"" 
 
 THE DESIRE 
 OFTME/AOTM 
 
 EUGENE MANLOVE RHODES 
 
THE DESIRE OF 
 THE MOTH 
 
 AND 
 
 THE COME ON 
 
 BY, 
 EUGENE MANLOVE RHODES 1 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 BRANSFORD OF RAINBOW RANGE, 
 
 GOOD MEN AND TRUE, 
 
 WEST IS WEST, ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 H. T. DUNN 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright, 1910, by 
 HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 
 
 Copyright, 1920, by 
 .THE H. K. FLY COMPANY 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 They were riding hard . . . Frontispiece 
 " Gentlemen be seated! " 38 
 
 w: 
 
THE DESIRE OF THE MOTH 
 Chapter I 
 
 "Little Next Door her years are few 
 Loves me, more than her elders do; 
 Says, my wrinkles become me so; 
 Marvels much at the tales I know. 
 Says, we shall marry when she is grown M 
 
 THE little happy song stopped short. 
 John Wesley Pringle, at the mesa s last 
 headland, drew rein to adjust his geography. 
 This was new country to him. 
 
 Close behind, Organ Mountain flung up a: 
 fantasy of spires, needle-sharp and bare and 
 golden. The long straight range saw- 
 toothed limestone save for this twenty-mile 
 sheer upheaval of the Organ stretched away 
 to north and south against the unclouded sky, 
 till distance turned the barren gray to blue- 
 
2 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 black, to blue, to misty haze; till the sharp, 
 square-angled masses rounded to hillocks 
 to a blur a wavy line nothing. 
 
 More than a hundred miles to the north 
 west, two midget mountains wavered in the 
 sky. John Wesley nodded at their unforgot- 
 ten shapes and pieced this vast landscape to 
 the patchwork map in his head. Those toy 
 hills were San Mateo and Magdalena. 
 Pringle had passed that way on a bygone 
 year, headed east. He was going west, now. 
 
 " I m too prosperous here," he had ex 
 plained to Beebe and Ballinger, his partners 
 on Rainbow. " I m tedious to myself. Guess 
 I ll take a pasear back to Prescott. Rail 
 road? Who, me? Why, son, I like to travel 
 when I go anywheres. Just starting and ar 
 riving don t delight me any. Besides, I don t 
 know that strip along the border. I ll ride." 
 
 It was a tidy step to Prescott say, as far 
 as from Philadelphia to Savannah, or from 
 
The Desire of the Moth 3 
 
 Richmond to Augusta ; but John Wesley had 
 made many such rides in the Odyssey of his 
 wonder years. Some of them had been 
 made in haste. But there was no haste now. 
 Sam Bass, his corn-fed sorrel, was hardly 
 less sleek and sturdy than at the start, though 
 a third of the way was behind him. Pringle 
 rode by easy stages, and where he found him 
 self pleased, there he tarried for a space. 
 
 With another friendly nod to the northward 
 hills that marked a day of his past, Pringle 
 turned his eyes to the westlands, outspread 
 and vast before him. To his right the desert 
 stretched away, a mighty plain dotted with 
 low hills, rimmed with a curving, jagged 
 range. Beyond that range was a nothing 
 ness, a hiatus that marked the sunken valley 
 of the Rio Grande; beyond that, a headlong 
 infinity of unknown ranges, tier on tier, yel 
 low or brown or blue ; broken, tumbled, hud 
 dled, scattered, with gulfs between to tell of 
 
4 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 unseen plains and hidden happy valleys al 
 together giving an impression of rushing 
 toward him, resistless, like the waves of a 
 stormy sea. 
 
 At his feet the plain broke away sharply, 
 in a series of steplike sandy benches, to where 
 the Rio Grande bore quartering across the 
 desert, turning to the Mexican sea ; the Me- 
 silla Valley here, a slender ribbon of mossy 
 green, broidered with loops of flashing river 
 a ribbon six miles by forty, orchard, wood 
 land, and green field, greener for the desolate 
 gray desert beyond and the yellow hills of 
 sand edging the valley floor. Below him 
 Las Uvas, chief town of the valley, lay bask 
 ing in the sun, tiny square and street bordered 
 with greenery: its domino houses white- 
 walled in the sun, with larger splashes of red 
 from courthouse or church or school. 
 
 Far on the westering desert, beyond the 
 valley, Pringle saw a white feather of smoke 
 
The Desire of the Moth 5 
 
 from a toiling train; beyond that a twisting 
 gap in the blue of the westmost range. 
 
 " That s our road." He lifted his bridle 
 rein. " Amble along, Sam ! " 
 
 To that amble he crooned to himself, pleas 
 antly, half-dreamily as if he voiced indi 
 rectly some inner thought quaint snatches 
 of old song: 
 
 " She came to the gate and she peeped in 
 Grass and the weeds up to her chin; 
 Saidj f A rake and a hoe and a fantail plow 
 Would suit you better than a wife just now. * 
 
 And again: 
 
 " Schooldays are over now, 
 
 Lost all our bliss; 
 But love remembers yet 
 
 Quarrel and kiss. 
 Still, as in days of yore " 
 
 Then, after a long silence, with a thought 
 ful earnestness that Rainbow would scarce 
 have credited, he quoted a verse from what 
 he was wont to call Billy Beebe s Bible : 
 
6 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " One Moment in Annihilation s waste, 
 One Moment of the Well of Life to taste 
 The Stars are setting, and the Caravan 
 
 Starts for the Dawn of Nothing. Oh, make 
 
 haste!" 
 
 After late dinner at the Gadsden Purchase, 
 Pringle had tidings of the Motion Picture 
 Palace ; and thither he bent his steps. He was 
 late and the palace was a very small palace 
 indeed; it was with difficulty that he spied in 
 the semidarkness an empty seat in a side sec 
 tion. A fat lady and a fatter man, in the 
 seats nearest the aisle, obligingly moved over 
 rather than risk any attempt to squeeze by. 
 
 Beyond them, as he took the end seat, 
 Pringle was dimly aware of a girl who looked 
 at him rather attentively. 
 
 He turned his mind to the screen, where a 
 natty and noble young man, with a chin, bit 
 off his words distinctly and smote his extended 
 palm with folded gloves to emphasize the re 
 marks he was making to a far less natty man 
 
The Desire of the Moth 7 
 
 with black mustaches. John Wesley rightly 
 concluded that this second man, who gnashed 
 his teeth so convincingly, and at whom an in 
 credibly beautiful young lady looked with 
 haughty disdain, was the villain, and 
 foiled. 
 
 The blond and shaven hero, with a mag 
 nificent gesture, motioned the villain to be 
 gone ! That baffled person, after waiting 
 long enough to register despair, spread his 
 fingers across his brow and be-went; the hero 
 turned, held out his arms; the scornful 
 young beauty crept into them. Click! On 
 the screen appeared a scroll: 
 
 Keep Your Seats. Two Minutes to Change 
 Reels. 
 
 The lights were turned on. Pringle looked 
 at the crowd girls, grandmas, mothers with 
 their families, many boys, and few men; 
 Americans, Mexicans, well-dressed folk and 
 
8 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 roughly dressed, all together. Many were 
 leaving; among them Pringle s fat and oblig 
 ing neighbors rose with a pleasant: " Excuse 
 me, please ! " 
 
 A stream of newcomers trickled in through 
 the door. As Pringle sat down the lights 
 were dimmed again. Simultaneously the girl 
 he had noticed beyond the fat couple moved 
 over to the seat next to his own. Pringle did 
 not look at her; and a little later he felt a 
 hand on his sleeve. 
 
 " Tut, tut! " said Pringle in a tolerant un 
 dertone. " Why, chicken, you re not trying 
 to get gay with your old Uncle Dudley, are 
 you?" 
 
 " John Wesley Pringle ! " came the answer 
 in a furious whisper, each indignant word a 
 missile. " How dare you! How dare you 
 speak to me like that? " 
 
 " What ! " said Pringle, peering. " What ! 
 Stella Vorhis ! I can hardly believe it I " 
 
The Desire of the Moth 9 
 
 " But it s oh-so-true ! " said Stella, rising. 
 " Let s go we can t talk here." 
 
 * That was one awful break I made. I 
 most sincerely and humbly beg your pardon," 
 Pringle said on the sidewalk. 
 
 Stella laughed. 
 
 u That s all right I understand forget 
 it! You hadn t looked at me. But I knew 
 you when you first came in only I wasn t 
 sure till the lights were turned on. Of course 
 it would be great fun to tease you pretend to 
 be shocked and dreadfully angry, and all that 
 but I haven t got time. And oh, John Wes 
 ley, I m so delighted to see you again ! Let s 
 go over to the park. Not but what I was 
 dreadfully angry, sure enough, until I had a 
 second to thinL Why don t you say you re 
 glad to see me after five years? " 
 
 " Stella 1 You know I am. Six years, 
 please. But I thought you were still in Pres- 
 cott?" 
 
io The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " We came here three years ago. Here s a 
 bench. Now tell it to me ! " 
 
 But Pringle stood beside and looked down 
 at her without speech, with a smile unex 
 pected from a face so lean, so brown, so year- 
 bitten and iron-hard a smile which happily 
 changed that face, and softened it. 
 
 The girl s eyes danced at him. 
 
 " I m so glad you ve come, John Wesley! 
 Good old Wes ! " 
 
 " So I am both those little things. Six 
 years!" he said slowly. "Dear me dear 
 both of us ! That will make you twenty-five. 
 You don t look a day over twenty-four ! But 
 you re still Stella Vorhis?" 
 
 She met his gaze gravely; then her lids 
 drooped and a wave of red flushed her face. 
 
 " I am Stella Vorhis yet." 
 
 " Meaning for a little while yet?" 
 
 " Meaning, for a little while yet. That 
 will come later, John Wesley. Oh, I ll tell 
 
The Desire of the Moth 11 
 
 you, but not just now. You tell about John 
 Wesley, first and remember, anything you 
 say may be used against you. Where have 
 you been ? Were you dead ? Why didn t you 
 write? Has the world used you well? Sit 
 down, Mr. John Wesley Also-Ran Pringle, 
 and give an account of yourself! " 
 
 He sat beside her: she laid her hand across 
 his gnarled brown fingers with an uncon 
 scious caress. 
 
 " It s good to see you, old-timer! Begin 
 now I, John Wesley Pringle, am come from 
 going to and fro upon the earth and from 
 walkng up and down in it. But I didn t ask 
 you where you were living. Perhaps you 
 have a home of your own now." 
 
 John Wesley firmly lifted her slim fingers 
 from his hand and as firmly deposited them 
 in her lap. 
 
 " Kindly keep your hands to yourself, 
 young woman," he said with stately dignity. 
 
12 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " Here is an exact account of all my time 
 since I saw you : I have been hungry, thirsty, 
 sleepy, tired. To remedy these evils, upon 
 expert advice I have eaten, drunk, slept, and 
 rested. I have worked and played, been dull 
 and gay, busy and idle, foolish and unwise. 
 That s all. Oh, yes I m living in Rainbow 
 Mountain ; cattle. Two pardners nice boys 
 but educated. Had another one; he s mar 
 ried now, poor dear and just as happy as if 
 he had some sense." 
 
 "You re not?" 
 
 " Not what happy or married? " 
 
 "Married, silly !" 
 
 "And I m not. Now it s your turn* 
 Where do you live? Here in town? " 
 
 " Oh, no. Dad s got a farm twenty miles 
 up the river and a ranch out on the flat. I 
 just came down on the morning train to do a 
 little shopping and go back on the four-forty- 
 eight and I ll have to be starting soon. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 13 
 
 You ll walk down to the station with me?" 
 
 "But the sad story of your life?" ob 
 jected Pr ingle. 
 
 u Oh, I ll tell you that by installments. 
 You re to make us a long, long visit, you 
 know just as long as you can stay. You re 
 horseback, of course? Well, then, ride up 
 to-night. Ask for Aden Station. We live 
 just beyond there." 
 
 " But the Major was a very hostile major 
 when I saw him last." 
 
 " Oh, father s got all over that. He 
 hadn t heard your side of it then. He often 
 speaks of you now and he ll be glad to see 
 you." 
 
 " To-morrow, then. My horse is tired 
 I ll stay here to-night." 
 
 " You ll find dad changed," said the girl. 
 " This is the first time in his life he has ever 
 been at ease about money matters. He s 
 really quite well-to-do." 
 
14 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " That s good. I m doing well in that line 
 too. I forgot to tell you." There was no 
 elation in his voice; he looked back with a 
 pang to the bold and splendid years of their 
 poverty. " Then the Major will quit wander 
 ing round like a lost cat, won t he?" 
 
 " I think he likes it here only for the 
 crazy-mad political feeling; and I think he s 
 settled down for good." 
 
 " High time, I think, at his age." 
 
 1 You needn t talk ! Dad s only ten years 
 older than you are." She leaned her cheek 
 on her hand, she brushed back a little stray 
 tendril of midnight hair from her dark eyes, 
 and considered him thoughtfully. " Why, 
 John Wesley, I ve known you nearly all my 
 life and you don t look much older now than 
 when I first saw you." 
 
 * That was in Virginia City. You were 
 just six years old and your pony ran away 
 with you. We were great old chums for a 
 
The Desire of the Moth 15 
 
 month or so. The next time I saw you 
 was" 
 
 "At Bakersfield at mother s funeral," 
 said the girl softly. " Then you came to 
 Prescott, and you had lost your thumb in the 
 meantime; and I was Little Next Door to 
 you " 
 
 " And Prescott and me, we agreed it was 
 best for both of us that I should go 
 away." 
 
 ( Yes ; and when you came back you were 
 going to stay. Why didn t you stay, John 
 Wesley?" 
 
 " I think," said Pringle reflectively, " that 
 I have forgotten that." 
 
 " Do you know, John Wesley, I have never 
 been back to any place we have left once? 
 And of all the people I have ever known, you 
 are the only one I have ever lost track of and 
 found again. And you re always just the 
 same old John Wesley; always gay and 
 
1 6 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 cheerful; nearly always in trouble; always 
 strong and resourceful " 
 
 "How true!" said Pringle. " Yes, yes; 
 go on 1 " 
 
 Well, you are! And you re so so reli 
 able; like Faithful John in the fairy story. 
 You re different from anyone else I know. 
 You re a good boy; when you are grown up 
 you shall have a yoke of oxen, over and 
 above your wages." 
 
 " This is very gratifying indeed," observed 
 Pringle. " But a sweetly solemn thought 
 comes to me. You were going to tell me 
 about another boy the onliest little boy?" 
 
 " He s not a boy," said Stella, flushing 
 hotly. " He s a man a man s man. You ll 
 like him, John Wesley he s just your kind. 
 I m not going to tell you. You ll see him at 
 our house, with the others. And he ll be the 
 very one you d pick out for me yourself. Of 
 course you ll want to tease me by pretending 
 
The Desire of the Moth 17 
 
 to guess someone else ; but you ll know which 
 one he is, without me telling you. He stands 
 out apart from all other men in every way. 
 Come on, John Wesley it s time to go down 
 to the station." 
 
 Pringle caught step with her. 
 
 " And how long if a reliable old faithful 
 John may ask before you become Stella 
 Some-One-Else ?" 
 
 " At Christmas. And I am a very lucky 
 girl, John. What an absurd convention it is 
 that people are never supposed to congratu 
 late the girl as if no man was ever worth 
 having! Silly, isn t it?" 
 
 " Very silly. But then, it s a silly world." 
 
 " A delightful world," said Stella, her eyes 
 sparkling. u You don t know how happy I 
 am. Or perhaps you do know. Tell me hon 
 estly, did you ever 1 like anyone, this way? " 
 
 " I refuse to answer, by advice of counsel," 
 said John Wesley, " I ll say this much, 
 
1 8 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 though. X marks no spot where any Annie 
 Laurie gave me her promise true." 
 
 When the train had gone John Wesley 
 wandered disconsolately back to his hotel and 
 rested his elbows on the bar. The white- 
 aproned attendant hastened to serve him. 
 
 "What will it be, sir?" 
 
 " Give me a gin pitfall," said John Wesley. 
 
Chapter II 
 
 feet?" 
 " Horrible ! " said Anastacio. 
 
 Matthew Lisner, sheriff of Dona Ana, bent 
 a hard eye on his subordinate. 
 
 11 It s got to be done," he urged. " To elect 
 our ticket we must have all the respectable 
 and responsible people of the valley. If we 
 can provoke Foy into an outbreak " 
 
 " Not we you," corrected Anastacio. 
 " Myself, I do not feel provoking." 
 
 u Are you going to lay down on me? " 
 
 "If you care to put it that way yes. Kit 
 Foy is just the man to leave alone." 
 
 " Now, listen ! " said the sheriff impa 
 tiently. " Half the valley is owned by new 
 comers, men of substance, who, with the 
 
 votes they influence or control, will decide 
 19 
 
20 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 the election. Foy is half a hero with them, 
 because of these vague old stories. But let 
 him be stirred up to violence now and you ll 
 see ! They won t see any romance in it 
 just an open outrage; they will flock to us to 
 the last man. Ours is the party of law and 
 order " 
 
 " Law to order, some say." 
 
