p. So much for the future. Now for the present. He
surveyed the five-dollar bill and chuckled.

"_Tyee_ man _hyas_ damfool!" said he. He cast a shrewd eye at the sun,
which stood near the meridian. "_Sitkum sun!_" he announced.

"Noon--and that means you're hungry," said Sandy. "I never saw you when
you weren't. Go on up to the house, and say I sent you. _Muckamuck mika
sick yakwahtin._ Eat till your belly goes back on you, if you want to."

Simon grinned again; but he pointed to Sandy's feet.

"You _mamook hyuhuy_ moccasin dam quick!" he warned once more.

CHAPTER XIII

Casey Dunne crossed from the Coldstream Supply Company's store--which
was also the post office--to Bob Shiller's hotel. His pockets bulged
with mail, for it was his first visit to town since the destruction of
the dam a week before, and there was an accumulation of letters,
newspapers, and periodicals. Ever since then he had been irrigating,
throwing upon his thirsty fields every drop of water he could get.

As he came upon the veranda, he saw Shiller in conversation with a
stranger.

"Oh, Casey," said Shiller, "I want you to shake hands with Mr. Glass.
Mr. Glass--Mr. Dunne. Mr. Glass," the genial Bob went on, "has some
notion of locating here if he can get a place to suit him. He likes the
land, and he likes the climate; but the recent--the events--er--the way
things shape at present has a _leetle_ undecided him. Anything Mr.
Dunne tells you, Mr. Glass, will be straight. He has land to burn, and
one of our best ranches. Yes. I'll just leave you to talk it over
together." And so saying, he executed a masterly retreat.

Glass was a mild, colourless, middle-aged man, attired in worn
hand-me-down garments. His blue eyes, clear and direct enough, seemed
to hold a little of the pathetic apprehension and appeal of a lost
puppy. He hesitated when he spoke, repeatedly qualifying his
statements. His was the awkwardness of the man who, having spent his
life in familiar surroundings in some small community, suddenly finds
himself in new places among strangers. And, lacking adaptability, is
constrained and ill at ease.

"You see, Mr. Dunne, it's this way with me," he began. And, appearing
to remember something suddenly, he asked: "Hadn't we better have a
drink?"

"Not unless you need it in your business," said Casey. "Sit down and
smoke a cigar with me and tell me your trouble."

"Well, I'd just as soon," said Glass, plainly relieved. "I don't