be a diagram, drawn on the
back of an old envelope, and both studied it with care, Pedro especially,
as though seeking to engrave it on his memory. Then he nodded assent to
what the other had been saying, and they shook hands, evidently in
confirmation of a bargain. Once more they adjourned to the bar, gulped
down several glasses of the fiery liquor that masqueraded as whiskey,
and then Pedro, with a gesture of farewell, went outside. A moment later
Bert heard the clatter of hoofs as he rode away.

There was no further need of concealment, and with exceeding care Bert
studied the features of the man who he felt sure was involved in some
plan that boded no good to Pedro's employer.

The fellow was tall and heavily built, and dressed in a more gaudy style
than that usually affected by the cowboys. Bert could not remember having
seen him among the employees of the neighboring ranches. His face bore
traces of drink and dissipation and was seamed with evil passions. There
was a lurid glow in his eyes that brought back to Bert the memory of the
men who had tried to hold up the train. He seemed naturally to fall into
that class. Instinctively Bert felt that in some way he was to be ranked
with the outcasts that war upon society. A cruel mouth showed beneath a
hawk-like nose that gave him the appearance of a bird of prey. To Bert he
seemed a living embodiment of all that he had ever heard or read of the
"bad man" of the Western frontier.

The stranger stood a little while longer at the bar. Then he strolled
over to a table where four men were playing, and watched the game with
the critical eye of an expert.

Soon one of the men kicked his chair back and rose with an oath.

"Busted," he growled. "Not a dinero left. That last hand cleaned me out."

"Aw, don't go yet, Jim," protested one of his companions. "Your credit's
good and you can play on your I. O. U.'s."

"Yes," agreed another. "Or you can put up that Spanish saddle of yourn.
I've allers had a kind of hankerin' fur that. It's good fur eighty plunks
in chips."

"Nuthin' doin'," announced the first emphatically. "Any time I hold four
kings and still can't rake in the pot, it shore is my unlucky day. But
I'll be here with bells on next pay day. So long," and he strode out of
the room, slamming the door behind him.

The others were preparing to go on three-handed, when the stranger
intervened.

"If it's an open game, gents, and you've no objections, I'll take a
h