 The veins swelled in the sheriff s heavy 
 face and thick neck; he regarded his deputy 
 darkly. 
 
 " That comes well from you, Barela ! 
 Don t you see, with the law on our side all 
 these men of substance will be with us uncon 
 ditionally? I tell you, Christopher Foy is 
 the brains of his party. Once he is dis 
 credited " 
 
 " And I tell you that I am the brains of 
 your party and I ll have nothing to do with 
 your fine plan. Tis an old stratagem to call 
 oppression, law, and resistance to oppression, 
 
The Desire of the Moth 21 
 
 lawlessness. You tried just that in ninety- 
 six, didn t you? And I never could hear that 
 our side had any the best of it or that the 
 good name of Dona Ana was in any way bet 
 tered by our wars. Come, Mr. Lisner the 
 Kingdom of Lady Ann has been quiet now 
 for nearly eight years. Let us leave it so. 
 For myself, the last row brought me reputa 
 tion and place, made me chief deputy under 
 two sheriffs so I need have the less hesita 
 tion in setting forth my passionate preference 
 for peace. " 
 
 " You have as much to gain as I have," 
 growled the sheriff. " Besides your own 
 cinch, you have one of your genie for deputy 
 in every precinct in the county." 
 
 " Exactly ! And if we have wars again, 
 who but the Barelas would bear the brunt? 
 No, no, Mr. Matt Lisner; while I may be a 
 merely ornamental chief deputy, it will never 
 be denied that I am a very careful chief to 
 
22 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 my gente. Be sure that I shall think more 
 than once or twice before I set a man of my 
 men at a useless hazard to pleasure you-r- 
 or to reelect you." 
 
 " You speak plainly." 
 
 " I intend to. I speak for three hundred 
 and we vote solid. Make no mistake, Mr. 
 Lisner. You need me in your business, but 
 I can do nicely without you/ 
 
 " Perhaps you d like to be sheriff your 
 self." 
 
 " I might like it except that I am not as 
 young and foolish as I was,." said Anastacio, 
 smiling. " Now that I am so old, and so wise 
 and all, it is clear to see that neither my 
 self nor any of the fighting men of the 
 mad old days on either side should be 
 sheriff." 
 
 " You were not always so thoughtful of the 
 best interests of the dear pee-pul," sneered 
 the sheriff. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 23 
 
 " That I wasn t. I was as silly and hot- 
 brained a fool as either side could boast. 
 But you, Sheriff, are neither silly nor hot 
 headed. In cold blood you are planning that 
 men shall die; that other men shall rot in 
 prison. Why? For hate and revenge ? Not 
 even that. Oh, a little spice of revenge, per 
 haps; Foy and his friends made you some 
 thing of a laughing stock. But your main 
 motive is money. And I don t see why. 
 You ve got all the money any one man needs 
 
 now." 
 
 " I notice you get your share." 
 
 " I hope so. But, even as a money-making 
 proposition, your troubled-voters policy is a 
 mistake. All the mountain men want is to be 
 let alone, and you might be sheriff for life 
 for all they care. But you fan up every little 
 bicker into a lawsuit don t I know? Just 
 for the mileage ten cents a mile each way in 
 a county that s jam full of miles from one 
 
24 The Desire of the MotK 
 
 edge to the other; ten cents a mile each way 
 for each and every arrest and subpoena. You 
 drag them to court twice a year the farmer 
 at seed time and harvest, the cowman from 
 the spring and fall round-ups. It hurts, it 
 cripples them, they ride thirty miles to vote 
 against you ; it costs you all the extra mileage 
 money to offset their votes. As a final folly, 
 you purpose deliberately to stir up the old 
 factions. What was it Napoleon said? It 
 is worse than a crime: it is a blunder. I ll 
 tell you now, not a Barela nor an Ascarate 
 shall stir a foot in such a quarrel. If you 
 want to bait Kit Foy, do it yourself or set 
 your city police on him." 
 
 " I will." 
 
 A faint tinge of color came to the 
 clear olive of Anastacio s cheek as he 
 rose. 
 
 " But don t promise my place to any of 
 them, sheriff. I might hear of it." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 25 
 
 " Stranger," said Ben Creagan, " you can t 
 play pool I I can t and I beat you four 
 straight games. You better toddle your little 
 trotters off to bed." The words alone might 
 have been mere playfulness ; glance and tone 
 made plain the purposed offense. 
 
 The after-supper crowd in the hotel bar 
 room had suddenly slipped away, leaving 
 Max Barkeep, three others, and John Wesley 
 Pringle the last not unnoting of nudge and 
 whisper attending the exodus. Since that, 
 Pringle had suffered, unprotesting, more 
 gratuitous insults than he had met in all the 
 rest of his stormy years. His curiosity was 
 aroused; he played the stupid, unseeing, pa 
 tient, and timid person he was so eminently 
 not. Plainly these people desired his ab 
 sence; and Pringle highly resolved to know 
 why. He now blinked mildly. 
 
 "But I m not sleepy a-tall," he ob 
 jected. 
 
26 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 He tried and missed an easy shot; he 
 chalked his cue with assiduous care. 
 
 " Here, you ! Quit knockin those balls 
 round!" bawled Max, the bartender. 
 " What you think this is a kindergarten?" 
 
 " Why, I paid for all the games I lost, 
 didn t I?" asked Pringle, much abashed. 
 
 He mopped his face. It was warm, though 
 the windows and doors were open. 
 
 " Well, nobody s going to play any more 
 with you," snapped Max. " You bore em." 
 
 He pyramided the balls and covered the 
 table. With a sad and lingering backward 
 look Pringle slouched abjectly through the 
 wide-arched doorway to the bar. 
 
 " Come on, fellers have something." 
 
 "Naw!" snarled Jose Espalin. "I m 
 a-tryin to theenk. Shut up, won t you ? " 
 
 Pringle sighed patiently at the rebuff and 
 stole a timid glance at the thinker. Espalin 
 was a lean little, dried-up manikin, with legs, 
 
The Desire of the Moth 27 
 
 arms, and mustaches disproportionately long 
 for his dwarfish body. His black, wiry hair 
 hung in ragged witchlocks ; his black pin-point 
 eyes were glittering, cold, and venomous. 
 He looked, thought Pringle, very much like 
 a spider. 
 
 " I m steerin you right, old man," said 
 Creagaru " You d better drag it for bed." 
 
 " I ain t sleepy, I tell you." 
 
 Espalin leaped up, snarling. 
 
 "Say! You lukeing for troubles, maybe? 
 Bell, I theenk thees hombre got a gun. Shall 
 we freesk him? " 
 
 As he flung the query over his shoulder his 
 beady little eyes did not leave Pringle s. 
 
 Bell Applegate got leisurely to his feet a 
 tall man, well set up, with a smooth-shaved, 
 florid face and red hair. 
 
 " If he has we ll jack him in the jug." He 
 threw back the lapel of his coat, displaying 
 a silver star. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " But I ain t got no gun," protested John 
 Wesley meekly. " You-all can see for your- 
 self." 
 
 We will don t worry ! Don t you make 
 one wrong move or I ll put out your 
 light!" 
 
 "Be you the sheriff?" 
 
 "Police. Go to him, Ben!" 
 
 " No gun," reported Ben after a swift 
 search of the shrinking captive. 
 
 " I done told you so, didn t I? " 
 
 " Mighty good thing for you, old rooster. 
 Gun-toting is strictly barred in Las Uvas. 
 You got to take your gun off fifteen minutes 
 after you get in from the road and you can t 
 put it on till fifteen minutes before you take 
 the road again." 
 
 ;< Is that er police regulations or state 
 law?" 
 
 14 State law and has been any time these 
 twenty-five years. Say, you doddering old 
 
The Desire of the Moth 29 
 
 fool, what do you think this is a night 
 school?" 
 
 " I I guess I ll go to bed," said Pringle 
 miserably. 
 
 " I I guess if you come back I ll throw 
 you out," mimicked Ben with a guffaw. 
 
 Pringle made no answer. He shuffled into 
 the hall and up the stairway to his bedroom. 
 He unlocked the door noisily; he opened it 
 noisily; he took his sixshooter and belt from 
 the wall quietly and closed the door, noisily 
 again ; he locked it from the outside. Then 
 he did a curious thing; he sat down very gen 
 tly and removed his boots. 
 
 The four in the barroom listened, grinning. 
 When they heard Pringle s door slam shut 
 Bell Applegate nodded and Creagan went out 
 on the street. Behind him, at a table near 
 the pool-room door, the law planned ways 
 and means in a slinking undertone. 
 
30 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " You keep in the background, Joe. Let us 
 do the talking. Foy just naturally despises 
 you we might not get him to stay the fif 
 teen minutes out. You stay back there. Re 
 member now, don t shoot till Ben lets him 
 get his arm loose. Sabe?" 
 
 " Maybe Meester Ben don t find 
 heem." 
 
 " Oh, yes, he will. Ditch meeting to-night. 
 Ought to be out about now. Setting the time 
 to use the water and assessing fatiga work. 
 Every last man with a water right will be 
 there, sure, and Foy s got a dozen. Max, 
 you are to be a witness, remember, and you 
 mustn t be mixed up in it. Got your story 
 straight?" 
 
 " Foy he comes in and makes a war-talk 
 about Dick Marr," recited Max. " After we 
 powwow awhile you see his gun. You tell 
 him he s under arrest for carryin concealed 
 weapons. You and Ben grabbed his arm; he 
 
The Desire of the Moth 31 
 
 jerked loose and went after his gun. And 
 then Joe shot him." 
 
 " That s it. We ll all stick to that. S-sti 
 Here they come ! " 
 
 There are men whose faces stand out in a 
 crowd, men you turn to look after on the 
 street. Such quite apart from his sprightly 
 past was Christopher Foy, who now entered 
 with Creagan. He was about thirty, above 
 middle height, every mold and line of him 
 slender and fine and strong. His face was 
 resolute, vivacious, intelligent; his eyes were 
 large and brown, pleasant and fearless. A 
 wide black hat, pushed back now, showed a 
 broad forehead white against crisp coal-black 
 hair and the pleasant tan of neck and cheek. 
 But it was not his dark, forceful face alone 
 that lent him such distinction. Rather it was 
 the perfect poise and balance of the man, 
 the ease and unconscious grace of every swift 
 and sure motion. He wore a working garb 
 
32 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 now blue overalls and a blue rowdy. But 
 he wore them with an air that made him well 
 dressed. 
 
 Foy paused for a second; Applegate rose. 
 
 " Well, Chris ! " he laughed. " There has 
 been a time when you might not have fancied 
 this particular bunch hey? All over now, 
 please the pigs. Come in and give it a name. 
 Beer for mine." 
 
 " I ll smoke," said Foy. 
 
 " Me too," said Espalin. 
 
 He lit a cigar and returned to his chair. 
 Ben Creagan passed behind the bar and 
 handed over a sixshooter and a cartridge 
 belt. 
 
 " Here, Chris here s the gun I borrowed 
 of you when I broke mine. Much obliged." 
 
 Foy twirled the cylinder to make sure the 
 hammer was on an empty chamber and 
 buckled the belt under his rowdy. 
 
 " My hardware is mostly plows and scrap- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 33 
 
 ers and irrigating hoes nowadays," he re 
 marked. u Good thing too." 
 
 " All the same, Foy, I d keep a gun with 
 me if I were you. Dick Marr is drinking 
 again and when he soaks it up he gets dis 
 contented over old times, you know." Apple- 
 gate lowered his voice, with a significant 
 glance at Espalin. " He threatened your life 
 to-day. I thought you ought to know it." 
 
 Foy considered his cigar. 
 
 " That s awkward," he replied briefly. 
 
 "Chris," said Ben, " this isn t the first 
 time. Dick s heart is bad to you. I m sorry. 
 He was my friend and you were not. But 
 you re not looking for any trouble now. 
 Dick is. And I m afraid he ll keep on till 
 he gets it. Me and the sheriff we managed 
 to get him off to bed, but he says he s going 
 to shoot you on sight and I believe he means 
 it. You ought to have him bound over to 
 keep the peace." 
 
34 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 Foy smiled and shook his head. 
 
 " I can t do that and it would only make 
 him madder than ever. But I ll get out of 
 his way and keep out of his way. I ll go up 
 to the Jornado to-night and stay with the Bar 
 Cross boys awhile. He won t come up 
 there." 
 
 " You ll enjoy having people tellin how 
 you run away to keep from meeting Dick 
 Marr?" said Applegate incredulously. 
 
 "Why shouldn t they say it? It will be 
 exactly true," responded Foy quietly, " and 
 you re authorized to say so. I m learning 
 some sense now; I m getting to own quite a 
 mess of property; I m going to be married 
 soon; and I don t want to fight anyone. Be 
 sides, quite apart from my own interests, 
 other men will be drawn into it if I shoot it 
 out with Marr. No knowing where it will 
 stop. No, sir; I ll go punch cows till Marr 
 quiets down. Maybe it s just the whisky talk- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 35 
 
 ing. Dick isn t such a bad fellow when he s 
 not fighting booze. Or maybe he ll go away. 
 He hasn t much to keep him here." 
 
 u Say, I could get a job offered to him out 
 in San Simon," said Applegate, bright 
 ening. 
 
 His eye rested on the clock over the long 
 mirror. He stepped over to the show case, 
 clipped the end from a cigar and obtained a 
 light from a shapely bronze lady with a torch. 
 When he came back he fell in on Foy s left; 
 at Foy s right Creagan leaned his elbows on 
 the bar. 
 
 " Well, I m obliged to you, boys," said 
 Foy. This one s on me. Come on, Joe 
 have a hoot." 
 
 Thanks, no," said Espalin. " I not 
 dreenkin none thees times. Eef I dreenk 
 some I get full, and loose my job maybe." 
 
 " Vichy," said Foy. " Take something 
 yourself, Max." 
 
36 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 As Mr. Max poured the drinks an odd ex 
 perience befell Mr. Jose Espalin. His tilted 
 chair leaned against the casing of the billiard- 
 room door. As Max filled the first glass 
 Espalin became suddenly aware of something 
 round and hard and cold pressed against his 
 right temple. Mr. Espalin felt some curios 
 ity, but he sat perfectly still. The object 
 shifted a few inches; Mr. Espalin perceived 
 from the tail of his eye the large, unfeeling 
 muzzle of a sixshooter; beyond it, a glimpse 
 of the forgotten elderly stranger, Mr. 
 Pringle. 
 
 Only Mr. Pringle s fighting face appeared, 
 and that but for a moment; he laid a finger to 
 lip and crouched, hidden by the partition and 
 by Espalin s body. Mr. Espalin gathered 
 that Pringle desired no outcry and shunned 
 observation; he sat motionless accordingly; 
 he felt a hand at his belt, which removed his 
 gun. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 37 
 
 " Happy days ! " said Foy, and raised his 
 glass to his lips. 
 
 Creagan seized the uplifted wrist with 
 both hands, Applegate pounced on the other 
 arm. Pringle leaped through the doorway. 
 But something happened swifter than 
 Pringle s swift rush. Foy s knee shot up 
 to Applegate s stomach. Applegate fell, 
 sprawling. Foy hurled himself on Creagan 
 and bore him crashing to the floor. Foy 
 whirled over; he rose on one hand and knee, 
 gun drawn, visibly annoyed ; also considerably 
 astonished at the unexpected advent of Mr. 
 Pringle. Applegate lay groaning on the floor. 
 Pringle kicked his gun from the holster and 
 set foot upon it; one of his own guns covered 
 the bartender and the other kept watch on 
 Espalin, silent on his still-tilted chair. 
 
 " Who re you ! " challenged Foy. 
 
 " Friend with the countersign. Don t 
 shoot! Don t shoot me, anyhow." 
 
38 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 Foy rose from hand and knee to knee and 
 foot. This rescuer, so opportunely arrived 
 from nowhere, seemed to be an ally. But 
 to avoid mistakes, Foy s gun followed 
 Pringle s motions, at the same time willing 
 and able to blow out Creagan s brains if ad 
 visable. He also acquired Creagan s gun 
 quite subconsciously. 
 
 " Let me introduce myself, gentlemen, " 
 said Pringle. " I m Jack-in-a-Pinch, Little 
 Friend of the Under Dog see Who s This ? 
 page two-thirteen. My German friend, come 
 out from behind that bar hands up step 
 lively ! Spot yourself ! My Mexican friend, 
 join Mr. Max. Move, you poisonous little 
 spider jump! That s better ! Gentlemen 
 be seated! Right there smack, slapdab 
 on the floor. Sit down and think. Say! 
 I m serious. Am I going to have to kill 
 some few of you just because you don t 
 know who lam? I ll count three! One! 
 
The Desire of the Moth 39 
 
 two! That s it. Very good hold that 
 register anticipation! I am a worldly man," 
 said Pringle with emotion, " but this spec 
 tacle touches me it does indeed ! " 
 
 u I ll get square with you ! " gurgled Ap- 
 plegate, as fiercely as his breathless condition 
 would permit. 
 
