The Finding of Jasper Holt by Grace Livingston Hill

"DEAR LITTLE SISTER:

"I have a strange task before me, to tell you of the fineness and greatness and goodness of a man I once told you was not good enough to save your life. I feel as if I must ask your forgiveness and his. You were keener sighted than we all and we are ashamed!

"Jean, what will you say when I tell you that Jasper Holt lies in our guest chamber, your old room -- dying, I am afraid? And that we have him to thank that our precious baby did not die a horrible death?

"Let me go back and tell you the whole story.

"After you went away James had the most extraordinary change of mind about Jasper Holt I ever saw in him. He just turned right around and began to talk in his favor, even wanted me to invite him to dinner once. It was some business, of course, that he thought he could help him in; but he really got to liking him a little I could see. I suppose it was that tournament and his riding so well; though I never could understand why men make so much of sports. But after it happened you didn't hear nearly so many people talking against Jasper Holt. I think, too, your being so good as to ride around the track with him had something to do with it. People saw you were not ashamed and they had a good look at him and saw the possibilities. They say he was asked, yes, just actually begged, to come in the next tournament and ride, but he wouldn't do it. He hasn't appeared that way since you left. He just went about his business gravely, and everybody began to have a lot of respect for him. They say he has done a lot of good to those men he has living on his place, and they simply worship him. Somebody told James there wasn't one of them but would give his life for him any day. Well, that's something, of course. Strange we never heard about it before. Why, people used to be actually afraid of him and his men. But he has been doing some splendid things here lately. When Mr. Whateley died, just before the harvest, and Mrs. Whateley was left to look after her five little children he took his full force of men over to her place and harvested everything, and fixed up things a great deal better than they were ever fixed up before, for Mr. Whateley wasn't much of a manager. And when Lucy Whitcorn was lost for three days he organized his men and went out and searched till he found her. They took hold of hands and marched across country, through the wheat fields, over every spot so they couldn't miss her; and her grandmother just put her arms around Jasper Holt's neck and cried and kissed him when he brought Lucy back asleep in his arms.

"But the greatest thing was when he made the raid on the saloons. You remember Slosson's and The Three Geese? They used to have terrible carouses there. Slosson built a concert room over his saloon, and advertised -- had balls and dinners there, and The Three Geese got a moving picture show over their place; and between them they made a pretty fair imitation of the bottomless pit in Hawk Valley for a while. People got together and talked about it, and said something ought to be done to stop it, and Sallie White even started a petition about it and got some people to sign, but it was near election and no one dared do much. Then one night when things were at their height, and there had been a shooting affair or two, we heard the silver whistle of Jasper Holt's men, and the whole cavalcade of them cantered by on horseback. They went like a streak on their dark horses, and they rode straight up to The Three Geese and dismounted. Before anybody knew what was happening they had marched into the bar-room and the concert hall and taken possession. They handcuffed everybody in the place and bound them, men and women, and then they set to work and emptied out all the liquor and turned the big fire hose into every room till there wasn't a smell of whiskey left, and it was cleaner than it ever was since it was built. They went to Slosson's and did the same thing. Slosson, and Craven of The Three Geese, they put into jail, and some of the others who had been most criminal, and they cleaned the whole place out. Jasper Holt took some of the prisoners to his own house and kept them there till he reformed them, and he has been keeping an eye on them right along ever since. Of course after that people rallied around him and were only too glad to be counted in with him. They all admired his nerve, and they saw he could make things go, so they turned to work and last month they made him mayor of the town, and he has reformed everything in the place, till you wouldn't know it for the same town. Now, that's the preface and I ought to have told you long ago, little sister, but I suppose I was ashamed to, after all I had said.

"But now I'm coming to the real story, the one that brings the tears to my eyes and makes me feel like sobbing; and I have to stop writing and go and kiss my baby before I can go on.