Shepherd invites the artist to his home where the artist meets Sammy and Young Matt and their family. Inside, the artist takes special note of how nicely decorated the home is, and he is especially interested in one room, where paintings of good quality are hanging. He notices that the largest painting is veiled, hiding its content. The Shepherd never offers to show the young artist that painting, and the young artist does not ask to see it, but remains curious. The artist leaves the mountains, but returns the following summer. He is greeted by Young Matt and Sammy, and discovers that The Shepherd's prediction had come true – the railroad was blasting away nearby mountains, but he had died while the surveyors were in the area before construction had started (and was buried at Dewey Bald). It was then that, as requested by The Shepherd, the veiled painting is revealed to the young artist, who then becomes excited, knowing it immediately as Mad Howard's famous lost painting (though not revealed in the story it is implied that it is the painting of Old Matt's daughter). The young artist asks excitedly, "How – where did you find it?" They enter another room, as Young Matt and Sammy begin re-telling the story of The Shepherd of The Hills. Other portrayals The novel has been the basis for four films, the first in 1919, and a television movie. The best-known version is the 1941 film of the same name starring Harry Carey and John Wayne. The Shepherd of the Hills was a popular outdoor drama staged from May to October, from 1960 until what was initially announced as its final performance on October 19, 2013, in Branson, Missouri. However, the play was brought back the next year with a reduced performance schedule beginning on May 23, 2014. The outdoor play features more than eighty actors, forty horses, and an actual nightly burning of the cabin. In July 2017 new owners were announced as Jeff Johnson and Steve Faria purchased the property from the Snadon family and had a press conference to announce their plans to continue the play and turn the 177 acre property into the Shepherd of the Hills Homestead Adventure Park. William L. Reese, I, became acquainted with Harold Bell Wright in Pittsburg, Kansas, through the Disciples of Christ. While working on Shepherd of the Hills, Wright became disenchanted with