CHAPTER TWO.
"WHERE THE CATTLE ROAMED IN THOUSANDS, A-MANY A HERD AND BRAND ..."-- _Old Range Song_.
If you are at all curious over the name to which Luck Lindsay answered unhesitatingly,--his very acceptance of it proving his willingness to be so identified,--I can easily explain.

Some nicknames have their origin in mystery; there was no mystery at all surrounding the name men had bestowed upon Lucas Justin Lindsay.

In the first place, his legal cognomen being a mere pandering to the vanity of two grandfathers who had no love for each other and so must both be mollified, never had appealed to Luck or to any of his friends.

Luck would have been grateful for any nickname that would have wiped Lucas Justin from the minds of men.

But the real reason was a quirk in Luck's philosophy of life.