaeinthisquestionof——er——
guardianship。ButIamgrieved——indeedImaysayshocked——Mr。
Pyecroft，thatthe——er——lastsacredtrustofadyingwidow——perhapstheholiesttrustthatcanbeconceivedbyman——thecareandwelfareofherhelplessorphanedgirl——shouldbemadethesubjectofmirth，sir，byyourselfandthemembersoftheSacramentobar！
Ishallnotallude，sir，tomyownfeelingsinregardtoDickStannard，oneofmymostcherishedfriends，“continuedthecolonel，inavoicechargedwithemotion，“butIcanconceiveofnonoblertrustlaiduponthealtaroffriendshipthanthecareandguidanceofhisorphanedgirl！Andif，asyoutellme，theutterlyinadequatesumofthreethousanddollarsisallthatisleftforhermaintenancethroughlife，theselectionofaguardiansufficientlydevotedtothefamilytobewillingtoaugmentthatpittanceoutofhisownmeansfromtimetotimewouldseemtobemostimportant。“
BeforetheastoundedPyecroftcouldrecoverhimself，ColonelStarbottleleanedbackinhischair，halfclosinghiseyes，andabandonedhimself，quiteafterhisoldmanner，tooneofhisdreamyreminiscences。
“PoorDickStannard！Ihaveavividrecollection，sir，ofdrivingoutwithhimontheShellRoadatNewOrleansin’54，andofhissaying，’Star’——theonlyman，sir，whoeverabbreviatedmyname——
’Star，ifanythinghappenstomeorher，lookafterourchild！Itwasduringthatverydrive，sir，that，throughhisincautiousneglecttofortifyhimselfagainsttheswampymalariabyaglassofstraightBourbonwithapinchofbarkinit，hecaughtthatfeverwhichunderminedhisconstitution。Thankyou，Mr。Pyecroft，for——
er——recallingthecircumstance。Ishall，“continuedthecolonel，suddenlyabandoningreminiscence，sittingup，andarranginghispapers，“lookforwardwithgreatinterestto——er——letterfromtheexecutor。“
ThenextdayitwasuniversallyunderstoodthatColonelStarbottlehadbeenappointedguardianofPansyStannardbytheprobatejudgeofSacramento。
ThereareofrecordtwodistinctaccountsofColonelStarbottle’sfirstmeetingwithhiswardafterhisappointmentasherguardian。
One，givenbyhimself，varyingslightlyattimes，butalwaysbearingunvaryingcomplimenttothegrace，beauty，andsingularaccomplishmentsofthisapparentlygiftedchild，wasneverthelesscharacterizedmorebyvague，dreamyreminiscencesofthedepartedparentsthanbyanypersonalexperienceofthedaughter。