rouble?" queried Billy Dime innocently. "I'm
_dry_. I want a _drink_. I'm goin' over to Gophertown to get it. I'll
treat the bunch."

"Which bunch?"

"Any and all--come stand up and down it."

"We'll be there when you call our numbers, sister. You comin'?" asked
Pars Long, nodding toward Overland.

"Me? Nope.... I'm goin'. I'm goin' to ask you boys to kindly allow me
the privilege of gettin' my drink first and by my lonesome. There will
be a gent there with sore eyes. He got sore eyes waitin' and watchin'
for me to call. I expect to cure him of his eye trouble. After that you
will be as welcome as Mary's little lamb--fried."

"Bur-rie me not on the lo-o-ne prai-ree," sang Bud Light.

"Not while you got the fastest hoss in the outfit," said Williams.

"Collie's hoss is here," said Overland. "I'm ridin' her this trip. I
kind of like the idea of usin' his hoss on this here errand of mercy."

"Three--to-morrow mornin'!" called Billy Dime, as Overland disappeared
in the shadows.

* * * * *

Brand Williams, the taciturn, the silent, stepped from the fire and
strode across the meadow. He paused opposite the Yuma colt and gazed at
her in the moonlight. He jerked up his chin and laughed noiselessly.
"Two-gun Jack Summers on that red Yuma hoss, ridin' into Gophertown with
both hands filled and lookin' for trouble.... God! He was bad enough
when he was dodgin' trouble. Well, I'm glad I'm livin' to see it. I was
commencin' to think they wasn't any more _men_ left in the country. I'm
forty-seven year old. To-morrow I'll be twenty again ... or nothin'."

CHAPTER XXVIII

GOPHERTOWN

Some towns "nestle" on the plain. Others, more aspiring, "roost" in the
hills. Gophertown squatted on the desert at the very edge of a range of
barren foothills. Its principal street was not much more than a
bridle-trail that led past eleven ramshackle cabins, derelicts of the
old mining days when Gophertown knew gold.

The population of Gophertown was of an itinerant order. This was not
always due to internecine disputes. Frequently a citizen became overbold
and visited his old haunts instead of remaining safely, even if
monotonously, at home. Train robbery was a sure passport to Gophertown's
protection. Man-killing lent an added distinction to an applicant for
hurried admission. Cattle-and horse-thieving were mere industries not to
be confounded with these higher professions.

Overland Red had onc