er, could it?"

"No. But I trust--." The old man's voice was hesitating and tremulous.

"O-h-h, put yuah trust in Jesus,
An' yuh shall see thu Throne!"

chanted Red, nasally; adding as an after-thought: "Thu C Bar pays cash."

"And it wants to retain you, Mr. Brewster, as counsel in event of my
failure to accomplish the restitution of Mr. Carter's property,"
supplemented Douglass quickly. "You see, I've got to fight the devil
with fire. If I lose out you have full authority to thrash it out in
your own way. But I play my hand first."

"That's what," said Red laconically. "An' I'll keep cases on thu game."

At the request of Douglass the attorney drew up the correct form of a
bill of sale with notorial attest; he refused the fee tendered him,
saying: "I am glad to be of service to Bob Carter's boy. And if at any
time you need my aid, professional or otherwise, command me without
hesitation."

"Ken," said McVey oracularly, as they mounted their horses. "We're goin'
to win out. We've seed a honest law-sharp an' our systems hev stood thu
shock; an' we ain't been parted from our wealth none. I think thu Lawd
took thet way o' breakin' thu news to us, gentle like, thet Fawtune is
goin' to smile on us. Betcha we have pie an' ice cream feh suppah."

He was still more optimistic when he came in, an hour or so after supper
was over, to where Douglass sat thoughtfully smoking a cigar. His manner
was even jubilant as he struck a match and sucked vivaciously at the
proffered weed. "Matlock will be in town to-morrow; he was here
yiste'day an' him an' Bart has gone out huntin'; so they say; like as
not up ter sum lowdown meanness er 'tother; an' they're aixpected back
to-morrer evenin'. Luck is suttinly comin' ouah way.

"I thought I'd go projeckin' around a leetle so as to kinda size up thu
layout," he explained, "an' get a line on thu fo'thcomin' festivities.
So I nacherally draps in to thu Palace an' thu barkeep gits loquacious.
Was yuh thinkin' o' drinkin' a sarsaperiller with me?"

Time hanging heavy on their hands, the two cowpunchers strolled up the
street in the search of diversion; at the Shoo Fly dance-hall the
revelry seemed most promising and they went in to investigate. The usual
quota of frowsy, bedraggled women were in evidence, wearily swinging in
the eccentric mazes of a putative waltz or plying their blowsy victims
with the stuff that had already stolen their souls and later would steal
away what be