d Red, aggressively.

"Well, you ain't no _kid_."

"You let _me_ do th' talking; _I'll_ get him."

"All right; an' I'll do th' laughing," snickered Hopalong, at the door.
"Sic 'em, Red!"

The other boldly stepped into a small vestibule, Hopalong close at his
heels. Red hitched his holster and walked heavily into a room at his
left. With the exception of a bench, a table, and a small altar, the
room was devoid of furnishings, and the effect of these was lost in the
dim light from the narrow windows. The peculiar, not unpleasant odor of
burning incense and the dim light awakened a latent reverence and awe in
Hopalong, and he sneaked off his sombrero, an inexplicable feeling of
guilt stealing over him. There were three doors in the walls, deeply
shrouded in the dusk of the room, and it was very hard to watch all
three at once. . . .

Red listened intently and then grinned. "Hear that? They're playing
dominoes in there--come on!"

"Aw, you chump! 'Dominee' means 'mother' in Latin, which is what they
speaks."

"How do you know?"

"Hanged if I can tell--I've heard it somewhere, that's all."

"Well, I don't care what it means. This is a frame-up so that coyote can
get away. I'll bet they gave him a cayuse an' started him off while
we've been losing time in here. I'm going inside an' ask some
questions."

Before he could put his plan into execution, Hopalong nudged him and he
turned to see his friend staring at one of the doors. There had been no
sound, but he would swear that a monk stood gravely regarding them, and
he rubbed his eyes. He stepped back suspiciously and then started
forward again.

"Look here, stranger," he remarked, with quiet emphasis, "we're after
that cow-lifter, an' we mean to get him. Savvy?"

The monk did not appear to hear him, so he tried another trick. "_Habla
espanola?_" he asked, experimentally.

"You have ridden far?" replied the monk in perfect English.

"All th' way from th' Bend," Red replied, relieved. "We're after Jerry
Brown. He tried to kill Johnny, judgin' from th' tracks."

"And if you capture him?"

"He won't have no more use for no side pocket shooting."

"I see; you will kill him."

"Shore's it's wet outside."

"I'm afraid you are doomed to disappointment."

"Ya-as?" asked Red with a rising inflection.

"You will not want him now," replied the monk.

Red laughed sarcastically and Hopalong smiled.

"There ain't a-going to be no argument about it. Trot him ou