 "George may I call you George? I 
 don t know your name. You may get square 
 with me, George but you ll never be square 
 with anyone. You are a rhomboidinaltitudin- 
 ous isosohedronal catawampus, George ! " 
 
 George raved unprintably. He made a 
 motion to rise, but reconsidered it as he noted 
 the tension of Pringle s trigger finger. 
 
 " Don t be an old fuss-budget, George," 
 said Pringle reprovingly. " Because I for 
 got to tell you I ve got my gun now and 
 yours. You won t need to arrest me, though, 
 for I m hitting the trail in fifteen minutes. 
 But if I wasn t going and if you had your 
 
40 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 gun you couldn t arrest one side of me. 
 You couldn t arrest one of my old boots! 
 Listen, George! You heard this Chris-gen 
 tleman give his reasons for wanting peace? 
 Yes? Well, it s oh-so-different here. I hate 
 peace ! I loathe, detest, abhor, and abominate 
 peace ! My very soul with strong disgust is 
 stirred by peace ! I m growing younger 
 every year, I don t own any property here, 
 I m not going to be married; I ain t feeling 
 pretty well anyhow; and if you don t think 
 I ll shoot, try to get up ! Just look as if you 
 thought you wanted to wish to try to make 
 an effort to get up." 
 
 "How who " began Creagan; but 
 
 Pringle cut him short. 
 
 u Ask me no more, sweet! You have no 
 speaking part here. We ll do the talking. I 
 just love to talk. I am the original tongue- 
 tied man; I ebb and flow. Don t let me hear 
 a word from any of you! Well, pardner? " 
 
The Desire of the Moth 41 
 
 Foy, still kneeling in fascinated amaze, 
 now rose. Creagan s nose was bleeding pro 
 fusely. 
 
 " That was one awful wallop you handed 
 our gimlet-eyed friend," said Pringle admir 
 ingly. " Neatest bit of work I ever saw. 
 Sir, to you ! My compliments ! " He placed 
 a chair near the front door and sat down. 
 " I feel like a lion in a den of Daniels," he 
 sighed. 
 
 " But how did you happen to be here so 
 handy?" inquired Foy. 
 
 " Didn t happen I did it on purpose," 
 said John Wesley. " You see, these four 
 birds tipped their hand. All evening they 
 been instructing me where I got off. They 
 would-ed I had the wings of a dove, so 
 I might fly far, far away and be at rest. 
 Now, I put it to you, do I look like a 
 dove?" 
 
 " Not at present," laughed Foy. 
 
42 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " Well, I didn t like it nobody would. I 
 see there was a hen on, I knew the lay of the 
 ground from looking after my horse. So 
 I clomped off to bed, got my good old Ex- 
 calibur gun full name X. L. V. Caliber 
 slipped off my boots, tippytoed down the back 
 stairs like a Barred Rock cat, oozed in by the 
 side door and here I be ! I overheard their 
 pleasant little plan to do you. I meant to do 
 the big rescue act, but you mobilize too quick 
 for me. All the same, maybe it s as well I 
 chipped in, because take a look at them 
 cartridges in your gun, will you? Your 
 own gun the one they borrowed from 
 you." 
 
 Foy twisted a bullet from a cartridge. 
 There was no powder. The four men on the 
 floor looked unhappy under his thoughtful 
 eye. 
 
 "Nice little plant what? Do we kill 
 em?" said Pringle cheerfully. "I don t 
 
The Desire of the Moth 43 
 
 know the rules well enough to break them. 
 What was the big idea ? Was they vexed at 
 you, son? " 
 
 " It would seem so," said Foy, smiling. 
 " We had a little war here a spell back. I 
 suspect they wanted to stir it up again for 
 political effect. Election this fall." 
 
 " And you were not in their party? I 
 see ! " said Pringle, nodding intelligently. 
 " Well, they sure had it fixed to make your 
 side lose one vote fixed good and proper. 
 The Ben-boy was to let your right hand loose 
 and the Joe-boy was to shoot you as you 
 pulled your gun. Why, if you had lived to 
 make a statement your own story woulda 
 mighty near let them out." 
 
 " I believe that I am greatly obliged to 
 you, sir." 
 
 " I believe you are," said Pringle. " And 
 but, also, I know the two gentlemen you 
 were drinking with should be very grateful 
 
44 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 to you. They had just half a second more to 
 live and you beat me to it. Too bad! 
 Well, what next ?" 
 
 Foy pondered a little. 
 
 u I guess I ll go up to the Bar Cross 
 wagon, as I intended, till things simmer 
 down. The Las Uvas warriors seldom ever 
 bother the Bar Cross Range. My horse is 
 hitched up the street. How d you like to 
 go along with me, stranger? You and me 
 would make a fair-sized crowd. " 
 
 11 I d like it fine and dandy," said Pringle. 
 u But I got a little visit to make to-morrow. 
 Maybe I ll join you later. I like Las Uvas," 
 stated John Wesley, beaming. " Nice, lively 
 little place ! I think I ll settle down here 
 after a bit. Some of the young fellows are 
 shy on good manners. But I can teach em. 
 I d enjoy it. ... Now, let s see : If you ll 
 hold these lads a few minutes I ll get my 
 boots and saddle up and bring my horse to 
 
The Desire of the Moth 45 
 
 the door; then I ll pay Max my hotel bill and 
 talk to them while you get your horse; and 
 we ll ride together till we get out in the open. 
 How s that for a lay?" 
 
 That was a good lay, it seemed; and it 
 was carried out with one addition: After 
 Foy brought his horse he rang Central and 
 called up the sheriff. 
 
 " Hello! That you, Mr. Lisner? This 
 is Kitty Foy," he said sweetly. " Sheriff, I 
 hate to bother you, but old Nueces River, 
 your chief of police, is out of town. And I 
 thought you ought to know that the police 
 force is all balled up. They re here at the 
 Gadsden Purchase. Bell Applegate is sick 
 seems to be indigestion; Espalin is having a 
 nervous spell; and Ben Creagan is bleeding 
 from his happiest vein. You d better come 
 see to em. Good-by ! " 
 
 Pringle smiled benevolently from the 
 door. 
 
46 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 There ! I almost forgot to tell you boys. 
 We disapprove of your actions oh-very- 
 much ! You know you were doing what was 
 very, very wrong like three little mice that 
 were playing in the barn though the old 
 mouse said : * Little mice, beware ! When the 
 owl comes singing " Too-whoo " take care ! 
 If you do it again we shall consider it de 
 liberately unfriendly of you. . . . Well, I ll 
 toddle my decrepit old bones out of this. 
 Eleven o clock ! How time has flown, to be 
 sure ! Thank you for a pleasant evening. 
 Good-by, George. Good-by, all! Be good 
 little boys go nighty-nighty ! " 
 
 They raced to the corner, scurried down 
 the first side street, turned again, and slowed 
 to a gallop. Pringle was in high feather; he 
 caroled blithesome as he rode : 
 
 " So those three little oivls Hew back up in the 
 
 barn 
 Inky, dinky, dovdum, day! 
 
The Desire of the Moth 47 
 
 And they said, Those little mice make us feel 
 
 so nice and warm I 
 Inky, dinky, doodum, day! 
 Then they all began to sing, Too-whit! Too- 
 
 who! 
 
 I don t think much, of this song, do you? 
 But there s one thing about it tis certainly 
 true 
 Inky, dinky, doodum, day!" 
 
 They reached the open; the gallop became 
 a trot. 
 
 " I go north here," said Foy at the cross 
 roads above the town. " Which way for 
 you?" 
 
 "North too," said Pringle. "I don t 
 know just where, but you can tell me. I go 
 to a railroad station first Aden. Then to 
 the Vorhis place? " 
 
 " Vorhis? I m going there myself? " said 
 Foy. " You didn t tell me your name yet." 
 
 " Pringle." 
 
 "What? Not John Wesley Pringle? 
 Great Scott, man! I ve heard Stella talk 
 
48 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 about you a thousand times. Say, I m sure 
 glad to meet you ! My name s Foy Christo 
 pher Foy." 
 
 " Why, yes," said Pringle. " I think I ve 
 heard Stella speak of you, too." 
 
Chapter III 
 
 BEING a child must have been great fun 
 once. Nowadays one would as lief be 
 a Strasburg goose. When you and I went to 
 school it was not quite so bad. True, neither 
 of us could now extract a cube root with a 
 stump puller, and it is sad to reflect how little 
 call life has made for duodecimals. Some 
 times it seems that all our struggle with 
 moody verbs and insubordinate conjunctions 
 was a wicked waste poor little sleepy puz- 
 zleheads! But there were certain joyous 
 facts which we remember yet. Lake Erie 
 was very like a whale; Lake Ontario was a 
 seal; and Italy was a boot. 
 
 The great Chihuahuan desert is a boot too ; 
 a larger boot than Italy. The leg of it is 
 in Mexico, the toe is in Arizona, the heel in 
 
 49 
 
5<3 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 New Mexico ; and the Jornado is in the boot- 
 heel. 
 
 El Jornado del Muerto the Journey of 
 the Dead Man ! From what dim old legend 
 has the name come down? No one knows. 
 The name has outlived the story. 
 
 Perhaps some grim, hard-riding Spaniard 
 made his last ride here; weary at last of 
 war, turned his dead face back to Spain 
 and the pleasant valleys of his childhood. 
 We have a glimpse of him, small in the 
 mighty silence; his faithful few about him, 
 with fearful backward glances; a gray sea of 
 waving grama breaking at their feet; the 
 great mountains looking down on them. 
 Plymouth Rock is unnamed yet. Then the 
 mist shuts down. 
 
 The Santa Fe Trail reaches across the 
 Jornado; tradition tells of vague, wild bat 
 tles with Apache and Navajo; there are 
 grave-cairns on lone dim ridges, whereon 
 
The Desire of the Moth 51 
 
 each passer casts a stone. Young mothers 
 dreamed over the cradles of those who now 
 sleep here, undreaming; here is the end of 
 all dreams. 
 
 Doniphan passed this way; Kit Carson 
 rode here; the Texans journeyed north along 
 that old road in 62 to return no more. 
 
 These were but passers-by. The history of 
 the Jornado, of indwellers named and known, 
 begins with six Americans, as follows: San- 
 doval, a Mexican; Toussaint, a Frenchman; 
 Fest, a German; Martin, a German; Roul- 
 lier, a Swiss; and Teagardner, a Welshman. 
 
 You might have thought the Jornado a 
 vast and savage waste or a pleasant place and 
 a various. That depended upon you. Ma 
 terials for either opinion were plenty; lava 
 flow, saccaton flats, rolling sand hills sage 
 brush, mesquite and yucca, bunch grass and 
 shallow lakes, bench and hill, ridge and 
 groundswell and wandering draw; always the 
 
52 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 great mountains round about; the mountains 
 and the warm sun over all. 
 
 A certain rich man desired to be Presi 
 dent to please his wife, perhaps. He was a 
 favorite son sure of his home-state vote in 
 any grand old national convention. He gave 
 largely to charities and campaign funds, and 
 his left hand would have been justly aston 
 ished to know what his right hand was about. 
 
 Those were bargain-counter days. Fum 
 bling the wares, our candidate saw, among 
 other things, that New Mexico had six con 
 ventional votes. He sent after them. 
 
 So the Bar Cross Cattle Company was 
 founded; range, the Jornado. Our candidate 
 provided the money and a manager, also 
 ambidextrous with instructions to get those 
 votes and incidentally to double the money, as 
 a good and faithful manager should. 
 
 He got the six votes, but our candidate 
 never became president. Poor fellow, his 
 
The Desire of the Moth 53 
 
 millions could not bring him happiness. He 
 died, an embittered and disappointed man, in 
 the obscurity of the United States Senate. 
 
 The Bar Cross brand was the sole fruit 
 of that ambition. Other ranches had dwin 
 dled or vanished; favored by environment 
 the Bar Cross, almost alone, withstood the 
 devastating march of progress. It was still 
 a mark of distinction to be a Bar Cross man. 
 The good old customs and certain bad old 
 customs, too still held on the Bar Cross 
 Range, fifty miles by one hundred, on the Jor- 
 nado. Scattered here and there were smaller 
 ranches: among them the V H the Vorhis 
 Ranch. 
 
 Stella Vorhis and John Wesley, far out on 
 the plain, rode through the pleasant after 
 noon. The V H. Ranch was in sight now, 
 huddled low before them; beyond, a cluster 
 of low hills rose from the plain, visible center 
 of a world fresh, eager, and boundless. 
 
54 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 The girl s eye kindled with delight as it 
 sought the far horizons, the misty parapets 
 gleaming up through the golden air; she was 
 one who found dear and beautiful this gray 
 land, silent and ensunned. She flung up her 
 hand exultingly. 
 
 "Isn t it wonderful, John Wesley? Do 
 you know what it makes me think of? This : 
 
 . . . Magic casements, opening on the foam 
 Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn! 
 
 " Think, John ! This country hasn t 
 changed a bit since the day Columbus set 
 out from Spain." 
 
 " How true ! Fine old bird, Columbus he 
 saw America first. Great head he showed, 
 too, getting himself named Christopher. 
 Otherwise you might have said, the day An 
 tony discovered Cleopatra or something 
 like that. Wise old Chris ! " 
 
 Stella s eyes narrowed reflectively. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 55 
 
 " John Wesley, you ve been reading ! You 
 never used to know anything about Mark 
 Antony." 
 
 " I cribbed that remark from Billy Beebe 
 and he swiped it from a magazine. I don t 
 know much about Mark, even this very yet. 
 Good old easy Mark! " 
 
 " That s the how of it. You ve been ab 
 sorbing knowledge from those pardners of 
 yours. Your talk shows it. You re changed 
 a lot that way. Every other way you re 
 the same old Wes! " 
 
 " Now, that sounds better! " said Pringle 
 in his most complacent tones. " I want to 
 talk about myself, always, Stella May Vor- 
 his; we ve come thirty miles and I ve heard 
 Christopher Foy, Foy, Foy, all the way ! It s 
 exasperating! It s sickening! " 
 
 But Stella was not to be flustered. She 
 held her head proudly. 
 
 :< It s you that have been talking about 
 
56 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 him. I told you you d like him, John Wes 
 ley." 
 
 " Yes, you did and I do. He s a self- 
 starter. He s a peppermist. He s a regular 
 guy. It wasn t only the way he smashed 
 those thugs taken by surprise and all 
 but that he had judgment enough not to 
 shoot when there was no need for it; that s 
 what gets me I And then he went and spoiled 
 it all." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " Hiking on up to the ranch with the 
 Major, without even waking you up. Why, 
 if it was me, do you s pose I d leave another 
 man no matter how old and safe he was 
 to tell such a story as that his own way and 
 hog all the credit for himself? That Las 
 Uvas push is a four-flush he needn t stir 
 a peg for them. No, sir! I d have stayed 
 right there till you got ready to come and 
 every time I d narrate that tale about the 
 
The Desire of the Moth 57 
 
 scrap it would get scarier and scarier." 
 " I know, without telling, what my Chris 
 does is the brave thing, the best thing," said 
 the girl, with softly shining eyes. " And he 
 never brags any more than you do, Wes. 
 You re always making fun of yourself. And 
 I m afraid you don t know how serious a 
 menace this Las Uvas gang is. It isn t what 
 Chris may do or may not do. All they want 
 is a pretext. Why, John, there are men 
 down there who are really quite truthful as 
 men go till they get on the witness stand. 
 But the minute they re under oath they begin 
 to lie. Force of habit, I guess. The whole 
 courthouse ring hates Chris and fears him 
 especially Matt Lisner, the sheriff. In the 
 old trouble, whenever he was outwitted or 
 outfought, Chris did it. Besides She 
 paused; the color swept to her cheek. 
 
 " Besides you. Yes, yes," grumbled 
 Pringle. " Might have been expected. 
 
58 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 These women! Does the Foy-boy 
 know?" 
 
 " He knows that Lisner wanted to marry 
 me," said Stella. Neck and cheek were crim 
 son now; but it was characteristic that her 
 level eyes met Pringle s fearlessly. u But be 
 fore that he he persecuted me, John. 
 Chris must not know. He would kill him. 
 But I wanted you to know in case anything 
 happened to Chris. There is nothing they 
 will stick at, these men. Lisner is the vilest; 
 he hates Chris worst of all." She was in 
 deep distress; there were tears in her eyes as 
 she smiled at him. " And I wish oh, John 
 Wesley, you don t know how I wish you were 
 staying here dear old friend! " 
 
 " As a dear and highly valuable old 
 friend," said Pringle sedately, " let me point 
 out how shrewd and sensible a plan it would 
 be for you and your Chris to go on a honey 
 moon at once and never come back." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 59 
 
 " I am beginning to think so. Up to last 
 night I had only my fears to go on." 
 
 u But now you know. We managed to 
 make a joke of last night but what that 
 push had in mind was plain murder. I would 
 dearly like/ said John Wesley, " to visit Las 
 Uvas some dark night in a Zeppelin." 
 
 At the corral gate the Major met them, 
 with a face so troubled that Stella cried out 
 in alarm: 
 
 " Father! What is it? Chris?" 
 " Stella be brave ! Dick Marr was killed 
 at midnight and they re swearing it off on 
 Chris." 
 
