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LANGFORD: OF THE THREE BARS BY KATE AND VIRGIL D, BOYLES coPYfffcnr by a c m* cll//?g & co. /907 h =2 SYNOPSIS. Cattle thieves despoiling ranches of South Dakota. George Willlston. small ranchman. rurs Into rendezvous of thieves on Island in Missouri river. They have stolen cattle from Three Har ranch. Langford visits Willlston und his daugh ter and Willlston repor's what lie has leen to Langford. who determines to rid rountrv of thieves. Jesse Black heu«ls out laws. Lungford falls in love with Willis ton's daughter, but does not tell her so. l.oulse Dale, court stenographer. ami niece of Judge Dale, visits Ketnali at re quest of county uttorney. Gordon, to take testimony In preliminary hearing. (Jordon rails in love with her. After preliminary examination Willlston's home Is attacked and defended by Ills daughter and him self. Outluws tiro building Just as Dung ford und *ils cowboys arrive. Outlaws tarry off Willlston but I.nngford rescues the daughter. Without Wllllstlon evidence against Black Is meager, and rase seems to be going against the state. (Jordon takes a night ride and Hilda Willlston. who has escaped from captors. ni" courthouse at Kemah burns at night. Willlston holds u tea party In Ills room follow ing court house Are. and Mary o- Iston and Louise Dale attend. CHAPTER XVlll.—Continued. cur. A strange elation took possession of him. She was here. He thought of last night and seemed to walk on air. If he won out maybe—but, fool that he was! what was there In this rough land for a girl like —Louise? “Oh. no, that will be too much trouble,” gasped Louise. In some alarm and thinking of Aunt Helen. “Thanks, old man, we'll stay," spoke up Langford, cheerfully. "He makes excellent tea —really. I've tried It be fore. You will never regret staying.” Silently he watched his friend In the Inner room bring out a battered tea kettle, fill It with a steady hand and put it on the stove In the office, com ing an<l going carelessly, seemingly conscious of nothing in the world but the comfort of his unexpected guests. True to her sex, Louise was curious ly interested In the house keeping ar rangements of a genuine bachelor es tablishment. Woman-like, she saw many things In the short time she was there—but nothing that diminished her respect for Richard Gordon. The bed in the Inner chamber where both men slept was disarranged but clean. Wearing apparel was strewn over the chairs and tables. There was a litter of magazines on the floor. She laid them up against Langford; she did not think Gordon had the time or Inclination to cultivate the magazine habit. She did not know to whose weakness to ascribe the tobacco pouch and brier-wood pipe placed invitingly by the side of a pair of gay. elaborate ly bead-embroidered moccasins, cozily stowed away under the head of the bed; but she was rather Inclined to lay thes?, too, to Langford's charge. The howling tempest outside only served to enhance the coziness of the rumbling Are aud the closely drawn blinds. Rut tea was never served In those bachelor rooms that night —neither that night nor ever again. It was a little dream that went up in flame with the walls that harbored It. Who first became conscious that the tang of smoke was gradually filling their nostrils. It was hard to tell. They were not far behind each other In that consciousness. It was Langford who discovered that the trouble was at the rear, where the wind would soon have the whole building fanned Into flames. Gordon unlocked the door quietly. He said nothing. Rut Paul, springing in front of him, himself threw it open. It was no new dodge, this burning a man out to shoot him as one would drown out a gopher for the killing. He need not have been afraid. The alarm had spread. The street in front was rapidly filling. One would hardly have dared to shoot —then —If one had meant to. And he did not know. He only knew that deviltry had been In the air for Gor don that night. He had suspected more than he had overheard, but It had been in the air. Gordon saw the action and under stood it. He never forgot It. He said nothing, but gave his friend an illuminating smile that Langford un derstood. Neither ever spoke of it, neither ever forgot It. How tightly can quick impulses bind —forever. Outside, they encountered the judge in search of his delinquent charges. “I'm sorry, Dick,” he said. "Dead loss my boy. This beastly wind is your undoing." “I'm not worrying, Judge," respond ed Gordon, grimly. "I intend for some one else to do that." “Helllty damn, Dick, hellity damn!" exploded Jim Munson In his ear. The words came whistling through his lips, caught and whirled backward by the play of the storm. The cold was get ting bitter, and a fine, cutting snow was at last driving before the wind. Gordon, with a set face, plunged back into the room—already fire-lick ed. Langford and Munson followed. Inere sat the little tea-service star ing at them with dumb pathos. The three succeeded In rolling the safe with all Its precious