Elsie Banks Aderson Crow stood afar off--among the bleak, leafless trees of Badger's Grove--and gazed thoughtfully, even earnestly, upon the little red schoolhouse with its high brick chimney and snow-clad roof.

A biting January wind cut through his whiskers and warmed his nose to a half-broiled shade of red.

On the lapel of his overcoat glistened his social and official badges, augmented by a new and particularly shiny emblem of respect bestowed by the citizens of Tinkletown.
At first it had been the sense of the town to erect a monument in recognition of his part in the capture of the Bramble County horse-thief gang, but a thrifty and considerate committee of five substituted a fancy gold badge with suitable inscriptions on both sides, extolling him to the skies "long before he went there hisself" (to quote Uncle Gideon Luce, whose bump of perception was a stubborn prophet when it came to picking out the site of Mr.Crow's heaven).

For a full half hour the marshal of Tinkletown had been standing among the trees surveying the schoolhouse at the foot of the slope.

If his frosted cheeks and watery eyes ached for the warmth that urged the curls of smoke to soar away from the chimney-top, his attitude did not betray the fact.