 " But John Wesley was with him." 
 u That s just it. Applegate and Creagan 
 tell it that they saw Chris leaving town at 
 eleven o clock, that he said he was coming 
 up here, and that he made a war-talk about 
 Marr. But not a word about Pringle or the 
 
60 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 fight at the hotel. Joe Espalin doesn t ap 
 pear no claim that he saw Foy at all." 
 
 " That looks ugly," observed Pringle. 
 
 " Ugly ! Your testimony is to be thrown 
 out as a lie made of whole cloth. Espalin 
 and the barkeeper don t appear. They re 
 afraid the Mexican will get tangled up, and 
 Max will swear he didn t see Chris at all. 
 It s cut and dried. You are to be canceled. 
 Marr was found this morning at the first 
 crossroad above town. His watch was 
 stopped at ten minutes to twelve mashed, it 
 seemed, where it hit on a stone when he fell. 
 If they had told about the mix-up with you 
 and Chris last night, I might have thought 
 they really believed Chris killed Marr or 
 suspected it. As it stands, we know the whole 
 thing is a black, rotten conspiracy." 
 
 "But where s Chris?" demanded Stella, 
 trembling. 
 
 " We have none of us seen Chris you 
 
The Desire of the Moth 61] 
 
 want to remember that. You won t have to 
 lie, Stella you didn t see him. Pringle, I 
 bank on you." 
 
 " Sure ! I can lie and stick to it, though 
 I m sadly out of practice," said Pringle. 
 " But hadn t we better fix up the same history 
 to tell? And where s your man Hargis that 
 stays here? Will he do?" 
 
 " Unsaddle and I ll tell you. We ve only 
 got a few minutes. I saw the dust of them 
 coming down from the north as I drove in 
 this bunch of saddle horses. Some of them 
 went up by train to Upham, you know. 
 Hargis has gone to the round-up, and Pm 
 just as well pleased. I m not sure he can be 
 trusted. We are to know not the first word 
 of what has happened. We haven t seen 
 Chris and haven t heard of the murder. 
 Come in we ll start dinner and be taken by 
 surprise. Pringle, throw your gun over on 
 the bunk. Stella, get that look off your face. 
 
62 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 After you hear the news you can look any old 
 way and it ll be natural enough. But you ve 
 got to be unconcerned and unsuspicious when 
 they first come." 
 
 He started a fire. Stella set about prepar 
 ing dinner. 
 
 Who brought the news ? " she asked. 
 
 " Joe Cowan and a relay. Someone rode 
 to Jeff Isaack s ranch as fast as ever a horse 
 could go. Jeff came to Quartzite; Dodd 
 passed the word on to Goldenburg s and 
 Cowan came here. At every ranch they 
 drove all the fresh saddle horses out of the 
 way, so a posse couldn t get a remount with 
 out losing time. Kitty Foy has got good 
 friends, and they don t believe he d shoot any 
 man in the back." 
 
 " And Foy s drifted with Cowan? " 
 
 " He hadn t a chance to get clear," said 
 the Major. :t We had no fresh horses here. 
 They ve sworn in a small army of deputies. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 63 
 
 Nearly a hundred men are out hunting for 
 him by this time. One posse was to go up the 
 San Andres on the east, leaving a man at 
 every waterhole. The sheriff wired for a 
 special train, took a carload of saddle horses 
 and dropped a couple of men off at every 
 station. At Upham the rest of them were to 
 unload and string out across the Jornado, so 
 as to cut Chris off from the Bar Cross round 
 up at Alaman. It s some of that bunch I saw 
 coming, I guess. And the others were to scat 
 ter out and come up the middle of the plain. 
 They ll drag the Jornado with a fine-toothed 
 comb." 
 
 " How s he to get away, then? " 
 " Cowan took Kit s horse and led his own, 
 which was about give out. He turned back 
 east, up a draw where he won t be seen un 
 less somebody s right on top of him. Eight 
 or ten miles out he ll turn Foy s horse loose ; 
 he ll carry the extra saddle on a ways and 
 
64 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 drop it in a washout. They ll find Foy s 
 horse and think he s roped a fresh one. 
 Then Cowan will start up a fresh bunch of 
 mares and raise big dust. He will ride 
 straight to the first posse he sees, claiming 
 he s run his horse down chasing the mares. 
 That ll let him out maybe." 
 
 "And Foy?" 
 
 " We rode my horse double to the edge of 
 the hills, to where he could walk on a ledge 
 and leave no tracks," said the Major. 
 1 Then I went on. I rounded up this bunch 
 of saddle horses and brought them back. He 
 went up on Little Thumb Butte. It s all 
 bluffs and bowlders there. Up on the highest 
 big cliff, at the very top, is a deep crack that 
 winds up in a cave like a tunnel. You know 
 the place, Stella ? " 
 
 " Yes. But, dad, they ll hunt out the hills 
 the first thing." 
 
 " They will not! " said the Major trium- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 65 
 
 phantly. " They ll read our sign; they ll see 
 where four shod horses came up the road. 
 I ll claim one of them was a horse I was lead 
 ing that ll be that bald-faced roan out in 
 the corral. We all want to stick to that." 
 
 " But he s bigger than any of our horses," 
 objected Pringle. " They ll know better by 
 the tracks." 
 
 "Exactly! So they ll find a fresh-shod 
 track going east a track matching the 
 fourth track we left on the road. They ll 
 reason that we re trying to keep them from 
 following that track. So they ll follow it up; 
 they ll find Kit s give-out horse and then 
 they ll know they re right." 
 
 " It seems to me," said Pringle reflectively, 
 " that friend Cowan may have an interesting 
 time if they get him." 
 
 The Major permitted himself a grin. 
 
 " He yanked the shoes off his horse before 
 he left. Once he mixes his tracks up with a 
 
66 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 bunch of wild mares he ll be all right. They 
 may think, but they can t prove anything. 
 And Foy ll be all right if only the posse fol 
 lows the plain trail." 
 
 " It s too much to hope," said Stella. 
 " They ll split up. Some of them will hunt 
 out the hills anyway to-morrow, if not to 
 day." 
 
 u That s my idea of it," said Pringle. 
 
 " They won t find the cave if they do," said 
 Vorhis hopefully. " If he can get to the Bar 
 Cross they ll see him through, once they hear 
 his story. Not telling about that clean-up you 
 and Kit made last night is a dead give 
 away." 
 
 " Any chance of Foy slipping out afoot? " 
 Too far. But he could stand a siege till 
 we could get word to his friends if, by any 
 chance, the posse should find his cave. He 
 took my rifle. He can see them coming; he ll 
 have every advantage against attack; and 
 
The Desire of the Moth 67 
 
 there s another way out of the cave, up on top 
 of the hill. There s just one thing against 
 him. There wasn t even a canteen here. He 
 took some jerky and canned stuff but only 
 one measly beer bottle of water. When that s 
 used up it s going to be a dull time for him. 
 We can t get water to him very handy with 
 out leaving some sign. We mustn t get hos 
 tile with the posse. Take it easy you espe 
 cially, Pringle. Stella and me, they know 
 where we stand. But you re a stranger. 
 Maybe they ll let you go on. If you once get 
 away bring the Bar Cross boys and they ll 
 take Foy out of here in broad day." 
 
 Very pretty but there s four men in Las 
 Uvas that know me and three of them are 
 police. Maybe they ll stay in the city though 
 being police? " 
 
 " No, they won t," said the Major gloom 
 ily. " They ll be along deputized, of 
 course. Maybe they won t be in the first 
 
68 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 batch though. Your part is to be the disin 
 terested traveler, wanting to be on your 
 way." 
 
 " It won t work, Major. This is a put-up 
 job. Even if Applegate and his strikers 
 aren t along they ve given my description. 
 Somebody will know I was with Foy last 
 night, and they ll know I m lying." 
 
 The Major sighed. "That s so, too. I m 
 afraid you re in for trouble." 
 
 " I m used to that," said Pringle lightly. 
 " Once, in Arizona " 
 
 " Don t throw it up to me, John," said the 
 Major a trifle sheepishly. " I ll say this 
 though : I wouldn t ask for a better man in a 
 tight than you." 
 
 " Thanks so much!" murmured Pringle. 
 " And that Sir Hubert Stanley thing." 
 
 " One more point, John: You don t know 
 Foy. I do. Foy ll never give up. He s des 
 perate and he s not pleased. There s no 
 
The Desire of the Moth 69 
 
 question of surrender and standing trial; un 
 derstand that He d be lynched, probably, 
 if they ever got him in Las Uvas. A trial, 
 even, would be just lynching under another 
 name. They don t want to capture him any 
 way they want a chance to kill him." 
 
 " I wouldn t want the job," said Pringle. 
 
 " Hush ! " said Stella. " I hear them com 
 ing. Talk about something else the war in 
 Europe." 
 
 The Major picked up a paper. 
 
 "What do you think about the United 
 States building a big navy, John? " he asked 
 casually. 
 
 Stealthy footsteps rustled without. 
 
 " Fine ! " said Pringle. " I m strong for it, 
 We want dreadnoughts, and lots of em 
 biggest we can build. But that ain t all. 
 When we make the navy appropriations we 
 ought to set by about fifty-some-odd million 
 and build a big multiple-track railroad, so we 
 
70 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 can carry our navy inland in case of war. 
 The ocean is no place for a battleship these 
 days." 
 
 "Stop your kidding!" 
 
 " I m not kidding," said John Wesley in 
 dignantly. " I never was twice as serious in 
 my whole life. My plan is sound, statesman 
 like " 
 
 " Shut up, you idiot! I want to read." 
 
 " Oh, very well, then! I ll grind the cof 
 fee." 
 
 Men crept close to the open door on each 
 side of the kitchen. Stella slipped a pan of 
 biscuits in the oven ; she laid the table briskly, 
 with a merry clatter of tinware; her face was 
 cheerful and unclouded. The Major leaned 
 back in one chair, his feet on another; he 
 was deep in the paper; he puffed his pipe. 
 John Wesley Pringle twirled the coffee 
 mill between his knees and sang a merry 
 tune: 
 
The Desire of the Moth 71 
 
 " There were three little mice, playing in the 
 
 barn 
 
 Inky, dinky, doodum, day! 
 Though they knew they were doing what was 
 
 very, very wrong 
 Inky, dinky, doodum, day! 
 And the song of the owls, it sounded so nice 
 That closer and closer crept the three little mice. 
 And the owls came and gobbled them " 
 
 A shadow fell across the floor. 
 " Hands up ! " said the sheriff of Dona, 
 Ana. " We want Chris Foy ! " 
 
Chapter IV 
 
 NAVAJO, Pima, and Hopi enjoy seven 
 cardinal points north, east, west, 
 south, up, down, and right here. In these and 
 any intermediate directions from the Vorhis 
 Ranch the diligent posse comitatus made 
 swift and jealous search through the slow 
 hours of afternoon. It commandeered the 
 V H Saddle horses in the corral; it searched 
 for sign in the soft earth of the wandering 
 draws between the dozen low hills scattered 
 round Big Thumb Butte and Little Thumb 
 Butte; it rode circles round the ranch; the 
 sign of Christopher Foy s shod horse was 
 found and followed hotfoot by a detachment. 
 Eight men had arrived in the first bunch, with 
 the sheriff; others from every angle joined by 
 
 twos and threes from hour to hour till the 
 72 
 
The Desire of the Moth 73 
 
 number rose to above a score. A hasty elec 
 tion provided a protesting cook and a horse 
 wrangler; a V H beef was slaughtered. 
 
 The posse was rather equally divided be 
 tween two classes simpletons and fools. 
 The first unquestionably believed Foy to be a 
 base and cowardly murderer, out of law, 
 whom it were most righteous to harry; else, 
 as the storied juryman put it, " How came he 
 there?" The other party were of those 
 who hold that evildoing may permanently 
 prosper and endure. 
 
 In the big living room of the adobe ranch 
 house much time had been wasted in cross- 
 questions and foolish answers. Stella Vorhis 
 had been banished to her own room and 
 Sheriff Matt Lisner had privately told off a 
 man to make sure she did not escape. 
 
 Lisner and Ben Creagan, Grossest of the 
 four examiners, had been prepared to meet 
 by crushing denial an eager and indignant 
 
74 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 statement from Pringle, adducing the Gads- 
 den House affair and his subsequent com- 
 panying with Foy as proof positive of Foy s 
 innocence. That no such accusation came 
 from Pringle set these able but mystified de- 
 niers entirely at a loss, left the denial high 
 and dry. Creagan mopped his brow fur 
 tively. 
 
 "Vorhis," said Sheriff Matt, red and 
 angry from an hour s endeavor, " I think 
 you re telling a pack of lies every word of 
 it. You know mighty well where Foy is." 
 
 The Major s gray goatee quivered. 
 
 " Guess I ll tell you lies if I want to," he 
 retorted defiantly. 
 
 " But, Sheriff, he may be telling us the 
 truth," urged Paul Breslin. " Foy may very 
 well have ridden here alone before Vorhis 
 got here. I ve known the Major a long time. 
 He isn t the man to protect a red-handed 
 murderer. * 
 
The Desire of the Moth 75 
 
 " Aw, bah! How do you know I won t? 
 How do you know he s a murderer? You 
 make me sick!" declared the Major hotly. 
 Breslin was an honest, well-meaning farmer; 
 the Major was furious to find such a man 
 allied with Foy s foes certain sign that 
 other decent blockheads would do likewise. 
 " Matt Lisner tells you Kit Foy is a murderer 
 and you believe him implicitly: Matt Lisner 
 tells you I m a liar but you stumble at that. 
 Why? Because you think about me that s 
 why ! Why don t you try that plan about Foy 
 thinking?" 
 
 " But Foy s run away," stammered Breslin, 
 disconcerted. 
 
 "Run away, hell! He s not here, you 
 mean. According to your precious story, Foy 
 was leaving before Marr was killed or be 
 fore you say Marr was killed. Why don t 
 you look for him with the Bar Cross round 
 up ? There s where he started for, you say ? " 
 
76 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " I wired up and had a trusty man go out 
 there quietly at once. He s staying there still 
 quietly," said the sheriff. u Foy isn t there 
 and the Bar Cross hasn t heard of the kill 
 ing yet. It won t do, Major. Foy s run 
 away." 
 
 John Wesley Pringle, limp, slack, and rum 
 pled in his chair, yawned, stretching his arms 
 wide. 
 
 This man Foy," he ventured amiably, 
 " if he really run away, he done a wise little 
 stunt for himself, I think. Because every 
 little ever and anon, thin scraps of talk float 
 in from your cookfire in the yard and there s 
 a heap of it about ropes and lynching, for in 
 stance. If he hasn t run away yet, he d bet 
 ter and I ll tell him so if I sec him. Stubby, 
 red-faced, spindlin , thickset, jolly little man, 
 ain t he? Heavy-complected, broad-shoul 
 dered, dark blond, very tall and slender, 
 weighs about a hundred and ninety, with a 
 
The Desire- of the Moth 77 
 
 pale skin and a hollow-cheeked, plump, seri 
 ous face? " 
 
 At this ill-timed and unthinkable levity 
 Breslin stared in bewilderment; Lisner 
 glared, gripping his fist convulsively; and 
 Mr. Ben Creagan, an uneasy third inquisitor, 
 breathed hard through his nose. Anastacio 
 Barela, the fourth and last inquisitor, main 
 tained unmoved the disinterested attitude he 
 had held since the interrogation began. Feet 
 crossed, he lounged in his chair, graceful, 
 silent, smoking, listening, idly observant of 
 wall and ceiling. 
 
 No answer being forthcoming to his query 
 Pringle launched another: 
 
 " Speaking of faces, Creagan, old sport, 
 what s happened to you and your nose ? You 
 look like someone had spread you on the 
 minutes." He eyed Creagan with solicitous 
 interest. 
 
 Mr. Creagan s battered face betrayed emo- 
 
78 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 tion. Pringle s shameless mendacity shocked 
 him. But it was Creagan s sorry plight that 
 he must affect never to have seen this insolent 
 Pringle before. The sheriff s face mottled 
 with wrath. Pringle reflected swiftly: The 
 sheriff s rage hinted strongly that he was in 
 Creagan s confidence and hence was no strarx- 
 ger to last night s mishap at the hotel; their 1 
 silence proclaimed their treacherous intent. 
 
 On the other hand, these two, if not the, 
 others, knew very well that Pringle had left 
 town with Foy and had probably stayed with 
 him; that the Major must know all that Foy 
 and Pringle knew. Evidently, Pringle de 
 cided, these two, at least, could expect no 
 direct information from their persistent ques 
 tionings; what they hoped for was uncon 
 scious betrayal by some slip of the tongue. 
 As for young Breslin, Pringle had long since 
 sized him up for what the Major knew him 
 to be a good-hearted, right-meaning simple- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 79 
 
 ton. In the indifferent-seeming Anastacio, 
 Pringle recognized an unknown quantity. 
 