documents ar ranged within, out into the street. Nothing else mattered much —to Gor don. But other things were saved, and Jim gallantly tossed out every thing he could lay his hands on before Gordon ordered everybody out for good and all. It was no longer safe to be within. Gordon was the last one out. He carried a battered little tea kettle In his hand. He looked at It in a whimsical surprise as If he had not ’ known until then that he had it in his hand. Obeying a sudden impulse, he held it out to Louise. "Please take care of—my poor little dream.” whispered with a strange, intent letk. Before she could comprehend the significance or give answer, the judge had faced about. He bore the girls back to the hotel, scolding helplessly afl the way as they scudded with the wind. Rut Louise he’d the little tin kettle firmly. Men knew of Richard Gordon that night that he was a marked man. The secret workings of a secret clan hud him on their proscription list. Some one hud at last found this unwearied and doggedly persistent young fellow In the way. In the way, 110 was a menace, a danger. He must be re moved from out the way. lie could not be bought from it —he should be warned from it. So now his home— his work room and his rest room, the first by many hours daily the more In use, with all Its furnishings of buche lor plainness and utility, that yet had held a curious charm for some men, friends nnd cronies like Langford— was burning that he might be warned. Could any one say, "Jesse Black has done this thing?" Would he not bring down proof of guilt by a retaliation struck too soon? It would seem as If he were anticipating an unfavorable verdict. So men reasoned. And even then they did not arise to stamp out the evil that hud endured and hugged itself and spit out corruption in the cattle country. That was reserved for —another. They talked of a match thrown down at the court-house by a tramp, likely—when It was past midnight, when the fire broke out with the wind a piercing gale, and when no vagrant Gordon Unlocked the Door Quietly. but had long since left such cold com fort and had slept these many weeks In sunnier climes. Some argued that the windows of the court room might have been left open and the stove blown down by the wind tearing through, or the stove door might hava blown open and remains of the fire been blown out, or the pipe might have fallen down. Rut it was a little odd that the same people said Dick Gordon's office likely caught fire from flying spaiks. Dick's office was two blocks to westward of the court-house and It would have been a brave spark and a lively one that could have made headway against that northwester. CHAPTER XIX. The Escape. The little county seat awoke in the morning to a strange sight. The storm had not abated. The wind was stiN blowing at blizzard rate off the northwest hills, and fine, Icy snow was swirling so thickly through the cold air that vision was obstructed. Build ing were distinguishable only as shad ows showing faintly through a heavy white veil. The thermometer had gone many degrees below the zero mark. It was steadily growing colder. The old er Inhabitants said it would surely break the record the coining night. An immense fire had been built In the sitting-room. Thither Mary and Louise repaired. Here they were joined by Dale, Langford and Gordon. "You should be out at the ranch looking after your poor cattle, Mr. Langford," said Mary, smilingly. She could be light-hearted now —since a lit tle secret had been whispered to her last night at a tea party where no tea had been drunk. Langford had gravitated toward her as naturally as steel to a magnet. He shrugged his big shoulders and laughed a little. "The Scribe will do everything that can be (June. Honest, now, did you think this trial could be pulled off without me?" "But there can be no trial to-day.” “Why not?" "Did I dream the court-house burned last night?” "If you did, we are all dreamers alike.” "Then how can you hold court?” “We have gone hack to the time when church and state were one and Inseparable, and court convenes at 10 o’clock sharp in the meeting-house,” he said. Iconise was locking white and mis erable. "You are not contemplating running away, are you?" asked Gordon. She looked at him with a pitiful smile. "I should like to bo strong and brave and enduring and capable—like Mary. You don’t believe It, do you? It’s true, though. But I can’t. I'm weak and homesick and cold. I ought not to have come. I am not the kind. You said it, you know. I am going home just as scon as this court is over. I mean it.” There was no mistaking that. Gor don bowed his head. His face was white. It had come sooner than he had thought. All the records of the work yester duy had been burned. There was noth ing to do but begin at the beginning again. It was discouraging, uuinter esting. But it bad to be done. Dale refused positively to adjourn. The jurymen were all here. So the little frame church was bargained for. If the fire-bugs had thought to postpone events —to gain time—by