Years rolled by, and the Mustang Valley prospered.

Missionaries went there, and a little church was built,

and to the blessings of a fertile land were added the

far greater blessings of Christian light and knowledge.

One sad blow fell on the Widow Varley's heart. Her

only brother, Daniel Hood, was murdered by the Indians.

Deeply and long she mourned, and it required all Dick's

efforts and those of the pastor of the settlement to

comfort her. But from the first the widow's heart was

sustained by the loving Hand that dealt the blow, and