 That, for a certainty, Christopher Foy had 
 not killed Marr, was a positive bit of knowl 
 edge which Pringle shared only with the mur 
 derer himself and with that murderer s ac 
 complices, if any. So much was plain, and 
 Pringle felt a curiosity, perhaps pardonable, 
 as to who the murderer really was. 
 
 Duty and inclination thus happily wedded, 
 Pringle set himself to goad ferret-eyed Crea- 
 gan and the heavy-jawed sheriff into unwise 
 speech. And inattentive Anastacio had a 
 shrewd surmise at Pringle s design. He knew 
 nothing of the fight at the Gadsden House, 
 but he sensed an unexplained tension and he 
 knew his chief. 
 
 " And this man, too what about him?" 
 said Breslin, regarding Pringle with a puz 
 zled face. " Granted that the Major might 
 have a motive for shielding Foy he may 
 
8o The Desire of the Moth 
 
 even believe Foy to be innocent why should 
 this stranger put himself in danger for Foy? " 
 
 " Here, now none of that! " said Pringle 
 with some asperity. " I may be a stranger to 
 you, but I m an old friend of the Major s. 
 I m his guest, eating his grub and drinking 
 his baccy; if he sees fit to tell any lies I back 
 him up, of course. Haven t you got any 
 principle at all? What do you think I am? " 
 
 " I know what you are," said the sheriff. 
 "You re a damned liar! " 
 
 " An amateur only," said Pringle modestly. 
 " I never take money for it." He put by a 
 wisp of his frosted hair, the better to scruti 
 nize, with insulting slowness, the sheriff s sav 
 age face. * Your ears are very large ! " he 
 murmured at last. " And red ! " 
 
 The sheriff leaped up. 
 
 " You insolent cur-dog! " he roared. 
 
 " L To stand and be still to the Birken ead 
 drill is a dam tough bullet to chew, " quoted 
 
The Desire of the Moth 81 
 
 Pringle evenly. " But he done it old Prin- 
 gle John Wesley Pringle liar and cur-dog 
 too ! We ll discuss the cur-dog later. Now, 
 about the liar. You re mighty certain, seems 
 tome. Why? How do you know I m lying? 
 For I am lying I ll not deceive you. I m 
 lying; you know I m lying; I know that you 
 know I m lying: and you apprehend clearly 
 that I am aware that you are cognizant of 
 the fact that I am fully assured that you 
 know I am lying. Just like that! What a 
 very peculiar set of happenstances ! I am a 
 nervous woman and this makes my head go 
 round!" 
 
 " The worst day s work you ever did for 
 yourself," said the angry sheriff, " was when 
 you butted into this business." 
 
 " Yes, yes; go on. Was this to-day or yes 
 terday at the hotel?" 
 
 "Liar!" roared Lisner. "You never 
 were at the Gadsden House." 
 
82 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " Who said I was?" 
 
 The words cracked like a whiplash. Sim 
 ultaneously Pringle s tilted chair came down 
 to its four legs and Pringle sat poised, his 
 weight on the balls of his feet, ready for a 
 spring. The sheriff paused midway of a step ; 
 his mottled face grew ashen. A gurgle very 
 like a smothered chuckle came from Ana- 
 stacio. Creagan flung himself into the 
 breach. 
 
 u Aw, Matt, let s have the girl in here. 
 We can t get nothing from these stiff-necked 
 idiots." 
 
 " Might as well," agreed Lisner in a tone 
 that tried to be contemptuous but trembled. 
 " We re wasting time here." 
 
 " Lisner," said the Major in his gentlest 
 tone, " be well advised and leave my daugh 
 ter be." 
 
 "And if I don t?" sneered Lisner. He 
 had no real desire to question Stella, but wel- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 83 
 
 corned the change of venue as a diversion 
 from his late indiscretion. u If, in the per 
 formance of my duty, I put a few civil ques 
 tions to Miss Vorhis in the presence of her 
 father, mind you then what? " 
 
 " But you won t! " said the Major softly. 
 
 " Do you know, Sheriff, I think the Major 
 has the right idea?" said Pringle. " We 
 won t bother the young lady." 
 
 u Who s going to stop me? " 
 
 Anastacio, in his turn, brought his chair to 
 the floor, at the same time unclasping his 
 hands from behind his head. 
 
 " I ll do that little thing, Sheriff," he an 
 nounced mildly. " Miss Vorhis has already 
 told us that she has not seen Foy since yester 
 day noon. That is quite sufficient." 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " This makes me fidgety. Somebody say 
 something, quick anything!" begged Prin 
 gle. " All right, then; I will. Let s go back 
 
84 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 we ve dropped a stitch. That goes about 
 me being a liar and a damned one, Sheriff; 
 but I m hurt to have you think I m a cur-dog. 
 You re the sheriff, doin your duty, as you so 
 aptly observed. And you ve done took my 
 gun away. But if bein a cur-dog should hap 
 pen to vex me honest, Sheriff, I m that sen 
 sitive that I ll tell you now not hissing or 
 gritting or gnashing my teeth just telling 
 you the first time I meet you in a strictly 
 private and unofficial way I m goin to remold 
 you closer to my heart s desire ! " 
 
 "You brazen hussy! You know you 
 lied!" 
 
 "You re still harpin on that, Sheriff? 
 That doesn t make it any easier to be a cur- 
 dog. How did you know I lied? You say 
 so, mighty positive but what are your rea 
 sons? Why don t you tell your associates? 
 There is an honest man in this room. I am 
 not sure there are not two - " 
 
The Desire of the Moth 85 
 
 Anastacio s eyes again removed themselves 
 from the ceiling. 
 
 u If you mean me and somehow I am 
 quite clear as to that " 
 
 " I mean Mr. Breslin." 
 
 " Oh, him of course ! " said Anastacio in 
 a shocked voice. " Breslin, by all means, for 
 the one you were sure of. But the second 
 man, the one you had hopes of who should 
 that be but me ? I thank you. I am touched. 
 I am myself indifferent honest, as Shake- 
 spere puts it." 
 
 The sheriff licked his dry lips. 
 
 " If you think I am going to stay here to 
 be insulted M 
 
 " You are ! " taunted John Wesley Pringle. 
 " You ll stay right here. What? Leave me 
 here to tell what I have to say to an honest 
 man and a half? Impossible ! You ll not let 
 me out of your sight." 
 
 " My amateur Ananias," interrupted Ana- 
 
86 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 stacio dispassionately, " you are, unintention 
 ally, perhaps, doing me half of a grave injus 
 tice. In this particular instance for this day 
 and date only I am as pure as a new-mown 
 hay. To prevent all misapprehension let me 
 say now that I never thought Foy killed Dick 
 Marr." 
 
 "In heaven s name, why?" demanded 
 Breslin. 
 
 " My honest but thick-skulled friend, let 
 me put in my oar," implored the Major. 
 " Let me show you that Matt Lisner never 
 thought Foy was guilty. Foy said last night, 
 before the killing, that he was coming up 
 here, didn t he?" 
 
 " Hey, Major hold up ! " cried Pringle. 
 But Vorhis was not to be stopped. 
 
 " Don t you see, you doddering imbecile? 
 If Foy had really killed Dick Marr he might 
 have gone to any other place in the world 
 but he wouldn t have come here." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 87 
 
 u Aha! So Foy did come here, hey?" 
 croaked the sheriff, triumphant in his turn. 
 "Thanks, Major, for the information, 
 though I was sure before, humanly speaking, 
 that he came this way." 
 
 " Which is another way of saying that you 
 don t think Foy did the killing that you 
 don t even suspect him of it," said Anastacio. 
 as the Major subsided, crestfallen. " Matt 
 Lisner, I know that you hate Foy. I know 
 that you welcome this chance to get rid of 
 him. Make no mistake, Breslin. I was not 
 wanted here. I wasn t asked and none of 
 my people were brought along. I tagged 
 along, though to wait. It s one of the best 
 little things I do waiting. And I came to 
 protect Foy, not to capture him. I came to 
 keep right at his side, in case he surrendered 
 without a fight for fear he might be killed 
 . . . escaping ... on the way back. It s 
 a way that we have in Las Uvas ! " 
 
88 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 Lisner threw a look of hate at his deputy. 
 
 You don t mean to tell me there s any 
 danger of anything like that?" said Breslin, 
 staggered and aghast. 
 
 " Every danger. That s an old gag the 
 ley fuga" 
 
 " You lie ! " bawled Creagan. His six- 
 shooter covered Anastacio. 
 
 " That ll keep. Put up your gun, Bennie," 
 said Anastacio with great composure. " Sup 
 per s most ready. Besides, the Barelas 
 won t like it if you shoot me this way. 
 There s a lot of the Barelas, Ben. I ll tell 
 you what I ll do, though I ll slip the idea to 
 my crowd, and any time you want to kill me 
 on an even break, no Barela or Ascarate will 
 take it up. Put it right in your little holster 
 put it up, I say! That s right. You see, 
 Breslin? Don t let Foy out of your sight if 
 he should be taken." 
 
 " But he ll never let himself be taken 
 
The Desire of the Moth 89 
 
 alive," said Vorhis. " Even if anyone wants 
 to take him alive. Pass the word to your 
 friends, Breslin, unless you want them to take 
 part in a deliberate, foreplanned murder." 
 
 " Damn you, what do you mean? " shouted 
 the sheriff. 
 
 " By God, sir, I mean just what I say! " 
 
 " Why, girls I " said Pringle. " You shock 
 me ! This is most unladylike. This is scan 
 dalous talk. Be nice! Please pretty 
 please ! See, here comes some more pussy 
 foot posse three, six, eleven hungry men. 
 Have they got Foy? No; they have not got 
 Foy. Is he up? He is up. Look who s here 
 too! Good old Applegate and Brother Es- 
 palin. I wonder now if they re goin to give 
 me the cut direct, like Creagan did? You 
 notice, Mr. Breslin." 
 
 The horsemen rode into the corral. 
 
 "No; don t go, Sheriff," said Anastacio. 
 " I m anxious to see if those two will recog- 
 
9O The Desire of the Moth 
 
 nize Ananias the Amateur. They ll be here 
 directly. You, either, Creagan. Else I ll 
 shoot you both in the back, accidentally, clean 
 ing my gun." 
 
 From without was the sound of spurred 
 feet in haste ; three men appeared at the open 
 door. 
 
 "Why, if it ain t George! Good old 
 George ! " cried Pringle, rising with out 
 stretched arms. " And my dear friend Es- 
 palin ! What a charming reunion ! " 
 
 Applegate s eyes threw a startled question 
 at his chief and at Creagan; Espalin slipped 
 swiftly back through the door. 
 
 " I don t know you, sir," said Applegate. 
 
 " George ! You re never going to disown 
 me ! Joe s gone, too. Nobody loves me ! " 
 
 The third man, a grizzled and bristly old 
 warrior with a limp, broke in with a roar. 
 
 "What in hell s going on here?" he 
 stormed. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 91 
 
 " You are, for one thing, if you don t mod 
 erate your voice," said Anastacio. " Nueces, 
 you bellow like the bulls of Bashan. Mr. Ap- 
 plegate, meet Mr. Pringle." 
 
 " What does he mean, then, by such 
 monkeyshines ? " demanded the other old 
 Nueces River, chief of police, ex-ranger, and, 
 for this occasion, deputy sheriff. " I got no 
 time for foolishness. And you can t run no 
 whizzer on me, Barela. Don t you try it! " 
 
 " Oh, they re just joking, Nueces," said the 
 Major. " Tell us how about it. Here, I ll 
 light the lamp; it s getting dark. Find any 
 sign of Foy? " 
 
 Nueces leveled a belligerent finger at the 
 Major. 
 
 " You ve been joking, too ! I ve heard 
 about you. Lisner, I m ashamed of you ! 
 Let Vorhis pull the wool over your eyes, 
 while you sit here and jaw all afternoon, do 
 ing nothing ! " 
 
92 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 "Why, what did you find out?" 
 u A-plenty. Them stiffs you sent out found 
 Foy s horse, to begin with." 
 
 " Sure it was Foy s horse ? " queried Lisner 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Sure I I know the horse that big calico 
 horse of his." 
 
 " Why didn t you follow him up? " 
 " Follow hell ! Oh, some of the silly fools 
 are milling round out there going over to 
 the San Andres to-night to take a big hunt 
 manana. Not me. That horse was a blind. 
 They pottered round tryin to find some trace 
 of Foy blind fools ! till I met up with em. 
 I d done gathered in that mizzable red 
 headed Joe Cowan on a give-out horse, claim- 
 in he d been chousin after broom-tails. 
 He d planted Foy s horse, I reckon. 
 But it can t be proved, so I let him go. 
 He ll have to walk in; that s one good 
 thing." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 93 
 
 " But Foy where do you figure Foy s 
 gone?" 
 
 " Maybe he simply was not," suggested 
 Pringle, " like Enoch when he was translated 
 into all European languages, including the 
 Scandinavian." 
 
 " Pringle, if you say another word I ll have 
 you gagged ! " said the exasperated sheriff. 
 " Don t you reckon, Nueces, that Cowan 
 brought Foy a barefooted horse? He can t 
 have gone on afoot or you d have seen his 
 tracks." 
 
 " Sheriff, you certainly are an easy mark! " 
 returned Nueces, in great disgust. " Foy 
 didn t go on afoot or horseback, because he 
 was never there. I ve told you twice : Cowan 
 left that calico horse on purpose for us to 
 find. Vorhis is Foy s friend. Can t you see, 
 if Foy had tried to get away by hard riding 
 he would have had a fresh horse, not the one 
 he rode from Las Uvas, and you wouldn t 
 
94 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 have found a penful of fresh horses to chase 
 him with? Not in a thousand years! That 
 was to make it nice and easy for you to ride 
 on a six-year-old kid could see through it! 
 It s a wonder you didn t all fall for it and 
 chase away. No, sir! Foy either stopped 
 down on the river and sent his horse on to 
 fool us or, more likely, he s up in the Buttes. 
 Did you look there? " 
 
 " I sent the boys round to out sign. I did 
 n t feel justified in hunting out the rough 
 places till we had more men. Too much 
 cover for him." 
 
 "And none for you, I s pose? Mamma! 
 but you re a fine sheriff! Look now: After 
 we started back here we sighted a dust comin 
 way up north. We went over, and twas 
 Hargis, the Major s buckaroo, throwin in a 
 bunch from the round-up. He didn t know 
 nothin and was not right sure of that till I 
 mentioned your reward. Soon as ever I men- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 95 
 
 tioned twenty-five hundred, he loosened up 
 right smart." 
 
 " Well? Did he know where Foy was? " 
 
 "No; but he knew of the place where I 
 judge Foy is, this very yet. Gosh ! " said 
 Nueces River in deep disgust, " it beats hell 
 what men will do for a little dirty money! 
 Seems there s a cave near the top of the least 
 of them two buttes the roughest one a cave 
 with two mouths, one right on the big top. 
 Nobody much knows where it is, only the V 
 H outfit." 
 
 Pringle had edged across the room. He 
 now plucked at Bell Applegate s sleeve. 
 
 " Say, is that right about that reward > 
 twenty-five hundred?" he whispered. His 
 eyes glistened. 
 
 " Forty-five," said Bell behind his hand. 
 " The Masons, they put up a thousand, and 
 Dick s old uncle that would have let Dick 
 starve or work he tacked on a thousand 
 
96 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 more. Dead or alive ! " He looked down at 
 Pringle s face, at Pringle s working fingers, 
 opening and shutting avariciously; he sneered. 
 " Don t you wish you may get it? S-sh! 
 Hear what the old man s saying." 
 
 During the whispered colloquy the old 
 ranger had kept on : 
 
 " There s where he is, a twenty-to-one 
 shot! He ll lay quiet, likely, thinkin we ll 
 miss him. Brush growin over both the cave 
 mouths, Hargis says, so you might pass right 
 by if you didn t know where to look. These 
 short nights he couldn t never get clear on 
 foot. Thirty mile to the next water we d 
 find his tracks and catch him. But he might 
 make a break to get away, at that. Never 
 can tell about a he-man like that. We can t 
 take no chances. We ll pick a bite of supper 
 and then we surround that hill, quiet as mice, 
 and close up on him. He can t see us to shoot 
 if we re fool enough to make any noise. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 97 
 
 Come daylight, we ll have him cornered, 
 every man behind a bowlder. If he shows 
 up he s our meat; if he don t we ll starve 
 him out." 
 
 " And suppose he isn t there?" said 
 Creagan. " What would we look like, 
 watching an empty cave two or three 
 days?" 
 
 What do we look like now? Give you 
 three guesses," retorted Nueces. " And 
 how d we look rushin that empty cave if it 
 didn t happen to be empty? Excuse me ! I d 
 druther get three grand heehaws and a tiger 
 for bein ridiculous than to have folks tiptoe 
 by a-whisperin : How natural he looks ! 
 I been a pretty tough old bird in my day but 
 goin up a tunnel after Kitty Foy ain t my 
 idea of foresight." 
 
 " Some man some good man, too will 
 have to stay here and stand guard on the 
 Major and this fresh guy, Pringle," said the 
 
98 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 sheriff thoughtfully. " He ll get his slice of 
 the money, of course." 
 