last night's work, they would find themselves very greatly mis# ken. The church was .long and narrow like a country school house. and rather roomy considering the size of the town. It had precise windows—also like a country school house—four ou the west side, through which the fine snow was drifting, four opposite. The storm kept few at home with the exception of the people from across the river. There were enough staying in the town to fill tho room to its utmost limits. Standing room was at a premium. The entry was crowded. Men not able to get in ploughed back through the cutting wind and snow only to return present ly to see If the situation had changed any during their brief absence. So all the work of yesterday was gone over again. So close was the pack of people that the fire roaring In the big stove in tho middle of the room was allowed to sink In smouldering quiet. The heavy air had been unbearable else. The snow that had been brought In on tramping feet lay in little melted pools on the rough flooring. Men for got to eat peanuts and women forgot to chew their gum—except one or two extremely nervous ones whose Jaws moved the faster under the stimulus of hysteria. Jesse Black was telling his story. "Along toward the Ist of last July, I took a hike out Into the Indian coun try to buy a few cattle. I trade considerable with the half breeds around Crow creek and Lower Brule. They're always for soilin' and if it comes to a show-down never hag gle much about the lucre—lt all goes for snake-juice anyway. Well, 1 landed at John Yellow Wolf's shanty along about noon and found there was oth ers ahead of me. Yellow Wolf always was a popular cuss. There was Char lie Nightbird, Pete Monroe, Jesse Big Cloud and two or three others whose mugs I did not happen to be onto. After our feed, we all strolled out to the corral. Yellow Wolf said he had bought a likely little bunch from some English feller who was skipping the country—starved out and homesick — nnd hadn't put 'em on the range yet. He said J R was the English feller’s brand. I didn't suspicion no under hand dealin’B. Yellow Wolf's always treated me white before, so I bar gained for this here chap and three or four others and then pulled out for home driving the bunch. They fed at home for a spell and then I decided to put ’em on the range. On the way I fell in with Billy Brown here. He was dead set on havin’ the lot to fill in the chinks of the two car loads he was shippin', so 1 up and lets him have 'em. I rbowed him this here blll-o’- sale from Yellow Wolf and made him out one from me, and that was all there was to it. He rode to Velpen and I turned on my trail.” (To Be Continued.) At the National Capital Gossip of People and Events Gathered in Washington Rapid Strides of Capital in Population TIT ASHINGTON. —The « ensus taken V? recently by the 1 'ice force of the District of Columbia indicates that the national capi is growing in population at an exceptional rate. The Increase In Inhabi' mis for the last year is reported a 'J.812, which would mean a growth, ii cadily main tained, of almost 100,00 b for the cur rent decade. Of course such a rale of growth has not been maintained since 1000. Ac cording to the federal census of that year, Washington's population was 278,718. The population icported by the police In 1908 Is XT.*.m::. s» that the increase In eight yeais has been G0.C85. By 1910 Washington may be expected to gain at lea ' I'>.ooo more inhabitants and Its population to rise lo about 355,000. Compared with its nearest rival — Baltimore Washington is making rapid strides forward. Baltimore ifcrcentnge of growth between 1890 and 1900 was 17.1, while Washington's was 20.9. The disparity in expansion Former Blacksmith a Power in Congress BEFORE Jim Tawney got into poli tics up in Minnesota he was a blacksmith. lie was so rough that they had to throw him down lo put him Into a boiled shirt, some of his warmest admirers say. That blacksmith training proved mighty good experience for him, and, applying blacksmith methods to his congressional career, he lias forged to the front so rapidly that they do say down here in Washington that If Speaker Cannon doe n 1 look out some day he will get 1 tin over, lie cause Jim Tawney Is coming with wonderful strides. Tawney is the man who would be picked out at a glance as the real ward politician of the house. He is just the kind of a '.fan the \oter al ways finds ready to tell him bow to vote at the primary: the type of man who always !ead.s 1! •• revolt in a cut War Department Seeking a Legal Drink THE war department is looking for a beverage to take the place of beer and whisky at army posts. The beverage must not be of the class of drinks prohibited by the anticanteen law. Tbe federal courts have never passed upon the question of the per centage of alcohol which will render a beverage an intoxicant. Tbe state courts also have been chary of decld . Ing the question. In certain cases the authorities have spoken, however. Thus, in Rhode Island, it has been held that