had pondered on
this one also. Even were he disposed to treat with Rios, the secret
was not his to give. Further, once Rios had the knowledge he sought,
he would no doubt fail to keep his word. And in any case there was
always the possibility of getting away without the Mexican's aid; and
if there was treasure, as Rios so plainly believed, it should be worth
many times the twenty-five thousand dollars which had been demanded of
Betty's father. On top of all this it was sheer nonsense to plan on
what Betty might have to say until her word was spoken. Hence Jim was
no little pleased to baffle Rios.

"You are thinking of yourself," said Rios sharply. "Not of the girl.
Can you not imagine that it might be unpleasant for her, left here over
long?"

Then Kendric sought to be as crafty as his visitor.

"Am I responsible for all wandering damsels in distress?" he asked
coldly.

"But Miss Betty----"

"Exactly. What the devil is Miss Betty to me? I never saw her until a
few hours ago."

"But," insisted Rios, "in some soils some flowers bloom quickly! Love
comes when it comes, in a year, in a day, in a moment."

"Love!" Jim's surprise was not altogether feigned. Then he laughed
and remembered his craft. He was thinking that already Zoraida
suspected him of being too warmly interested; he did not know but that
Rios was here now on Zoraida's errand, making pretenses the while he
sought to ferret out real emotions. And so for Zoraida's sake should
the words be carried to her, he cried as though in high amusement:
"Love? What are you thinking of, man?"

He saw that he had puzzled Rios. The Mexican had been convinced of his
keen interest in the girl and, further, knew from of old how lightly
Jim Kendric held such mere bagatelles as dollars. Kendric drew a
certain satisfaction from the situation. But his frank grin died away
slowly as Rios went on.

"We are not friends, you and I, senor," he said smoothly. "But just
now that matters not, since my personal interests move me to do you a
kindness. Of what happens to you later on, I care less than that." He
snapped his fingers. "Perhaps you do not fully understand either your
own case or that of Miss Betty. You are to be held here indefinitely;
unless you decide to throw your lot in with La Senorita Zoraida's and
become her man, body and soul, there will come a time, suddenly, when
her patience will die and her wrath rise and you will die too. And for
Mis