"Can Brigham see me from the sky?" asked Wathemah.
"I think so, dear. You'll want to be a good boy, won't you?"
For answer, he burst into tears, and she mingled her own with his.
From that time on, Wathemah loved the stars at night, and would stand watching them with deepening wonder and awe. Then began his questioning of things eternal, that upreach of the soul, that links it to the Divine.
The day after Esther's return to Clayton Ranch, Dr. Mishell asked her to go with him to the shack of Mark Clifton.
"He cannot recover," he said. "He realizes that. He has repeatedly asked to see you."
As they approached the shack, they heard a voice. Jack Harding was reading aloud from the Bible.
On the walls of the shack, were guns, hides, and coarse pictures; in one corner, were a case of whiskey bottles, and a pack of cards. The sick man seemed to be a man of about thirty. He greeted his visitors courteously, and at once turned to Esther.
"I have asked to see you," he said. "I think I cannot recover. I am not prepared to die. I have attended your meetings since you have held them in the timber. I believe there is something in your religion; I believe in God."
His voice was faint.