As the man stood, hat in hand, she checked her horse, and, in a voice that matched the smile so full of fun and the clean joy of living greeted him.

“You are Mr. Honorable Patches, are you not?”

Patches bowed.  “Miss Reid, I believe?”

She frankly looked her surprise.  “Why, how did you know me?”

“Your good friend, Mr. Baldwin, described you,” he smiled.

She colored and laughed to hide her slight embarrassment.  “The dear old Dean is prejudiced, I fear.”

“Prejudiced he may be,” Patches admitted, “but his judgement is unquestionable.  And,” he added gently, as her face grew grave and her chin lifted slightly, “his confidence in any man might be considered an endorsement, don’t you think?”

“Indeed, yes,” she agreed heartily, her slight coldness vanishing instantly.  “The Dean and Stella told me all about you this afternoon, or I should not have ventured to introduce myself.  I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Patches,” she finished with a mock formality that was delightful.

“And I am delighted to meet you, Miss Reid, for so many reasons that I can’t begin to tell you of them,” he responded laughing.  “And now, may I ask what good magic brings you like a fairy in the story book to the rescue of a poor stranger in the hour of his despair?  Where did you find my faithless Snip?  How did you know where to find me?  Where is the Cross-Triangle Ranch?  How many miles is it to the nearest water?  Is it possible for me to get home in time for supper?” Looking down at him she laughed as only Kitty Reid could laugh.

“You’re making fun of me,” he charged; “they all do.  And I don’t blame them in the least; I have been laughing at myself all day.”

“I’ll answer your last question first,” she returned.  “Yes, you can easily reach the Cross-Triangle in time for supper, if you start at once.  I will explain the magic as we ride.”

“You are going to show me the way?” he cried eagerly, starting toward his horse.

“I really think it would be best,” she said demurely.

“Now I know you are a good fairy, or a guardian angel, or something like that,” he returned, setting his foot in the stirrup to mount.  Then suddenly he paused, with, “Wait a minute, please.  I nearly forgot.”  And very carefully he examined the saddle girth to see that it was tight.

“If you had remembered to throw your bridle rein over Snip’s head when you left him, you wouldn’t have needed a guardian angel this time,” she said.

He looked at her blankly over the patient Snip’s back.

“And so that was what made him go away?  I knew I had done some silly thing that I ought not.  That’s the only thing about myself that I am always perfectly sure of,” he added as he mounted.  “You see I can always depend upon myself to make a fool of myself.  It was that bad place in the fence that did it.”  He pulled up his horse suddenly as they were starting.  “And that reminds me; there is one thing you positively must tell me before I can go a foot, even toward supper.  How much farther is it to the corner of this field?”