ndered whether the smile hid an
aching heart. He knew that little Polly had a very tender feeling for the
boy who had saved her life. More than once during supper it seemed to him
that her soft eyes yearned for the reckless young fellow talking so gayly
to Miss Snaith. The conviction grew in Prince--it found lodgment in his
mind with a pang of despair--that the girl he cared for had given her
love to his friend. He fought against the thought, tried resolutely to
push it from him, but again and again it returned.

Not until supper was well under way did Jean Roubideau come in from the
corral. He shook hands with Billie and at the same time explained to
Polly his tardiness.

"Billie is not the only stranger in town to-night. Two or three blew in
just before I left and kept me a few minutes. That Mysterious Pete Champa
was one. You know him, don't you, Jim?"

The question was asked carelessly, casually, but Prince read in it a
warning to his friend. It meant that he was to be ready for any emergency
which might arise.

After they had eaten Billie went out to the porch to smoke with Jean.

"Is there goin' to be trouble between Mysterious Pete an' Jim?" he asked.

"Don't know. Wouldn't wonder if that was why Champa came to town. If I
was Jim I'd keep an eye in the back of my head when I walked. It's a
cinch Pete will try to get him--if he tries it at all--with all the
breaks in his favor."

"Is it generally known that Jim was the man who killed Warren?"

"Yes." Jean stuffed and lit his pipe before he, said anything more. "The
kid can't get away from it now. Folks think of him as a killer. They
watch him when he comes into a bar-room an' they're careful not to cross
him. He's a bad man whether he wants to be or not."

Billie nodded. "I was afraid it would be that way, but I'm more afraid of
somethin' else. The worst thing that can happen to any man, except to
get killed himself, is to shoot another in cold blood. 'Most always it
gives the fellow a cravin' to kill again. Haven't you noticed it? A kind
of madness gets into the veins of a killer."

"Sure I've noticed it. He has to be watchin'--watchin'--watchin' all the
time to make sure nobody gits him. His mind is on that one idea every
minute. Consequence is, he's always ready to shoot. So as not to take any
chances, he makes it a habit to be sudden death with a six-gun."

"That's it. Most of 'em are sure-thing killers. Jim's not like that. He's
game as they make