Whether Sam knew that Nora would do this is a question which must remain unanswered, but it is certain that he never changed the form of his own "order." Sam was a citizen.

He had grown up with the town.

He was, so to speak, one of the charter members of Ellisville, and thereby entitled to consideration.

Moreover, his business was one of the most lucrative in the community, and he was beyond the clutching shallows and upon the easy flood of prosperity.

No man could say that Sam owed him a dollar, nor could any man charge against him any act of perfidy, except such as might now and then be connected with the letting of a "right gentle" horse.