seemed
inspired by some further agent, for though unobtrusive, almost, as
ever, he was possessed with a strange, feverish impulse to pit himself
against Willett, and almost to ignore all others in the game. A fifth
player was a stranded prospector whom Craney knew, and presumably
vouched for. Luck must have been going Willett's way in violation of
the adage, at the time of Bonner's entrance, for the table in front of
him was stacked high with chips, and four men of the five were
apparently getting excited.

Bonner seldom played anything stronger than casino and cribbage, nor
did he often waste an hour, night or day, in the card room. This night,
however, he was wakeful, and had seen that which even made him a trifle
nervous. He had visited every sentry post, finding his men alert and
vigilant. 'Tonio's words had already been communicated to the guard,
and self-preservation alone prompted every man to keep a sharp lookout.
Bonner had noted as he stepped out on the side porch of his quarters,
where hung the big earthen olla in its swathing bands, that 'Tonio lay,
apparently sound asleep, at the side door of the doctor's quarters, and
Bonner found himself pondering over the undoubted devotion of this
silent, lonely son of the desert to the young soldier lying wounded
within. Bonner left him as he found him. 'Tonio had not stirred. Barely
twenty minutes thereafter, as he finished examination of the two
sentries on the north front, and came down along the bank at the rear
of the officers' quarters, he found Number Five, a Civil War veteran
and, therefore, not easily excited, kneeling at the edge, with his
rifle at "ready," gazing steadily toward a clump of willows at the
stream bed, some five hundred feet away, listening so intently that the
officer halted, rather than mortify him by coming on his post
unchallenged. The brilliant moonlight made surrounding objects almost
as light as day, and Bonner could see nothing unusual or unfamiliar
along the sandy flat to the east. So, finally, he struck his scabbard
against a rock by way of attracting Number Five's attention, and
instantly the challenge came.

"What was the matter, Five?" asked Bonner, after being advanced and
recognized, and the answer threw little light upon the subject.

"I wish I knew, sir, but there was some one--crying--down there in the
bush--not five minutes ago."

"Crying! You're crazy, Kerrigan!"

"That's what _I_ said, sir, when first I heard it, but-