 " You ll find a many glad to take that end 
 of the job; for," said Nueces River, " it is in 
 my wise old noddle some of us are going to be 
 festerin in Abraham s bosom before we earn 
 that reward money. Leave Applegate he s 
 in bad shape for climbing anyway; bruise on 
 his belly big as a washpan." 
 
 " Bronc bucked me over on the saddle 
 horn," explained Applegate. " Sure, I ll stay. 
 And the Pringle person will be right here 
 when you get back, too." 
 
 " Let the Major take some supper in to 
 Miss Vorhis," suggested Breslin. " I ll keep 
 an eye on him. He can eat with her and cheer 
 her up a little. This is hard lines for a girl." 
 
 Lisner shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "We have to keep her here till Foy s 
 caught. She might bring a sight of trouble 
 down on us." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 99 
 
 " Say, what s the matter with me going out 
 and eating a few? " asked Pringle. 
 
 " You stay here ! You talk too much with 
 your mouth," replied the sheriff. " I ll send 
 in a snack for you and Bell. Come on, boys." 
 
 They filed out to the cook s fire in the 
 walled courtyard. 
 
 " George, dear," said Pringle when the 
 two were left alone, " is that right about 
 the reward? Cause I sure want to get in 
 
 on it." 
 
 " Damn likely. You knew where Foy was. 
 You know where he is now. Why didn t you 
 tell us, if you wanted in on the reward? " 
 
 " Why, George, I didn t know there was 
 any reward. Besides, him and me split up 
 as soon as we got clear of town." 
 
 "You re a damn liar!" 
 
 " That s what the sheriff said. Somebody 
 must a give me away," complained John 
 Wesley. He rolled a cigarette and walked to 
 
ioo The Desire of the Moth 
 
 the table. " All the same, you re making a 
 mistake. You hadn t ought to roil me. Just 
 for that, soon as they re all off on their man 
 hunt, I m goin to study up some scheme to 
 get away." 
 
 " I got a picture of you gettin away! " 
 " George," said John Wesley, " you see 
 that front door ? Well, that s what we call in 
 theatrical circles a practical door. Along 
 toward morning I m going out through that 
 practical door. You ll see ! " 
 
 He raised the lamp, held the cigarette over 
 the chimney top and puffed till he got a light; 
 so doing he smoked the chimney. To inspect 
 the damage he raised the lamp higher. 
 Swifter than thought he hurled it at his ward 
 er s head. The blazing lamp struck Apple- 
 gate between the eyes. Pringle s fist flashed 
 up and smote him grievously under the jaw; 
 he fell crashing; the half-drawn gun clattered 
 from his slackened fingers. Pringle caught it 
 
The Desire of the Moth 101 
 
 up and plunged into the dark through the 
 practical door. 
 
 He ran down the adobe wall of the water 
 pen; a bullet whizzed by; he turned the cor 
 ner; he whisked over the wall, back into the 
 water pen. Shouts, curses, the sound of rush 
 ing feet without the wall. Pringle crouched 
 in the deep shadow of the wall, groped his 
 way to the long row of watering troughs, and 
 wormed himself under the upper trough, 
 where the creaking windmill and the splash 
 ing of water from the supply pipe would 
 drown out the sound of his labored breath. 
 
 Horsemen boiled from the yard gate with 
 uproar and hullabaloo; Pringle heard their 
 shouts; he saw the glare of soap weeds, fired 
 to help their search. 
 
 The lights died away; the shouts grew 
 fainter: they swelled again as the searchers 
 straggled back, vociferous. Pringle caught 
 scraps of talk as they watered their horses. 
 
IO2 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " Clean getaway! " 
 
 " One bad actor, that hombre! " 
 
 "Regular Go-Getter!" 
 
 " Batting average about thirteen hundred, 
 I should figger." 
 
 "Life-size he-man! Where do you sup 
 pose " 
 
 " Saw a lad make just such another break 
 once in Van Zandt County " 
 
 "Say! Who re you crowdin ?" 
 
 " Hi, fellers ! Bill s giving some more his 
 tory of the state of Van Zandt! " 
 
 " Applegate s pretty bad hurt." 
 
 " in a gopher hole and near broke my 
 
 fool neck." 
 
 Where d this old geezer come from, any 
 way? Never heard of him before ! " 
 
 " Tain t fair, just when we was all 
 crowdin up for supper! He might have 
 waited." 
 
 " This will be merry hell and repeat if he 
 
The Desire of the Moth 103 
 
 hooks up with Foy," said Creagan s voice, 
 adding a vivid description of Pringle. 
 
 Old Nueces answered, raising his voice : 
 
 " He s afoot. We got to beat him to it. 
 Let s ride ! " 
 
 "That s right," said the sheriff. "But 
 we ll grab something to eat first. Saddle up, 
 Hargis, and lead us to your little old cave. 
 Robbins, while we snatch a bite you bunch 
 what canteens we ve got and fill em up. 
 Then you watch the old man and that girl, 
 and let Breslin come with us. You can eat 
 after we ve gone." 
 
 " Don t let the girl heave a pillow at you, 
 Robbins ! " warned a voice. 
 
 " Better not stop to eat," urged Nueces. 
 
 " We can lope up and get to the foot of 
 Thumb Butte before Pringle gets halfway 
 if he s going there at all. Most likely he s 
 had a hand in the Marr killing and is just 
 running away to save his own precious 
 
IO4 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 neck," said the sheriff. " We ll scatter out 
 around the hill when we get to the roughs, 
 and go up afoot till every man can see or 
 hear his neighbor, so Pringle can t get 
 through. Then we ll wait till daylight." 
 
 " That may suit you," retorted Nueces. 
 u Me, I don t intend for any man that will 
 buck a gun with a lamp to throw in with Kit 
 Foy while I stuff my paunch. That sort is 
 just the build to do a mile in nothing flat 
 and it s only three miles to the hill. I m goin 
 now, and I m goin hellity-larrup ! Come on, 
 anybody with more brains than belly I m off 
 to light a line of soap weeds on that hill so 
 this Mr. Pringle-With-the-Punch don t walk 
 himself by. If he wants up he ll have to hoof 
 it around the other side of the hill. We won t 
 make any light on the north side. That Bar 
 Cross outfit is too damn inquisitive. The 
 night herders would see it; they d smell trou 
 ble; and like as not the whole bilin of em 
 
The Desire of the Moth 105 
 
 would come pryin down here by daylight. 
 Guess they haven t heard about Foy or they d 
 be here now. They re strong for Foy. Come 
 on, you waddies ! " 
 
 Mr. Pringle-With-the-Punch, squeezed, 
 cramped, and muddy under the trough, heard 
 this supperless plan with displeasure ; his hope 
 had been otherwise. He heard the sound of 
 hurried mounting; from the thunder of gal 
 loping hoofs it would seem that a goodly 
 number of the posse had come up to the speci 
 fications laid down by the old ranger. 
 
 The others clanked away, leaving their 
 horses standing. The man Robbins grum 
 bled from saddle to saddle and gathered can 
 teens. As he filled them from the supply pipe 
 directly above Mr. Pringle s head, he set 
 them on the ground within easy reach of Mr. 
 Pringle s hand. Acting on this hint Mr. Prin 
 gle s hand withdrew a canteen, quite unos 
 tentatiously. An unnecessary precaution, as 
 
io6 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 it turned out; Mr. Robbins, having filled that 
 batch, went to the horses farther down the 
 troughs to look for more canteens. So Prin- 
 gle wriggled out with his canteen, selected 
 a horse, and rode quietly through the open 
 gate. 
 
 "Going already?" called Robbins as he 
 passed. 
 
 Secure under cover of darkness, Pringle 
 answered in the voice of one who, riding, 
 eats: 
 
 "Yes, indeedy; I ain t no hawg. Wasn t 
 much hungry nohow ! " 
 
Chapter V 
 
 AT the foot of Little Thumb Butte a 
 lengthening semicircle of fire flared 
 through the night. John Wesley Pringle 
 swung far out on the plain to circle 
 round it. 
 
 " This takes time," he muttered to him 
 self, " but at least I know where not to go. 
 That old rip-snorter sure put a spoke in my 
 wheel ! Looks like Foy might see them lights 
 and drift out away from this. But he won t, 
 I guess they said his hidey-hole was right on 
 top, and the shoulder of the hill will hide 
 the fires from him. Probably asleep, anyhow, 
 thinkin he s safe. I slep three hours this 
 morning at the Major s; but Foy he didn t 
 sleep any. Even if he did leave, they d 
 
 track him up in the morning and get him 
 107 
 
io8 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 and he knows it. Somebody s goin to be 
 awfully annoyed when he misses this 
 horse." 
 
 He could see the riders, dim-flitting as 
 they passed between him and the flames. 
 Once he stopped to listen; he heard the re 
 maining half of the man-hunt leaving the 
 ranch. They were riding hard. Thereafter 
 Pringle had no mercy on his horse. Ride as 
 he might, those who followed had the inner 
 circle; when he rounded the fires and struck 
 the hill his start was perilously slight. While 
 the footing was soft he urged the wearied 
 horse up the slope ; at the first rocky space he 
 abandoned the poor beast lest the floundering 
 of shod hoofs should betray him. He took 
 off saddle and bridle; he hung the canteen 
 over his shoulder and pressed on afoot. 
 
 A light breeze had overcast the stars with 
 thin and fleecy clouds. This made for Prin- 
 gle s safety; it also made the going harder 
 
The Desire of the Moth 109 
 
 and it would have been hard going by day 
 light. 
 
 The slope became steeper; ledges of rock, 
 little at first, became larger and more fre 
 quent; he came to bluffs that barred his prog 
 ress, slow and painful at best; he was forced 
 to search to left or right for broken places 
 where he could climb. Bits of rock, dis 
 lodged by his feet, fell clattering despite his 
 utmost care ; he heard the like from below, to 
 the left, to the right. The short night wore 
 swiftly on. 
 
 With equal fortune John Wesley should 
 have maintained his lead. But he found 
 more than his share of no-thoroughfares. 
 Before long his ears told him that men were 
 almost abreast of him on each side. He was 
 handicapped now, because he must shun any 
 chance meeting. His immediate neighbors, 
 however, had no such fear; they edged closer 
 and closer together as they climbed. At last, 
 
i io The Desire of the Moth 
 
 stopped against a perpendicular wall ten feet 
 high, he heard them creeping toward him 
 from both sides, with a guarded " Coo-ee ! " 
 each to the other; John Wesley slipped down 
 the hill to the nearest bush. His neighbors 
 came together and held a whispered dis 
 course. They viewed the barrier with 
 marked patience, it seemed; they sat down in 
 friendly fashion and smoked cigarette after 
 cigarette; the hum of their hushed voices 
 reached Pringle, murmuring and indistinct. 
 It might almost be thought that they were 
 willing for others to precede them in the 
 place of honor. A faint glow showed in 
 the east; the moon had thoughts of 
 rising. 
 
 After an interminable half-hour the two 
 worthies passed on to the right. Pringle took 
 to the left, more swiftly. Time for caution 
 had passed; moonlight might betray him. 
 When he found a way up that unlucky wall 
 
The Desire of the Moth in 
 
 others of the search party farther to the left 
 were well beyond him. 
 
 Perhaps a quarter of a mile away, the last 
 sheer cliff, the Thumb which gave the hill its 
 name, frowned above him, a hundred feet 
 from base to crest. Pringle bore obliquely 
 up to the right. Speed was his best safety 
 now; he pushed on boldly, cheered by the 
 thought that if seen by any of the posse he 
 would be taken for one of their own num 
 ber. But Foy, seeing him, would make the 
 same mistake ! It was an uncomfortable re 
 flection. 
 
 The pitch was less abrupt now, and there 
 were no more ledges ; instead, bowlders were 
 strewn along the rounded slope, with bush 
 and stunted tree between. Through these 
 Pringle breasted his way, seeking even more 
 to protect himself from above than from be 
 low, forced at times to crawl through an open 
 space exposed to possible fire from both sides; 
 
H2 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 so came at last to the masses of splintered 
 and broken rock at the foot of the cliff, where 
 he sank breathless and panting. 
 
 The tethered constellations paled in the 
 sky; the moon rose and lit the cliff with silver 
 fire. The worst was yet to come. Foy 
 would ask no questions of any prowler, that 
 was sure; he would reason that a friend 
 would call out boldly. And John Wesley 
 had no idea where Foy or his cave might be. 
 Yet he must be found. 
 
 With a hearty swig at the canteen Pringle 
 crept off to the right. The moonlight beat 
 full upon the cliff. He had little trouble in 
 that ruin of broken stone to find cover from 
 foes below; but at each turn he confidently 
 looked forward to a bullet from his friend. 
 
 "Foy! Foy!" he called softly as he 
 crawled. " It s Pringle ! Don t shoot I " 
 
 After a space he came to an angle where 
 the cliff turned abruptly west and dwindled 
 
The Desire of the Moth 113 
 
 sharply in height. He remembered what 
 the Major had said the upper entrance of 
 the cave came out on the highest crest of the 
 hill. He turned back to retrace his painful 
 way. The smell of dawn was in the air; 
 the east sparkled. No sound came from 
 the ambush all around. The end was 
 near. 
 
 He passed by his starting-point; he crept 
 on by slide and bush and stone. The moon 
 magic faded and paled, mingled with the 
 swift gray of dawn. He held his perilous 
 way. Cold sweat stood on his brow. If 
 Foy or a foe of Foy were on the cliff now, 
 how easy to topple down a stone upon him! 
 The absolute stillness was painful. A 
 thought came to him of Stella Vorhis her 
 laughing eyes, her misty hair, the little hand 
 that had lingered upon his own. Such a 
 little, little hand! 
 
 Before him a narrow slit opened in the 
 
H4 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 wall such a crevice as the Major had de 
 scribed. 
 
 " Foy! Oh, Foy! " he called. No answer 
 came. He raised his voice a little louder. 
 u Foy! Speak if you re there! It s Prin- 
 gle!" 
 
 A gentle voice answered from the cleft: 
 
 " Let us hope, for your sake, that you are 
 not mistaken about that. I should be dread 
 fully vexed if you were deceiving me. 
 The voice is the voice of Pringle, but how 
 about the face? I can only see your 
 back." 
 
 " I would raise my head, so you could take 
 a nice look by the well-known cold gray light 
 of the justly celebrated dawn," rejoined Prin 
 gle, " if I wasn t reasonably sure that a rifle 
 shot would promptly mar the classic outlines 
 of my face. They re all around you, Foy. 
 Hargis, he gave you away. Don t show a 
 finger nail of yourself. Let me crawl up be- 
 
The Desire of the Moth 115 
 
 hind that big rock ahead and then you can 
 identify me." 
 
 " It s you, all right," said Foy when Prin- 
 gle reached the rock and straightened him 
 self up. 
 
 u I told you so," said Pringle, peering into 
 the shadows of the cleft. " I can t see you. 
 And how am I going to get to you ? There 
 are twenty men with point-blank range. I m 
 muddy, scratched, bruised, tired and hungry, 
 sleepy and cross and there s thirty feet in 
 the open between here and you, and it nearly 
 broad daylight. If I try to cross that I ll 
 run twenty-five hundred pounds to the ton, 
 pure lead. Well, we can put up a pretty 
 nifty fight, even so. You go back to the other 
 outlet of your cave and I ll stay here. I m 
 kinder lonesome, too. . . . Toss me some 
 cartridges first. I only got five. I left in a 
 hurry. You got forty-fives?" 
 
 " Plenty. But you can t stay there. 
 
n6 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 They ll pot you from the top of the bluff, first 
 off. Besides, you got a canteen, I see. You 
 back up to that mountain mahogany bush, 
 slip under it, and worm down through the 
 rocks till you come to a little scrub-oak tree 
 and a big granite bowlder. They ll give you 
 shelter to cross the ridge into a deep ravine 
 that leads here where I am. You ll be out 
 of sight all the way up once you hit the ravine. 
 I d I d worm along pretty spry if I was you, 
 going down as far as the scrub oak say, 
 about as swift as a rattlesnake strikes and 
 pray any little prayers you happen to remem 
 ber. And say, Pringle, before you go ... 
 I m rather obliged to you for coming up here ; 
 risking taking cold and all. If it ll cheer you 
 up any I ll undertake that anyone getting you 
 on the trip will think there s one gosh-awful 
 echo here." 
 
 "S long!" said Pringle. 
 
 He wriggled backward and disappeared. 
 
The Desire of the Moth 117 
 
 Ten minutes later he writhed under the bush 
 at Foy s feet. 
 
 " Never saw me ! " he said. " But 111 al 
 ways sleep in coils after this always sup 
 posing we got any after this coming to us." 
 
 " One more crawl," said Foy, leading the 
 way. " We ll go up on top. Regular fort up 
 there. If we ve got to die we ll die in the 
 
 sun." 
 
 He stooped at what seemed the end of the 
 passage and crawled out of sight under the 
 low branches of a stunted cedar. Pringle 
 followed and found himself in the pitch dark. 
 
 u Grab hold of my coat tail. I know my 
 way, feeling the wall. Watch your step or 
 you ll bark your shins." 
 