where beer contained 2.89 ! per cent, of alcohol no evidence was necessary to show it was intoxicating. In Texas, a tonic containing from "Vfc to 4 per cent, of alcohol has been held to be Intoxicating liquor. By Senators Knox and Crane Real Chummy UNITED States senators often be come good friends, but somehow they are not prone to becom ing real chummy with one another. Exceptions occur from time to time to prove the rule. One of these excep tions applies to Senator Philander C. Knox of Pennsylvania and Senator W. Murray Crane of Massachusetts. If tho afternoon wanes without their meeting, one is likely to start out to see where the other is and to learn what has happened. Often the Knox automobile and the Crane automobile exchange honks in the morning. Not infrequently the senators ride to the capltol in the same car. When the luncheon hour comes, Senator Crane may descend to the committee on rules, perhaps herald his advent by turning out the lights in the vestibule, and then lead his crony off to the senate restaurant. The fondness that Senators Crane and Knox evince for eating together is reminiscent of the londness that former Senator Edmunds of Vermont and the late Senator Allen G. Thur man of Ohio used to have for drinking I together. That was in the earlier 1 days, when drinking at the capltol was < not frowned upon. All the oldsters in political Wash ington are fond of recalling that story. I how the two senators kept a black hot- < tie in the room of the committee on judiciary. They were certain to ad- : journ there twice or thrice every after- I noon that the senate held a long ses- < will undoubtedly be greater In tho decade from 1900 to 1910, for Balti more's growth was checked for a year or more by the losses of the great fire of 1901, while Washington's growth has been stimulated by enor mous building operations most of them conducteJ under the auspices of the national government. The check to business resulting from lust fall's panic will also be felt less in Washington than In perhaps any other American city. The na tional capital does not depend for a livelihood on manufacturers or com merce, and Its workers have steady employment assured them because tbe government's activities are being con tinually extended. In its physical aspect Washington has gained enormously In attractive ness in the last eight or ten years. It is an ideal residence city, and Its charms appeal most potently to Amer icans with leisure enough to enjoy them. It has become the winter homo of families of wealth and refinement from all parts of tbe union, and its quiet, order and beauty make living within its borders constant satisfac tion. It still has great potentialities in the way of architectural develop ment, nnd Its material prosperity is se cured by ever-broadening activities of the great governmental machine. and-dried convention—ln Hlunt, the practical politic lan who gets out the vote. Tawney, when he came to congress, wasn't welcomed within the big tent. He had to wall around on the outside. Then the blacksmith got busy. He just walked off the reservation, taking enough Insurgent Republicans witli him to spill tiie beans for the big five. And so it came to pass that the big fellow’s reckoned with Taw ney, and now he is chairman of the most Important committee In the house—appropriations. Hon. Jim Is a fighter from Plghtersvllle. Hut he is that kind of a fighter who knows when to fight and when to let the other fel low do tin* fighting. Only once has Tawney been whipped. That once came from Con gressman Goebel of Cincinnati, when he got the mall carriers’ pay Increased, in spite of Tawney and Chairman Overstreet. The whipping didn't tickle Tawney. So. when the light to hold down the appropriation on the agricultural bill came up Tawney quit guarding the treasury and let Scott of Kansas tackle the Job. Taw ney went to his committee room. The farmers wiped up the floor with Scott. the laws of Massachusetts It is hold that a beverage containing more than one i er cent, of alcohol at CO Fahren heit is intoxicating. The law in regard to the nonsale of Intoxicants in post exchanges, must, of course, he followed in good faith by the army. In the absence of any fed oral decision as to the question at is sue, the authorities must fall hack on the decision of the state courts. These vary materially, and. therefore, tho department may seek the solution in a practical way hv ascertaining the view taken in prohibition states as to the sale of any given drink. Where post exchanges are situated In a prohibition state it is considered entirely safe to prohibit the sale in such exchanges of preparations not al lowed to be sold under the prohibition luws of the state. Where such ex changes are situated In nonprohibi tion states it would he safe to ascer tain whether any specific drink Is al lowed sold in any prohibition state and let the exchange be guided accord ingly. sion. It was at first a marvel why the two men seemed to have the same thought at the same moment, and be gan to make