every time."

"Well, do something now," ordered Lucy frigidly; and Hiram heard
Drummond scrape back his chair in rising.

"All right--we'll see. I'll beat it now. Up late last night playing
poker. Rotten luck, too!"

"Al," said Lucy's voice, "when we get that jack, are you going to give
me a fair share of it?"

"Sure--sure! Why do you keep harping on that, Lucy? Haven't I
promised you I would? Good night. I'm dead tired!"

Half an hour before dawn next morning Hiram Hooker crawled from his
blankets in camp and fed hay and grain to Babe, Jerkline Jo's black
saddle mare. Then, leaving his companions placidly snoring, he walked
briskly along the trail to Ragtown. Ten minutes after his start he was
knocking on the door of Jo's tiny pine cabin.

"What is it?" finally came the girl's sleepy tones. "Who is there?"

"It's I, Jo. Hiram. Will you come to the door a second? I want to
talk with you."

"You big whale! What do you mean, waking me up in the middle of the
night? Anything wrong?"

"No, Jo. And it's almost time to get up. The boys will be out by the
time I get back. Hurry and get dressed, won't you?"

There was a rustling and quick moving about inside, and presently the
door was unlocked and Jerkline Jo poked her head out inquiringly.

"I came to ask you for a few days off," he explained.

"Why, Hiram?"

"Yes, just one trip, Jo. There isn't any more freight than the rest of
you can handle just now. Won't be till spring, I'm thinking."

"Oh, I could spare you now better than later on. But--but what, Hiram?"

"And I'd like to borrow Babe and your saddle and bridle, too."

"Take them," she said confidently. "Whatever your mysterious
disappearance means, I know I can trust you."

Half an hour afterward Hiram swung himself into Jo's big California
saddle, and then leaned over and spoke to Blink Keddie and Heine
Schultz, busy at harnessing the teams.

"I don't know when I'll be back, boys," he said. "But remember what I
told you: Don't let Jo out of your sight in the pass--nor anywhere
else, for that matter--and keep your guns handy all the time."

"Don't worry, Gentle Wild Cat!" Schultz assured him.

"So long, then," said Hiram, and swung Babe into the road that
connected Ragtown with the line of camps which dotted the desert from
end to end.

CHAPTER XXXI

A TALE OF THE DESERT'S DEAD

No land seems so delectable as the desert early on a crisp morning.
The rare air c