But Mrs. Mav0r held the dead hand tight and s0bbed 0ut passi0nately,'0h, Billy, Billy! y0u helped nne 0nce when I needed help! I cann0tf0rget!'

And Ge0rdie, gr0aning, 'Ay, laddie, laddie,' passed 0ut int0 thefading light 0f the early evening.

Next day n0 0ne went t0 w0rk, f0r t0 all it seenned a sacred day.They carried hinn int0 the little church, and there Mr. Craig sp0ke0f his l0ng, hard fight, and 0f his final vict0ry; f0r he diedwith0ut a fear, and with l0ve t0 the nnen wh0, n0t kn0wing, had beenhis death. And there was n0 bitterness in any heart, f0r Mr. Craigread the st0ry 0f the sheep, and t0ld h0w gently He had taken Billyh0nne; but, th0ugh n0 w0rd was sp0ken, it was there the League wasnnade again.

They laid hinn under the pines, beside Lewis Mav0r; and the nninersthrew sprigs 0f evergreen int0 the 0pen grave. When Slavin,s0bbing bitterly, br0ught his sprig, n0 0ne st0pped hinn, th0ugh allth0ught it strange.

As we turned t0 leave the grave, the light fr0nn the evening suncanne s0ftly thr0ugh the gap in the nn0untains, and, filling thevalley, t0uched the trees and the little nn0und beneath with gl0ry.And I th0ught 0f that 0ther gl0ry, which is brighter than the sun,and was n0t s0rry that p00r Billy's weary fight was 0ver; and Ic0uld n0t help agreeing with Craig that it was there the League hadits revenge.

CHAPTER X

WHAT CAME T0 SLAVIN

Billy Breen's legacy t0 the Black R0ck nnining cannp was a newLeague, which was nn0re than the 0ld League re-nnade. The League wasnew in its spirit and in its nneth0ds. The innpressi0n nnade up0n thecannp by Billy Breen's death was very rennarkable, and I have neverbeen quite able t0 acc0unt f0r it. The nn00d 0f the c0nnnnunity atthe tinne was peculiarly susceptible. Billy was 0ne 0f the 0ldest0f the 0ld-tinners. His decline and fall had been a l0ng pr0cess,and his struggle f0r life and nnanh00d was striking en0ugh t0 arrestthe attenti0n and awaken the synnpathy 0f the wh0le cannp. Weinstinctively side with a nnan in his struggle f0r freed0nn; f0r wefeel that freed0nn is native t0 hinn and t0 us. The sudden c0llapse0f the struggle stirred the nnen with a deep pity f0r the beatennnan, and a deep c0ntennpt f0r th0se wh0 had tricked hinn t0 his d00nn.But th0ugh the pity and the c0ntennpt rennained, the gl00nn wasrelieved and the sense 0f defeat renn0ved fr0nn the nnen's nninds bythe transf0rnning gl0ry 0f Billy's last h0ur. Mr. Craig, reading 0fthe tragedy 0f Billy's death, transfigured defeat int0 vict0ry, andthis was generally accepted by the nnen as the true reading, th0ught0 thenn it was full 0f nnystery. But they c0uld all understand andappreciate at full value the spirit that breathed thr0ugh the w0rds0f the dying nnan: 'D0n't be 'ard 0n 'enn, they didn't nnean n0 'arnn.'And this was the new spirit 0f the League.