And in the R.N.W.M.P., if a man does not show himself consistently capable of doing that which the traditions of the force say is to be expected of him, his place in the force will know him no more.  There are no failures in the R.N.W.M.P.—­they are not allowed.  The force could not afford to allow them, because their existence—­the existence of any of them—­would weaken R.N.W.M.P. prestige; and that prestige is the armor without which the work of the force would be utterly impossible; not merely for the average trooper, but even for an individual possessed of the combined genius of a Napoleon, a Sherlock Holmes, and an Admirable Crichton.

As things stand, the maintenance of law and order in the western and north-western prairies, with their vast, trackless stretches of as yet almost uninhabited territory, is fully equal to the level attained in London or New York.  The law is quite as much respected there; infractions of it are quite as surely punished; peace and security are to the full as well preserved.  This truth is speedily understood even by the least desirable brand of foreign immigrant.  The fugitive from justice reckons his chances considerably better in any other place than the territory of the Riders of the Plains.  And all this because of a handful of mounted men in red coats.

“The fact is,” said a Minnesota farmer to the present writer, “it don’t matter a cent what sort of a pull a man has, how many guns he carries, or how many dollars are behind him; if he breaks the law up there in the North-west, he knows he’s just got to be jailed for it, sure as he’s alive.  It may take a day, or it may take a year.  It may cost the authorities a dollar, or it may cost ’em a million, and a life or two thrown in.  But that tough is just going to be jailed, and he durned well knows it.  That’s what the R.N.W.M.P. means to the North-west; and you take it from me, it’s a pretty big thing to mean.”

It is a big thing.  And what makes it possible for that handful of redcoats is not money, or guns, or numbers, but a solid, four-square foundation of irreproachable prestige; an unspotted tradition of incorruptible honesty, tirelessness, braveness, fairness, and real decency.  This is the reason why no failures are allowed in the R.N.W.M.P.; this is the reason why eighteen months of service in that corps, of a sort that earns promotion, means so much for the man who accomplishes it.  It demands a great deal of him.  It gives him an indisputable title to complete manhood.

* * * * *

Though the point was often discussed, it never was made quite clear who first suggested that Jan should accompany Dick Vaughan when, after three short weeks at home, he set out again for the West.  The Master privately believed the first suggestion came from him.  Dick was sure he had begun by begging for the privilege.  Betty cherished the idea that her gift was unsought and quite spontaneous.  At all