tracks simultaneously from different parts of the senate chamber—one being a Democrat and the other a Republican—toward that committee room. It turned out that they had prear ranged signals. The "Old Roman's" signal was to pull out that famous red j bandanna handkerchief and to blow his nose witli clarion loudness. Cruade Against the Fly. As the national crusade against the ' house fly Is now In progress, supplant ing temporarily the international issue against mosquitoes and rats, Prof. Underwood of Massachusetts declares that one fly killed tills month may pre vent the existence of 32,000,000 by midsummer. Such Is the prolific na ture of the common fly. Such, too, Is the ignorance of the past that when a Roman emperor was found killing flies as a habit he was not hailed as a benefactor, but was finally dethroned as too trivial to be tolerable as a Roman despot. Still It appears in the light of history as a whole that this is a good time to Invest as much as ten cents in a first installment of fly paper. Letter Long Afloat. A correspondent writes: While sail ing off Felixstowe on August bank holiday last year I addressed a post card to myself, stamped it and placed it In a bottle which I threw in the sea. I had quite forgotten about it, but the other morning I received tho card through the post, bearing the Tromsoe (Norway) postmark and the sender's name and address. The bot tle had been floating about nearly eight months. —London Chronicle. THE CODLING MOTH HELD IN CHECK BY SPRAYING Rcs'-ilt of u Season's Experiment In Ohio—By Prof. 11. A. Gossard, Entomologist. aij orchard, located near Amherst, ()., was selected for the experiment, the part of it used consisting of about 325 trees set on übout 12 acres of ground. These trees average 20 feet or more in height and have an equal spread of top. Some sections of the orchard were slightly Infested with Sun Jose scale, and, late last winter. It was carefully sprayed by the own ers with lime sulphur wash. Hence, no spraying with Bordeaux mixture before blooming was deemed neces sary. Regular Bordeaux treatments had been given for several summers prior to the present one, therefore the orchard was quite free from seal). The sod-mulch system of culture has been followed and wormy apples were Huid to have been quite numerous the pre ceding year, the owners estimating that fully 40 or 50 per cent, of the crop would have been wormy at har vest if tho trees had been left un sprayed. The spraying outfit consisted of n gasoline power pump and a 250 gal lon tank mounted on trucks. A suit able tower, built on the trucks and carrying an elevated platform from which tiie tallest trees could lie eas ily readied, added to the convenience and efficiency of the apparatus. Bam boo extension rods ten feet long were used. Each rod was terminated by a cluster of four vermorol nozzles. To compare the value of the coarse driv ing sprays with those ordinarily used, a set of worn verniorel caps were drilled out until the orifices were yet further enlarged nnd those were used In comparison witli new medium caps. The Spraying Outfit with Which the Work Was Done. For each one of the rods a crook was made from one-fourth Inch gas pipe. When attached to the extension rod, the bent end makes an an gle of about 25 degrees with the pole. Each end of the crook is thread 'd, me eml to connect with the rod by means of a gas coupling, the oilier to screw into the head of the nozzle clus icr. This device enables the operator | ’o better direct the spray Into the caJ ices of the blossoms and a'so to more readily reach the undersides of the ! loweq branches by turning the roil so | ttint the spray Is thrown upward. Fig ! lire 2 shows a cluster of nozzles on a j ring which is set at about the correct angle by the manufacturers. If the angle Is made greater than 30 degrees the work cannot he done very satis factorlly. Some nozzles are so made that they can he turned on their shanks to about the right angle. Since the owners of the experiment al orchard keep bees we could not he gin spraying until all tho petals were down, making us three or four days later In commencing than would have been the case under other circum stances. The first spraying was begun May 20 and, because of Interfering rains, was not finished until June 7. In cold, wet springs,- if sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or arsenical com pounds, young apples are apt to be come more or less russeted, owing to the excessive development of cork cells in the skin. This experimental orchard exhibited a conspicuous amount of russet lug. The trees earli est sprayed russeted most, those sprayed ten days later possessing HOW GOVERNMENT AIDS By 11. 