he came or not. But Tresler knew this was only his manner. The
cleaning of the saddle now proceeded with assiduity, and Arizona sat
himself down on a fallen log and spat tobacco-juice around him. At
last he settled himself, nursing one knee in his clasped hands, and
spoke with that air of absolute conviction which always characterized
him.

"Say, Jake's grittin' his teeth tight," he said. Then, as an
afterthought, "But he ain't showin' 'em."

Tresler looked up and studied the cadaverous face before him.

"You mean--about----"

"Wal, I wus jest figgerin' on how you wus standin'. Seems likely
you're standin' lookin' east wi' a feller due west who's got the drop
on yer; which, to my reckonin', ain't as safe as handin' trac's to a
lodge o' Cheyenne neches on the war-path."

"You think that Jake's quietly getting the drop on me?"

"Wal, I allow ef I wus Jake I'd be gettin' a'mighty busy that way. An'
I kind o' calc'late that's wot he's doin'."

Tresler smiled and returned to his work. "And what form do you think
his 'drop' will take?" he asked, without looking up.

"I ain't gifted wi' imagination. Y' ain't never sure which way a blind
mule's likely ter kick. Jake's in the natur' of a blind mule. What I
sez is, watch him. Don't look east when he's west. Say," he went on,
in a tone of disgust, "you Noo Yorkers make me sick. Ther' ain't
nothin' ter hittin' a feller an' makin' him sore. It on'y gives him
time to git mad. A gun's handy an' sudden. On'y you need a goodish
bore ef you're goin' ter perf'rate the hide of a guy like Jake.
Pshaw!" he finished up witheringly, "you fellers ain't got shut o'
last century."

"Maybe we haven't," Tresler retorted, with a good-humored laugh; "but
your enterprise has carried you so far ahead of time that you've
overlapped. I tell you, man, you're back in the savage times. You're
groping in the prehistoric periods--Jurassic, Eocene, or some such."

"Guess I ain't familiar wi' Jurassics an' Eocenes," Arizona replied
gravely. "Mebbe that was before my time; but ef you're speakin' o'
them fellers as clumped each other over the head wi' stone clubs, I
'lows they had more savee than a Noo Yorker, ef they wus kind o'
primitive in the'r habits."

Tresler accepted the argument in the spirit in which it was put
forward. It was no use getting angry. Arizona was peculiar, but he had
reason to consider him, in his own parlance, "a decent citizen." He
went on with his work steadily while the