 The cave floor was smooth underfoot, ex 
 cept for scattered rocks; it rose and dipped, 
 but the general trend was sharply upward. 
 
 " You re quite an institution, Pringle. 
 You ve made good Stella s word of you the 
 
ii8 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 best ever ! " said Foy as they mounted. " But 
 you can t do me any good, really. I ll enjoy 
 your company, but I wish you hadn t 
 
 come." 
 
 That s all right. I always like to finish 
 what I begin." 
 
 "Well," remarked Foy cheerfully, "I 
 reckon we ve reached the big finish, both of 
 us. I don t see any way out. All they ve 
 got to do is to sit tight till we starve out for 
 water. Wish you was out of it. It s going 
 to be tough on Stella, losing her friend and 
 and me, both at once. How s she making 
 out? Full of fight and hope to the last, I ll 
 bet." 
 
 They had me under herd; but she was 
 wishing for the Bar Cross buddies to butt in, 
 I believe. Reckon your sheriff-man guessed 
 it. He had her under guard, too." 
 
 " Nice man, the sheriff ! How d you get 
 away from your herder?" 
 
The Desire of the Moth 119 
 
 " He don t just remember," said Pringle. 
 
 "Who was it?" 
 
 " Applegate. Dreadful absent-minded, 
 Applegate is. Ouch ! There went my other 
 shin. Had any sleep? " 
 
 " Most all night. Something woke me up 
 about two hours ago, and I kept on the look 
 
 out ever since." 
 
 " That was me, I guess. I had to step 
 lively. They was crowding me." 
 
 " If the Bar Cross happened to get word," 
 observed Foy thoughtfully, " we might stand 
 some hack. But they won t. It s good- 
 by, vain world, for ours! Say, in case a 
 miracle happens for you, just make a memo 
 about the sheriff being a nuisance, will 
 you?" 
 
 " I ll tie a string on my finger. Any 
 thing else?" 
 
 * You might stick around and cheer Stella 
 up a little. I ll do as much for you some- 
 
I2O The Desire of the Moth 
 
 time. I m thinking she ll feel pretty bad at 
 first. Here we are ! " 
 
 A faint glimmer showed ahead. They 
 crawled under low bushes and stumbled out, 
 in what seemed at first a dazzle of light; 
 into a small saucer-shaped plat of earth a 
 few feet across, enclosed by an irregular oval 
 made by great blocks of stone, man-high. 
 Below, a succession of little cliffs fell away, 
 stair fashion, to an exceeding high and nar 
 row gap which separated Little Thumb Butte 
 from its greater neighbor, Big Thumb Butte. 
 
 " Castle Craney Crow," smiled Foy with a 
 proprietary wave of his hand. " Just right 
 for our business, isn t it? Make yourself 
 at home, while I take a peep around about." 
 He bent to peer through bush and crack. 
 " Nothing stirring," he announced. He 
 leaned his rifle against a walling rock. 
 " Let s have a look at that water." 
 
 He raised the canteen to his lips. Pringle 
 
The Desire of the Moth 121 
 
 struck swift and hard to the tilted chin. Foy 
 dropped like a poled bullock; his head struck 
 heavily against the sharp corner of a rock. 
 Pringle pounced on the stricken man. He 
 threw Foy s sixshooter aside ; he pulled Foy s 
 wrists behind him and tied them tightly with 
 a handkerchief. Then he rolled his captive 
 over. 
 
 Foy s eyes opened; they rolled back till 
 only the whites were visible ; his lips twitched. 
 Pringle hastily bound his handkerchief to the 
 gash the stone had made; he sprinkled the 
 blood-streaked face with water; he spilled 
 drops of water between the parted lips. Foy 
 did not revive. 
 
 Pringle stuck his hat on the rifle muzzle 
 and waved it over the parapet of rock. 
 
 "Hello!" he shouted. "Bring on your 
 reward! I ve got Foy! It s me Pringle! 
 Come get him; and be quick he s bleeding 
 mighty bad." 
 
122 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " Come out, you ! Hands up and no mon 
 key business! " answered a startled voice not 
 fifty yards away. 
 
 "Who s that? That you, Nueces? Give 
 me your word and I ll lug him out. No time 
 to lose he s hurt, and hurt bad." 
 
 " You play fair and we will. I give my 
 word! " shouted Nueces. 
 
 " Here goes ! " Pringle pitched the rifle 
 over. A moment later he staggered out be 
 tween the rocks, bearing Foy s heavy weight 
 in his arms. The head hung helpless, blood- 
 spattered; the body was limp and slack; the 
 legs dragged sprawling; the dreaded hands 
 were bound. 
 
 Pringle laid his burden on the grass. 
 
 " Here he is, you hyenas I His hands are 
 tied are you still afraid of him? Damn 
 you ! The man s bleeding to death ! " 
 
Chapter VI 
 
 " "\7OU treacherous, dirty hound ! " said 
 
 A Breslin. 
 
 " Of all the low-down skunks I ever seen, 
 you sure are the skunkiest!" said Nueces. 
 " The sheriff was right after all. Cur-dog 
 fits you to a T." He finished washing out 
 the cut on Foy s head as he spoke. " Now 
 the bandages, Anastacio. We ll have the 
 blood stopped in a jiffy. Funny he hasn t 
 come to. It s been a long while. It ain t the 
 head ails him. This isn t such a deep cut; 
 it oughtn t to put him out. Just happened to 
 strike a vein." He bound up the cut with the 
 deftness of experience. 
 
 " I hit him under the jaw," observed 
 Pringle. " That s what did the business for 
 
 him. He ll be around directly." 
 123 
 
124 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 Anastacio looked up at Pringle; measure 
 less contempt was in his eyes. 
 
 " Judas Iscariot could have sublet his job 
 to you at half price if you d been in the 
 neighborhood. You are the limit, plus! I 
 hope to see you fry in a New English hell! " 
 
 " Oh, that s all right, too," said Pringle 
 unabashed. " I might just as well have that 
 forty-five hundred as anyone. It wouldn t 
 amount to much split amongst all you fel 
 lows, but it s quite a bundle for one man. 
 That ll keep the wolf from the well-known 
 door for quite a while." 
 
 " You won t touch a cent of it I " declared 
 the sheriff. 
 
 " Won t I though? We ll see about that. 
 I captured him alone, didn t I ? Oh, I reckon 
 I ll finger the money, alrighty ! " 
 
 "Here, fellows; give him a bait of 
 whisky," said Creagan. 
 
 Breslin, kneeling at Foy s side, took 
 
The Desire of the Moth 1125 
 
 extended flask. They administered the 
 stimulant cautiously, a sip at a time. Foy s 
 eyes flickered; his breath came freer. 
 
 " He s coming! " said Breslin. " Give him 
 a sip of water now." 
 
 u He ll be O. K. in five minutes, far as 
 settin up goes," said old Nueces, well 
 pleased; " but he ain t goin to be any too 
 peart for quite some time not for gettin* 
 down off o this hill. See he s battin his 
 eyes and working his hands around. He sure 
 heard the birdies singl " 
 
 " The rest of you boys had just as well go 
 on down to the shack," directed the sheriff. 
 " Creagan and Joe and me will take care of 
 Foy till he s able to move or be moved, and 
 bring him into camp. You just lead up our 
 three horses and an extra one for Foy up 
 as far as you can fetch em. One of you can 
 ride home behind someone. Call down to 
 the bunch under the cliff that we ve got era, 
 
126 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 and for them to hike out to the ranch and 
 take a nap. You d better turn old Vorhis 
 loose and that girl. They can t do any 
 harm now." 
 
 " Bring my horse, too," said Anastacio. 
 " I m staying. I want to be sure the invalid 
 gets . . . proper care." 
 
 " Me too," said Breslin. 
 
 " And I m staying to kinder superintend," 
 said Nueces dryly. " Sheriff," he added, as the 
 main body of the posse fell off down the hill 
 
 u and you, too, Barela I don t just know 
 what s going on here, but I m stayin with you 
 to a fare-you-well. You two seem to be buck 
 ing each other." 
 
 No one answered. 
 
 "Sulky, hey? Well, anyhow, call it off 
 long enough to drive this Pringle thing away 
 from here. He ain t fittin for no man to 
 herd with." 
 
 " I m staying right with this man Foy till 
 
The Desire of the Moth 127 
 
 I get that reward," announced Pringle. 
 " Those are my superintentions. Much I 
 care what you think about me ! There s other 
 places besides this." 
 
 Breslin raised his eye from Foy s face and 
 regarded Pringle without heat a steady, 
 contemplative look, as of one who studies 
 some strange and interesting animal. Then 
 he waved his hand down the pass, where 
 certain of the departing posse, were bringing 
 the saddle horses in obedience to the sheriff s 
 instructions. 
 
 " They ll carry a nice report of you," ob 
 served Breslin quietly. " What do you sup 
 pose that little girl will think?" 
 
 A flicker of red came to Pringle s hard 
 brown face. Even the scorn of Espalin and 
 Creagan had left him unabashed, but now 
 he winced visibly; and, for once, he had no 
 reply to make. 
 
 Foy gasped, struggled to a sitting position, 
 
128 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 aided by his oddly assorted ministrants, 
 gazed round in a dazed condition and lapsed 
 back into unconsciousness. 
 
 " I ll take my dyin oath it ain t the cut 
 that ails him," said the ranger, tucking a coat 
 under Foy s blood-stained head. " That must 
 have been a horrible jolt on his jaw, Pringle. 
 You re no kind of a man at all no part of a 
 man. You re a shameless, black-hearted 
 traitor ; but I got to hand it to you as a slug 
 ger. Two knock-outs in one day and such 
 men as them ! I don t understand it." 
 
 " He most keel Applegate," said the Mex 
 ican. 
 
 "Aw, it s easy!" said Pringle eagerly. 
 " There ain t one man in a thousand knows 
 how to fight. It ain t cussin and gritting 
 your teeth, and swellin up your biceps and 
 clenching your fists up tight that does the 
 trick. You want to hit like there wasn t any 
 body there. I ll show you sometime." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 129 
 
 He paused inquiringly, as if to book any 
 acceptance of this kindly offer. No such en 
 gagements being made, Pringle continued: 
 
 " Supposin you was throwin a baseball 
 and your hand struck a man accidentally; 
 you d hurt him every time only you d break 
 your arm that way. That ain t the way to 
 strike. I ll show you." 
 
 " That wasn t no olive branch I was hold- 
 in out," stated Nueces River. " You ll show 
 me nothin turncoat! " 
 
 " It helps a lot, too, when the man you hit 
 is not expecting it," suggested Anastacio 
 smoothly. " You might show me sometime 
 when I m looking for it." 
 
 "Now what s biting you?" demanded 
 Pringle testily. " What did you expect me 
 to do send em a note by registered mail? " 
 
 " I m not speaking about Applegate. 
 That was all right. I am speaking about 
 your friend." 
 
130 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 "Here; Kit s coming to life again," said 
 Lisner. 
 
 Kitty Foy rolled over; they propped him 
 up; he looked round rather wildly from one 
 to the other. His face cleared. His eye fell 
 upon Pringle, where it rested with a steady 
 intentness. When he spoke, at last, he ig 
 nored the others entirely. 
 
 " And I thought you were my friend, 
 Pringle. I trusted you ! " he said with omi 
 nous quietness. " I ll make a note of it. I 
 have a good memory, Pringle and good 
 friends. Give me some water, someone. I 
 feel sick." 
 
 Espalin brought a canteen. 
 
 " Take your time, Chris," said Lisner. 
 " Tell us when you feel able to go." 
 
 " I ll be all right after a little. Say, boys, 
 it was the queerest feeling coming to, I 
 mean. I could almost hear your voices, first. 
 Then I heard them a long ways off but I 
 
The Desire of the Moth 131 
 
 couldn t make any sense to the words. Here ; 
 let me lean my back up against this rock and 
 sit quiet for a while. Then we ll go. I m 
 giddy yet. 7 
 
 "I ve got it!" announced Nueces a mo 
 ment later. " Barela, he s hankering to be 
 sheriff that s the trouble. He wanted to 
 take Chris himself, to help things along. 
 That would be quite a feather in any man s 
 hat done fair. And the sheriff, natural 
 enough, he don t want nothing of the kind." 
 
 That s it," said Anastacio, amusement in 
 his eyes. " I knew you were a good gunman, 
 Nueces, but I never suspected you of brains 
 before." 
 
 "What s the matter with that guess?" 
 said Nueces sulkily. " Kid, you re always 
 ridin me. Don t you try to use any spurs ! " 
 
 " I m in on that," said Pringle, rising 
 brightly. That s my happy chance to join 
 in this lovin conversation. Speaking about 
 
132 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 gunmen, I m a beaut ! See that hawk screech- 
 in around up there? Well, watch ! " 
 
 The hawk soared high above. Pringle 
 barely raised Foy s rifle to his shoulder as 
 he fired; the hawk tumbled headlong. Prin 
 gle jerked the lever, throwing another cart 
 ridge into the barrel, as if to fire again at the 
 falling bird. Inconceivably swift, the cocked 
 rifle whirled to cover the seated posse. 
 
 " Steady!" said Pringle. "I m watchin 
 you, Nueces! Chris, when you re able to 
 walk, go on down and pick you a horse from 
 that bunch. Unsaddle the others and drive 
 em along a ways as you go." Still speaking, 
 he edged behind the cover of a high rock. 
 " I ll address the meetin till you get a good 
 head start. . . . Steady in the boat! " 
 
 " Well, by Heck! " said Nueces. 
 
 " And I thought you had betrayed me ! " 
 cried Foy. 
 
 " Well, I hadn t. This was the only show 
 
The Desire of the Moth 133 
 
 to get off. ... I hate to kill you, Nueces; 
 but I will if you make a move." 
 
 "Hell! I ain t makin no move! What 
 do you think I am a damn fool?" said 
 Neuces. " If I moved any it was because I 
 am about to crack under the justly celebrated 
 strain. Say, young fellow, it strikes me that 
 you change sides pretty often." 
 
 " Yes; I am the Acrobat of the Breakfast 
 Table," said Pringle modestly. " Thanks 
 for the young fellow. That listens good." 
 
 " Look out I don t have you performing 
 on a tight rope yet!" growled the sheriff 
 hoarsely. " There ll be more to this. You 
 haven t got out of the country yet." 
 
 " That will be all from you, Sheriff. You, 
 too, Creagan and Espalin. Not a word or 
 I ll shoot. And I don t care how soon you 
 begin to talk. That goes ! " 
 
 Espalin shriveled up; the sheriff and Crea 
 gan sat sullen and silent. 
 
134 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 Foy got to his feet rather unsteadily. 
 
 " Chris, you might slip around and gather 
 up their guns," said Pringle. " Pick out one 
 for yourself. I left yours where I threw it 
 when I picked it out of your belt. I meant 
 to knock you out, Chris there wasn t any 
 other way; but I didn t mean to plumb kill 
 you. You hit your head on a rock when you 
 fell. It wouldn t have done any good to have 
 got the drop on you. You had made up your 
 mind not to surrender. You would have shot 
 anyhow; and, of course, I couldn t shoot. I d 
 just have got myself killed for nothing. No 
 good to play I d taken you prisoner. This 
 crowd knew you wouldn t be taken except 
 by treachery. So I played traitor. As it was, 
 when I knocked you out you didn t look much 
 like no put-up job. You was bleeding like 
 a stuck pig." 
 
 " Hold on, there, before you try to take 
 my gun I " warned old Nueces River as Foy 
 
The Desire of the Moth 135 
 
 came to him for his gun, collecting. " You 
 got the big drop on me, Pringle, and I would 
 n t raise a hand to keep Chris from getting 
 off anyhow not now. But I used to be a 
 ranger and the rangers were sworn never 
 to give up their guns." 
 
 " How about it, Pringle ? " asked Foy, who 
 had already relieved the sheriff and his satel 
 lites of their guns. " He ll do exactly as he 
 says both ways." 
 
 " I wasn t done talking yet," said Nueces 
 irritably. " But I ll let Chris take my gun, 
 on one condition." 
 
 "What s that?" inquired Pringle. 
 
 Why, if you ain t busy next Saturday I d 
 like to have you call around about one 
 o clock, say and kick me good and hard." 
 
 " Let him keep his gun. He called me a 
 young fellow. And I don t want Breslin s, 
 anyway. He s all right. Not to play any 
 favorites, let Anastacio keep his. There are 
 
136 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 times," said Pringle, " when I have great 
 hopes of Anastacio. I m thinking some of 
 taking him in hand to see if I can t make a 
 man of him." 
 
 " Ananias the Amateur," said Anastacio, 
 " I thank you for those kind words. And I d 
 like to see you Saturday about two when 
 you get through with Nueces. I m next on 
 the waiting list. This will be a lesson to me 
 never to let my opinion of a man be changed 
 by anything he may do." 
 
 " If you fellows feel that way," said Foy, 
 " how about me? How do you suppose I 
 feel? This man has risked his life fifty times 
 for me and what did I think of him? " 
 
 " If you ask me, Christopher," said Ana 
 stacio, " I think you were quite excusable. It 
 was all very well to dissemble his love but 
 I should feel doubtful of any man that 
 handed me such a wallop as that until the mat 
 ter had been fully explained." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 137 
 
 " What I want to know, Pringle, is, how 
 the deuce you got up here so slick?" said 
 Nueces. 
 
