the lawyer and
real estate operator with whom the Don had formed a partnership, and whom
Ramon believed to be systematically fleecing the old man.

Don Diego was a big, paunchy Mexican with a smooth brown face, strikingly
set off by fierce white whiskers. His partner was a tall, tight-lipped,
angular woman, who danced painfully, but with determination. The two had
nothing to say to each other, but both of them smiled resolutely, and the
Don visibly perspired under the effort of steering his inflexible friend.

Although he did not formulate the idea, this couple was to Ramon a symbol
of the disgust with which the life of his native town inspired him. Here
was the Mexican sedulously currying favour with the gringo, who robbed him
for his pains. And here was the specific example of that relation which
promised to rob Ramon of his heritage.

For the gringos he felt a cold hostility--a sense of antagonism and
difference--but it was his senile and fatuous uncle, the type of his own
defeated race, whom he despised.

CHAPTER IV

When the music stopped Ramon left the hall for the hotel lobby, where he
soothed his sensibilities with a small brown cigarette of his own making.
In one of the swinging benches covered with Navajo blankets two other
dress-suited youths were seated, smoking and talking. One of them was a
short, plump Jew with a round and gravely good-natured face; the other a
tall, slender young fellow with a great mop of curly brown hair, large
soft eyes and a sensitive mouth.

"She's good looking, all right," the little fellow assented, as Ramon came
up.

"Good looking!" exclaimed the other with enthusiasm. "She's a little
queen! Nothing like her ever hit this town before."

"Who's all the excitement about?" Ramon demanded, thrusting himself into
the conversation with the easy familiarity which was his right as one of
"the bunch."

Sidney Felberg turned to him in mock amazement.

"Good night, Ramon! Where have you been? Asleep? We're talking about Julia
Roth, same as everybody else.{~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~}"

"Who's she?" Ramon queried coolly, discharging a cloud of smoke from the
depths of his lungs. "Never heard of her."

"Well, she's our latest social sensation {~HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS~} sister of some rich lunger that
recently hit town; therefore very important. But that's not the only
reason. Wait till you see her."

"All right; introduce me to her," Ramon sugg