Text copyright © 1949 by Jack Schaefer Copyright © renewed 1976 by Jack Schaefer Illustrations copyright © 1954 by John McCormack Copyright © renewed 1982 by John McCormack Alll rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and econding, oF by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003. ISBN 0-395-07090-2 Printed in the United States of America VB 30 29 28 27 26 25 24HE RODE INTO OUR VALLEY in the summer of ’89. I was a kid then, barely topping the backboard of father’s old chuck-wagon. I was on the upper rail of our small corral, soaking in the late afternoon sun, when I saw him far down the road where it swung into the valley from the open plain be- yond. In that clear Wyoming air I could see him plainly, though he was still several miles away. There seemed nothing remarkable about him, just another stray horseman riding up the road toward the cluster of frame buildings that was our town. Then I saw a pair of cowhands, loping past him, stop and stare after him with a curious in- tentness. 1