ighted at the chance to ride home with his new acquaintance.

That journey back to civilization was doubly pleasant, for Mr. Parker
cherished no such feelings as Gray had feared, and, moreover, he
responded quickly to the younger man's efforts to engage his liking.
They got along famously from the start, and Tom positively blossomed
under the attentions he received. It had been a trying day for him, but
his ill humor quickly disappeared in the warmth of a new-found
friendship, and he talked more than was his custom. He was even led to
speak of old days, old combats, of which the bloodless encounter that
evening was but a tame reminder. The pictures he conjured up were
colorful.

A unique and an engaging person he proved to be; an odd compound of
gentleness and acerbity, of kindliness and rancor; a quiet, guileless,
stubborn, violent old man-at-arms, who would not be interrupted while
he was eating. He was both scornful and contemptuous of evildoers. All
needed killing.

"Hard luck, I call it, for a budding desperado to wreck a career of
promise the way that wretched fellow did," Gray told him with a laugh.
"Out of all the men in Texas, to pick you--"

"Oh, he ain't a bud! He's quite a killer."

"Indeed?"

"He kills Mexicans and niggers and folks without guns, mostly. Low-down
stuff! He's got three or four, I believe. I never could see why the
Nelsons kep' him."

There was a brief silence. "I beg pardon?" said Gray.

"He's been on the Nelson pay roll for years--doing odd jobs that wasn't
fit to be done. But I guess they got tired of him, anyhow he's been
hanging around Wichita for the last two or three weeks. He's been in an
out of our office quite a bit."

"Your office? What for?"

"I dunno, unless he took a shine to 'Bob.'"

"Not--really?"

Mr. Parker uttered an unpleasant sound. "She never said anything about
it, but I suspicioned she had to order him out, finally. I'd of split
his third shirt button if he'd stood his ground. He knew I had
something on him, but he couldn't figure just what it was." Old Tom's
teeth shone through the gloom. "A man will 'most always act like that
when he don't know just where he's at. I knew where _I_ was at, all the
time, only I wanted to see that button plain. I allus know where _I'm_
at."

Later, when the journey was over and Tom Parker had been dropped at his
gate, Gray spoke to his two companions.

"Did you hear what he said?"

"We did."

"Do you believe I was