E 201

XVII. AN OBSTINATE MAN 213

XVIII. MANUEL INTERFERES 230

XIX. VALENCIA ACCEPTS A RING 240

XX. DICK LIGHTS A CIGARETTE 246

XXI. WHEN THE WIRES WERE CUT 259

XXII. THE ATTACK 269

XXIII. THE TIN BOX 287

XXIV. DICK GORDON APOLOGIZES 298

XXV. THE PRINCE CONSORT 307

A DAUGHTER OF THE DONS

CHAPTER I

DON MANUEL INTRODUCES HIMSELF

For hours Manuel Pesquiera had been rolling up the roof of the continent
in an observation-car of the "Short Line."

His train had wound in and out through a maze of bewildering scenery,
and was at last dipping down into the basin of the famous gold camp.

The alert black eyes of the young New Mexican wandered discontentedly
over the raw ugliness of the camp. Towns straggled here and there
untidily at haphazard, mushroom growths of a day born of a lucky
"strike." Into the valleys and up and down the hillsides ran a network
of rails for trolley and steam cars. Everywhere were the open tunnel
mouths or the frame shaft-houses perched above the gray Titan dump
beards.

The magic that had wonderfully brought all these manifold activities
into being had its talisman in the word "Gold"; but, since Pesquiera had
come neither as a prospector nor investor, he heard with only
half-concealed impatience the easy gossip of his fellow travelers about
the famous ore producers of the district.

It was not until his inattentive ears caught the name of Dick Gordon
that he found interest in the conversation.

"Pardon, sir! Are you acquaint' with Mr. Richard Gordon?" he asked, a
touch of the gentle Spanish accent in his voice.

The man to whom he had spoken, a grizzled, weather-beaten little fellow
in a corduroy suit and white, broad-brimmed felt hat, turned his steady
blue eyes on his questioner a moment before he answered:

"I ought to know him, seeing as I'm his partner."

"Then you can tell me where I may find him?"

"Yes, sir, I can do that. See that streak of red there on the hill--the
one above the big dump. That's the shafthouse of the Last Dollar. Drop
down it about nine hun