, as they did so, a quiet, derisive contempt
slowly curled his thin lips.

"Wal?" he inquired, in the harsh drawl Bill was beginning to get
accustomed to since he had traveled so far from his eastern home.

Bill laughed. He always seemed ready to laugh.

"Guess I don't seem to have come along at the best time," he said,
glancing at the lamp above O'Brien. "Say, I'm sorry to have troubled
you. I thought maybe my brother was down here. I'm Bill Bryant, and
I'm looking for Charlie--my brother. Has--has he been along here
to-night?"

The man's big blue eyes glanced swiftly around the squalid, empty
interior. It was the first time he had been inside a western saloon of
this class, and he was interested.

Meanwhile O'Brien had taken him in from head to foot, and the growing
smile in his eyes expressed his opinion of what he beheld.

"You're Charlie Bryant's brother, eh?" he said contemplatively. "Guess
I sure heard you was around. Wal, since you're lookin' fer Charlie,
you'd better go lookin' a bit farther. He was around, but he's quit
half an hour since. I'd surely say ef you ain't built in the natur' of
a cat, or you ain't a walkin' microscope, you best wait till daylight
to find Charlie. There's more folks than you'd like to find Charlie at
night, but most of 'em ain't gifted with second sight. Say, seein'
you're his brother, an' ain't one of them other folk, I'll admit
you're more likely to find him somewhere around the old pine just now
than anywhere else. And, likewise, seein' you're his brother, you'd
better not open your face wider than Providence makes necessary--till
you've found him."

O'Brien's manner rather pleased the simple easterner, for his unspoken
contempt was beyond the reach of the latter's understanding. He smiled
his perfect amiability.

"Thanks," he cried readily. "I've got to go that way back, so I'll
chase around there." He half turned away, as though about to depart,
but turned again immediately. "It's that pine up on the side of the
valley, isn't it?" he questioned doubtfully.

"There's only one pine in this valley--yes."

O'Brien's hand was again raised toward the lamp.

"I see." Bill nodded. Then, "What's he doing there?" he asked sharply.
A thought had occurred to him. It was one which contained a faint
suspicion.

The other looked him squarely in the eyes. Then a sort of voiceless
chuckle shook his broad shoulders.

"Doin'? Wal, I guess he ain't sparkin' any lady friend, and I