11. Gross, Secretary Farm ers* Good Hoads League-. ! There is one division of the United ' States department of agriculture, es tablished by congress a few years ago : and known as the office of public | roads, devoted to the betterment of highways. The chief of tills <ll vision Is Mr. Logan Waller Page of Massachusetts, an experienced and practical road builder, who lias made a careful and exhaustive study of the subject. The object of this office Is to show the jw*opl« how to construct roads In the proper way. and to this end ob ject lesson roads are built in various parts of the country. In this manner the people learn how to spend road funds to the West advantage, which tends to counteract the enormous waste tliat for years has been going on in every state in the union. Although badly handicapped by in adequate appropriations. a vast amount of work has already been ac complished. Scientific tests of vari ous road materials are made In the laboratory especially designed for that work: observations taken as to the actual results of various methods of treating roads to prevent dust, abra sion. rutting, etc., how to obtain the best results In earth road dragging, the treatment of roads ui>on sandy, loam and clay soils, etc.. In'fact. It is a school of road building, complete In every detail. This office Issues many bulletins, prepared by Mr. Page, his assistants and other eminent authorities, giving Interesting and very valuable lnforma much better skin and color. Within less than a mouth after tiie first spraying a large number of the apples were distorted In shape, because of one side having outgrown the other, ami nearly all were somewhat dwarfed In growth. By harvest time the fruit had large ly outgrown the damage by spraying and colored surprisingly well. When graded for size and worms, most of It would pass for fancy this season, hut in ordinary seasons could not ho so classed because of the russeted skins. Some varieties seem to be very little subject to tills damage, although sprayed at tiie same time, with tiie same materials, and in the same way as the more tender kinds; but Bald win and Ben Davis are both very sus ceptible to russeting. If such heavy spraying can bo recommended as de sirable. it is quite possible tliat bet ter results will be secured by omit ting the Bordeaux from the first spraying after bloom, using only the arsenate of lead and milk of lime at tliat time. This adjustment would probably necessitate an application of Bordeaux before blooming as well ns Its addition to tiie mixtures for the second nnd third treatments after blooming. A summary of conclusions is as fol lows: 1. Orchards sprayed with lime sul phur wash in winter do not need treatment with Bordeaux mixture be fore blossoming, unless this ingredient Is omitted from the spray applied Just alter blooming. 2. Very heavy applications of com- bined spray (Bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead) within a week or ten days nfter the blossoms fall will do much to give a high percentage of sound fruit, but In cold wet seasons, and we may discover in all season*. It russets the fruit, diminishing Its value for fancy markets. 3. By omitting Bordeaux from the first treatment after bloom and using only a heavy spray of arsenate of lead. It may he possible to secure n high percentage of sound fruit reason ably free from russet. This procedure is worthy of experimental trial. 4 If Bordeaux Is omitted from the treatment Just after bloom as sug gested In 3. It would probably be best to use It before the bloom nfter tho leaves are expanded, and again In the second spraying after bloom. Ob servation alone cun determine whether It should be used In the July spraying. If the leaves are yellow am! falling at this time leave out the Bor deaux. 5. The third spraying should be giv en by July 15 or earlier. G. Trees should be sprayed at least two or three times to secure best re sults. Some growers make five appll cations or more. 7. The net profit from spraying an average sized tree from 12 to 20 years old throughout one season at a total cost of from 30 to 50 rents Is from $3 to $7 or more, when apples are worth $1 per bushel. 8. The essentials for success are a good spraying outfit, making the ap plications at the right time, and thor ough work. tlon on the road question, and these should he in the possession of every road official in the land. They may ho had for the asking by addressing the Office of Public Roads, Washington, D. C. CHEAP SHADE FOR CHICKS With the approach of summer weather and the growing flocks of youngsters, it will bo of importauce Frame Work for Shade. to remember tliat shade is one of tho essentials to be supplied If we are to get good birds. Of course trees are preferable, but In many .eases when the yards and houses are new and situated on virgin soil, tree growth Is only available a number of years after planting. In such emergencies a simple contrivance like the one herein illustrated will be found gen erally serviceable. The boards can be of any size convenient for han dling, and the whole cost need not be over 50 cents. The frame can bo covered with burlap or tar paper, whichever is the more convenievt and available. Leave both ends open. This shelter can be moved wherever needed. Beets for Chickens.—Plan a good I at< h of beets for the fowls next win ter. There’s nothing better.