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"TRAVELIN' On" 11

a grin spreads o:ver his face as h,e slips the book into
his pocket. It is a Bible. A fellow gambler approaches
and asks, "Is it any good, Alec?" And Alec replies,
"I only looked at the first page, but that sure seemed
interestin' ." Alec is too good a sport to squeal.

There is a rush on the little book stand and in five
minutes ther.e is only one copy left. And that one copy!.
the last one, is bought by J. B. As each purchaser
buys his book, he involuntarily seeks some nook to
see what he has got. Some take their medicine as did
Alec, and others are sore. Among these is Gila, with
his right arm in a sling. Know-It-All-Haskins is also
sore. They, with some two or three others, come to
Susan and demand their money back. She is about
to return it but J. B. interferes, saying, "What in hell
do you all want for five dollars? Ain't that a purty
book?" J. B. cannot read. His name, the only one
he knows, is the brand of a cattle out-fit he once worked
for. The ones who are not satisfied do not intend to
taake things so easily, and the situation is quite tense
for a few moments, but J. B. says, "I'm escortin' this
lady and her little child home and everybody is steppin'
aside. I'm J. B." They do step aside and J. B. walks
with Susan and the little child to their home which
is only some fifty yards removed from his stable shack.

After Susan and J.B. have left, one of the men asks
who f B. is, and Know-It-All Haskins says, "There
oncet was a man named John Bunyan who wrote the
Pilgrim's Progress, but that ain't him."

Susan is grateful to J. B. and in her kind and gentle
I I
way she shows it. She even puts her hand upon the arm
of B. and tells him of her gratitude. She is met with