After we had satisfied the inner man, my uncle unfolded his plans to my father. Mr. Markham became interested, and as a consequence, the original plan was much enlarged. My father agreed to sell off his mill property as soon as it could be done, and then the three were to purchase a large tract of land, and form a company for the purpose of raising cattle. I may as well add that Ford was promised a job as soon as all arrangements could be made.
The dinner mentioned above took place just six years ago. During the intervening time great changes have taken place. Norton Bixby and Yates were both sent to prison, the former for two and the latter for eight years. During that time Yates tried to escape, and as a consequence is still behind the bars.
Bixby came out four years ago. He has changed for the better, and is a good man on the ranch, where he is well away from the temptations of the city. Carney was given a year in the penitentiary, and I don’t know what has become of him.
The mill and the Catch Me were sold at good prices, and then my father and I moved out to our new home. We have with us my uncle and Dan Ford, and we are not only happy, but we are likewise getting rich.
Mr. Markham and his family pay us a visit once a year, and he has not forgotten the promise made to further benefit me; for on my twenty-first birthday he presented me, in the name of his wife and son, with an eighth interest in the ranch, worth, at the lowest calculation, ten thousand dollars.
I like my new home a hundred times better than the old. Here I am free from the sneers of all such men as Mr. James Jackson, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that my work is going to accomplish something. I have a swift pony, a fine dog, and a good gun; I love my occupation—and all these things being so, what more is there to say but to bid my readers adieu?
THE END.
THE FAMOUS “OLD GLORY SERIES.”
By EDWARD STRATEMEYER,
Author of “The Bound to Succeed Series,” “The Ship and Shore Series,” etc.