pendent on my salary; I had a good little sum of money laid
by before I came out here; there is plenty, I will not miss it, and
you are welcome to it."

"Much obliged to you, Houston, but I can't take it,--not now, at any
rate,--maybe I'll call on you for it to-morrow, if I don't have luck
to-night."

"You are welcome to it whenever you want it," said Houston cordially,
his hand on Morgan's shoulder; "I only wish you were not going to the
Y to-night."

"Well," said Morgan, as he rose slowly, "don't think I don't
appreciate your kindness, for I do. You've heard me say that I didn't
believe in honor in anybody; I guess I'll have to take that back, for
if there is such a thing as honor, you've got it. I don't know how it
is," he said, with a heavy sigh, then added slowly, "I guess you've
been raised different somehow, from most of us out here. The Lord
knows how I was raised."

He started a few steps down the road, hesitated, and came back.

"Houston, there's one thing I want to say to you, for you've been good
to me, that's this; look out for Haight; he's no friend of yours, and
I guess you're sharp enough to know it, but maybe you don't know what
a sneaking, cowardly cur he is; look out for him!"

"Thank you, Morgan, I will."

"He ain't like me," he continued, "if I don't like anybody I let 'em
know it, and fight 'em fair and square; you can tell that by the way I
bucked up against you, when you first came here," and he smiled at the
recollection, the first time he had smiled in the whole conversation.

"Morgan," said Houston, "I've been sorry for that a good many times
since; if I had known about you then what you have since told me, I
never would have been so severe in my judgment of you."

"Oh, that was all right," he answered, "it did me good; I didn't like
you very well at first, but I've always had a liking for you ever
since. Well, so long!" and with a faint smile, Morgan went on his
way.

Houston stood watching him for a few moments, then turned back in the
direction of the house, little thinking how, or where, they would meet
again.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The next morning dawned fair and cloudless, giving promise of one of
those royal days, so frequent in the almost perfect climate of the
higher altitudes.

Long before noon the heat would be intense, but in the early morning
there was wafted down from the mountain side, where the pines were
nodding and whispering so mysteriously, a cool, exhil