ieve, by idle curiosity, but without
knowledge. You made yourself--ignorantly--my guest; and a guest is
sacred. But now you know my customs and ideas. I am telling you. Never
again can you come here in ignorance; therefore never again can you come
here as a guest; and never again will you pass freely."

He delivered this drily, precisely, with frost in his tones, staring
balefully into my eyes. So taken aback was I by this unleashed hostility
that for a moment I had nothing to say.

"Now, if you please, I will take both notes from that poor idiot: the
one I handed you and the one she handed you."

I realized suddenly that the two lay together in the breast pocket of my
shirt; that though alike in tenor, they differed in phrasing; and that I
had no means of telling one from the other.

"The paper you gave me I read and threw away," I stated, boldly. "It
meant nothing to me. As to any other, I do not know what you are talking
about."

"You are lying," he said, calmly, as merely stating a fact. "It does not
matter. It is my fancy to collect them. I should have liked to add
yours. Now get out of this, and don't let me see your face again!"

"Mr. Hooper," said I, "I thank you for your hospitality, which has been
complete and generous. You have pointed out the fact that I am no longer
your guest. I can, therefore, with propriety, tell you that your ideas
and prejudices are noted with interest; your wishes are placed on file
for future reference; I don't give a damn for your orders; and you can
go to hell!"

"Fine flow of language. Educated cowpuncher," said the old man, drily.
"You are warned. Keep off. Don't meddle with what does not concern you.
And if the rumour gets back to me that you've been speculating or
talking or criticizing----"

"Well?" I challenged.

"I'll have you killed," he said, simply; so simply that I knew he meant
it.

"You are foolish to make threats," I rejoined. "Two can play at that
game. You drive much alone."

"I do not work alone," he hinted, darkly. "The day my body is found dead
of violence, that day marks the doom of a long list of men whom I
consider inimical to me--like, perhaps, yourself." He stared me down
with his unwinking gaze.

CHAPTER V

I returned to Box Springs at a slow jog trot, thinking things over. Old
Man Hooper's warning sobered, but did not act as a deterrent of my
intention to continue with the adventure. But how? I could hardly storm
the fort single h