 " Oh, that s easy! I can run a mile in 
 nothing flat" 
 
 "Oh that s it? You hid in the water 
 pen?" 
 
 " Under the troughs. Bright idea of 
 yours, them fires ! I knew just where not to 
 go. After you left I hooked a horse. If 
 you d had sense enough to go with the sheriff 
 and eat your supper like a human being I d 
 a hooked two horses, and Chris and me 
 would now be getting farther and farther. I 
 don t want you ever to do that again. Sup 
 pose Chris had killed me when I tried to 
 knock him out? Fine large name I would V 
 left for myself, wouldn t I?" 
 
 " If you had fought it out with us," said 
 Breslin musingly, " you would have been 
 killed both of you; and you would have 
 
138 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 killed others. Mr. Pringle, you have done 
 a fine thing. I apologize to you." 
 
 "Why, that all goes without saying, my 
 boy. As for my part why, I don t bother 
 much about a blue tin heaven or a comic- 
 supplement hell, but I m right smart inter 
 ested in right here and now. It s a right 
 nice little old world, take it by and large, 
 and I like to help out at whatever comes my 
 way, if it takes fourteen innings. But, so 
 long as you feel that way about it, maybe 
 you ll believe me now, when I say that Chris 
 topher Foy was with me all last night and he 
 didn t shoot Dick Marr." 
 
 " That s right," said Foy. " I don t know 
 who killed Dick Marr; but I do know that 
 Creagan, Joe Espalin, and Applegate in 
 tended to kill me last night. They gave me 
 back my sixshooter, that Ben Creagan had 
 borrowed and it was loaded with blanks. 
 Then they pitched onto me, and if it hadn t 
 
The Desire of the Moth 139 
 
 been for Pringle they d have got me sure I 
 We left town at eleven o clock and rode 
 straight to the Vorhis Ranch." 
 
 " I believe you," said Anastacio. " You 
 skip along now, Chris. You re fit to ride." 
 
 " Why shouldn t I stay and see it out? " 
 
 " It won t do. For one thing, your thinker 
 isn t working as per invoice," said Nueces 
 River. " You re in no fix to do yourself jus 
 tice. We ll look after your interests. You 
 know some of the posse might be coming 
 back, askin fool questions. Pull your freight 
 up to the Bar Cross till we send for you." 
 
 " Well if you think Pringle isn t running 
 any risks I ll go." 
 
 " We ll take care of Pringle. Guess we ll 
 make him sheriff next fall, maybe just to 
 keep Anastacio in his place. Drift! " 
 
 " No sheriffin for mine, thanks. Con 
 tracting is my line. Subcontracting 1 " 
 
 " So long, boys ! You know what I d like 
 
140 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 to say. You gave me a square deal, you 
 three chaps," said Foy. " Get word to 
 Stella as soon as ever you can. She thinks 
 I m a prisoner, you know. You know what 
 I want to say there, Pringle tell her for 
 me. . . . Say! Why don t you all go in 
 now? You boys all know that Stella s en 
 gaged to me, don t you? What s the good 
 of keeping her in suspense? Go on to the 
 ranch, right away." 
 
 " I told you your head wasn t working 
 just right," jeered Nueces. " We want to 
 give you a good start. They ll be after you 
 again, and you re in no fix to do any hard 
 riding. But one of us will go. Breslin, 
 you go." 
 
 Too late," observed Anastacio quietly. 
 There is Miss Vorhis now, with her father. 
 They re climbing to the Gap. Go on, Foy." 
 
 They ve got a led horse," said Nueces 
 as Stella and the Major came to the highest 
 
The Desire of the Moth 141 
 
 point of the Gap. " Who s that for? Chris? 
 But they couldn t know about Chris. And 
 how did they get here so quick? Don t seem 
 like they ve had hardly time." 
 
 Stella dismounted; she pressed on up the 
 hill to meet her lover. The first sunshafts 
 struck into the Gap, lit up the narrow walls 
 with red glory. 
 
 "Magic Casements!" thought Pringle.- 
 
 "Watch Foy get over the ground! " said 
 Anastacio. " He ll break his neck before he 
 gets down. I don t blame him. He s nearly 
 down. Look the other way, boys ! " 
 
 They looked the other way, and there were 
 none to see that meeting. Unless, perhaps, 
 the gods looked down from high Olympus 
 the poor immortals -and turned away, dis 
 consolate, to the cheerless fields of asphodel. 
 
 " But they re not going away," said Bres- 
 lin after a suitable interval. "They re wait 
 ing; and the Major s waving his hat at us." 
 
142 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 " I ll go see what they want," said Ana- 
 stacio. 
 
 In a few minutes he was back, rather 
 breathless and extremely agitated in appear 
 ance. 
 
 "Well? Spill it!" said Nueces. "Get 
 your breath first. What s the trouble ? " 
 
 " Applegate s dead. Joe Espalin, I arrest 
 you for the murder of Richard Marr! Ap- 
 plegate confessed!" 
 
 " He lied ! He lied ! " screamed Espalin. 
 " I was with Ben till daylight, at the monte 
 game; they all tell you. The sheriff he try 
 to make me keel heem he try to buy me to 
 do eet he keel Dick Marr heemself 1 " 
 
 "That s right!" spoke Creagan, sud 
 denly white and haggard. His voice was a 
 cringing whine; his eyes groveled. "Marr 
 was at Lisner s house. We all went over 
 there after the fight. Lisner waked Marr up 
 he d been tryin to egg Marr on to kill 
 
The Desire of the Moth 143 
 
 Foy all day, but Marr was too drunk. He 
 was sobering up when we waked him. Lisner 
 tried to rib him up to go after Foy and way 
 lay him told him he had been threatening 
 Foy s life while he was drunk, and that Foy d 
 kill him if he didn t get Foy first. Dick said 
 he wouldn t do it -he d go along to help ar 
 rest Foy, but that s all he d do. The sheriff 
 and Joe went out together for a powwow. 
 The sheriff came back alone, black as thun 
 der him and Dick rode off together " 
 
 The sheriff sprang to his feet, his heavy 
 face bloated and blotched with terror. 
 
 " He cursed me; he tried to pull his gun ! " 
 he wailed. His eyes protruded, glaring; one 
 hand clutched at his throat, the other spread 
 out before him as he tottered, stumbling. 
 "Oh, my God! "he sobbed. 
 
 That will do nicely," said Anastacio. 
 
 You re guilty as hell ! I ll put your own 
 
 handcuffs on you. Oddly enough, the law 
 
144 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 provides that when it is necessary to arrest 
 the sheriff the duty falls to the coroner. It 
 is very appropriate. You must pardon me, 
 Mr. Lisner, if I seem unsympathetic. Dick 
 Marr was your friend! And you have not 
 been entirely fair with Foy, I fear. . . . 
 Creagan, we ll hold you and Joe for com 
 plicity and for conspiracy in Foy s case. 
 We ll arrest Applegate, too, when we get to 
 camp. He ll be awfully vexed." 
 
 " What! " shrieked the sheriff, raising his 
 manacled hands. "Liar! Murderer!" 
 
 " So Applegate s not dead ? Well, I m just 
 as well pleased," said Pringle. 
 
 " Not even hurt badly. I was after the 
 Man Lower Down. What the Major told 
 me was that the Barelas were at the ranch 
 more than enough to hold Lisner s crowd 
 down. They come at daylight. I was expect 
 ing that, and waiting. As I told you, that s 
 the best thing I do waiting." 
 
The Desire of the Moth 145 
 
 "But how did you know?" demanded 
 Breslin, puzzled. 
 
 " I didn t know, for sure. I had a hunch 
 and I played it. So I killed poor Apple- 
 gate temporarily. It worked out just right 
 and nothing to carry." 
 
 " One of the mainest matters with the 
 widely-known world," said Pringle wearily, 
 " is that people won t play their hunches. 
 They haven t spunk enough to believe what 
 they know. Let me spell it out for you in 
 words of two cylinders, Breslin : You saw 
 that I knew Creagan and Applegate, while 
 they positively refused to know me at any 
 price; you heard the sheriff deny that I was 
 at the Gadsden House before I d claimed 
 anything of the sort. Of course you didn t 
 know anything about the fight at the Gadsden 
 House, but that was enough to show you 
 something wasn t right, just the same. You 
 had all the material to build a nice plump 
 
146 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 hunch. It all went over your head. You put 
 me in mind of the lightning bug: 
 
 " The lightning bug is brilliant, 
 
 But it hasn t any mind; 
 It wanders through creation 
 With its headlight on behind. 
 
 " Come on let s move. I m fair dead for 
 sleep." 
 
 Just a minute!" said Anastacio. "I 
 want to call your attention to the big dust off 
 in the north. I ve been watching it half an 
 hour. That dust, if I m not mistaken, is the 
 Bar Cross coming; they ve heard the news! " 
 
 " So, Mr. Lisner, you hadn t a chance to 
 get by with it," said Pringle slowly and 
 thoughtfully. " If I hadn t balked you, the 
 Barelas stood ready; if the Barelas failed, 
 yonder big dust was on the way; half your 
 own posse would have turned on you for 
 half a guess at the truth. It s a real nice 
 little world and it hates a lie. A good 
 
The Desire of the Moth 147 
 
 many people lay their fine-drawn plans, but 
 they mostly don t come off ! Men are but 
 dust, they tell us. Magnificent dust! This 
 nice little old world of ours, in the long 
 run, is going right. You can t beat the 
 Game ! Once, yes or twice not in the long 
 run. The Percentage is all against you. You 
 can t beat the Game ! " 
 
 " It s up to you, Sheriff," said Anastacio 
 briskly. " I can turn you over to the Bar 
 Cross outfit and they ll hang you now; or I 
 can turn you over to the Barelas and you 
 will be hung later. Dick Marr was your 
 friend ! Take your choice. You go on down, 
 Pringle, while the sheriff is looking over the 
 relative advantages of the two propositions. 
 I think Miss Vorhis may have something to 
 say to you." 
 
 She came to meet him ; Foy and the Major 
 waited by the horses. 
 
148 The Desire of the Moth 
 
 "John!" she said. "Faithful John!" 
 She sought his hands. 
 
 " There now, honey don t take on so ! 
 Don t! It s all right! You know what the 
 poet says: 
 
 " Cast your bread upon the waters 
 
 And you may live to say: 
 
 Oh, how I wish I had the crust 
 
 That once I threw away! 
 
 Her throat was pulsing swiftly; her eyes 
 were brimming with tears, bruised for lost 
 sleep. 
 
 "Dearest and kindest friend! When I 
 think what you have done for me that you 
 faced shame worse than death guarded by 
 unprovable honor John ! John ! " 
 
 " Why, you mustn t, honey you mustn t 
 do that! Why, Stella, you re crying for 
 me! You mustn t do that, Little Next 
 Door!" 
 
 " If you had been killed, taking Chris or 
 
The Desire of the Moth 149 
 
 after you gave him up no one but me would 
 have ever believed but that you meant it." 
 "But you believed, Stella?" 
 " Oh, I knew! I knew!" 
 " Even when you first heard of it? " 
 " I never doubted you not one instant ! I 
 knew what you meant to do. You knew 
 I loved him. The led horse was for you. I 
 thought Chris would be gone. Why, John 
 Wesley, I have known you all my life ! You 
 couldn t do that! You couldn t! Oh, kiss 
 me, kiss me faithful John ! " 
 
 But he bent and kissed her hands lest, 
 looking into his eyes, she should read in the 
 book of his life one long, long chapter that 
 bore her name. 
 
 THE END 
 
THE COME ON 
 
THE COME ON 
 
 "Fair fellow, said Sir Ector, knowest thou not 
 in this country any adventures that be here nigh 
 hand? Sir, said the forester, , . . strike upon 
 that basin with the butt of thy spear thrice, and 
 soon after thou shall hear new tidings, and else hast 
 thou the fairest grace that many a year had ever 
 knight that passed through this forest. . . . Then 
 anon Sir Ector beat on the basin as he were wood. 
 
 Chapter I 
 "Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit ffof 
 
 STEVE THOMPSON had sold his cat 
 tle. El Paso is (was) the Monte Car 
 lo of America. Therefore The syllogism 
 may be imperfectly stated, but the conclu 
 sion is sound. Perhaps there is a premise 
 suppressed or overlooked somewhere. 
 
 Cash in hand, well fortified with paving 
 material, Thompson descended on the Gate 
 153 
 
154 The Come On 
 
 City. At the expiration of thirty-six blame 
 less hours he perceived that he was looking 
 through a glass darkly, in the Business 
 Man s Club, intently regarding a neatly-let 
 tered placard which ambiguously advised 
 all concerned in this wise: 
 
 IF DRINKING INTERFERES 
 
 WITH YOUR BUSINESS, 
 
 STOP IT. 
 
 A back-room door was opened. A burst 
 of merriment smote across the loneliness. A" 
 head appeared. The tip of its nose quiv 
 ered. 
 
 "Hey, old-timer! Will you walk into my 
 parlor?" it jeered. 
 
 Steve walked over with dignity and firmly 
 closed the door, closing it, through sheer 
 inadvertence, from the inside. A shout of 
 welcome greeted him. 
 
 With one exception the Transient they 
 
The Come On 
 
 were all old friends; the Stockman, the 
 Judge, alike darkly attractive; the supple- 
 handed Merchant, with curly hair and nose; 
 and the strong quiet figure of the Eminent 
 Person. A wight of high renown and na 
 tional, this last, who had attained to his 
 present bad Eminence through superior 
 longevity. As he was still in the prime of 
 life, it should perhaps be explained that his 
 longevity was purely comparative, as con 
 trasted with that of a number of gentlemen, 
 eminent in the same line, who had been a 
 trifle dilatory at critical moments, to them 
 final. 
 
 The Merchant, sometime Banker-by-night, 
 as now, began evening up chip-stacks. 
 "How much?" he queried. The Judge and 
 the Eminent Person hitched along to make 
 room between them. 
 
 "I m not playing to-night," Steve began. 
 
156 The Come On 
 
 He was cut short by a torrent of scoffing 
 advice and information. 
 
 "Only one hundred to come in -all you 
 got to get out." 
 
 "Another victim !" 
 
 "Bet em high and sleep in the streets!" 
 
 "Table stakes. Cuter goes for aces and 
 flushes." 
 
 "Just give us what you can spare handy 
 and go to bed. You ll save money and 
 sleep." 
 
 "Straight flush the best hand. * 
 
 "All ties go to the sweaters." 
 
 "A man and his money are soon parted!" 
 
 "You play the first hand for fun, and all 
 the rest of the night to get even !" Thus, 
 and more also, the Five in hilarious chorus. 
 
 "Any man caught bluffing loses the pot," 
 added the Eminent Person, gravely admoni 
 tory. "And a Lalla-Cooler can only be 
 played once a night." 
 
The Come On 1157 
 
 "Nary a play play I," said Steve aggriev- 
 edly. "I stole just one measly horse and 
 every one s called me a horse-thief ever 
 since. But I ve played poker, lo! these 
 many years, and no one ever called me a 
 gambler once. The best I get is, Clear out, 
 you blamed sucker. Come back when you 
 grow a new fleece! and when I get home 
 the wind moans down the chimney, 
 O-o-o-gh-h ! wha-a-t have you do-o-one with 
 your summer s w-a-A-a-ges!" 
 
 "Aw, sit down you re delay in* the 
 game," said the Stockman. The Banker 
 shoved over three stacks of patriotically as 
 sorted colors and made a memorandum. 
 The Five howled mockery and derision, the 
 cards danced and beckoned luringly in the 
 mellow lamplight, the Judge pulled his coat- 
 tail, the Major Premise tugged. Steve sat 
 down, pulling his sombrero over his eyes. 
 
 "He that runneth after fools shall have 
 
158 The Come On 
 
 property enough," he quoted inaccurately. 
 "I ll have some of your black hides on the 
 fence by morning." 
 
 The cards running to him, it was not long 
 before Steve doubled his "come-in" several 
 times on quite ordinary hands, largely be 
 cause his capital was so small that he could 
 not be bluffed out. The betting was fierce 
 and furious. Steve, "on velvet," played 
 brilliantly. But he was in fast company 
 too fast for his modest means. The Tran 
 sient seemed to have a bottomless purse. 
 The Stockman had cattle on a thousand 
 hills, the Merchant habitually sold goods at 
 cost. 
 
 As for the Judge his fine Italian hand 
 was distinctly traceable in the frenzied re 
 plies to frenzied attacks upon certain fren 
 zied financial transactions of his chief, a 
 frenzied but by no means verdant copper 
 magnate, to whom he, the Judge, was Pro- 
 
The Come On 159 
 
 cureur-General, adviser legal and otherwise. 
 The Judge took no thought for the morrow, 
 unless his frequently expressed resolve not 
 to go home till that date may be so re 
 garded. 
 
 The Eminent Person, a Republican for 
 Revenue Only, had been awarded a remu 
 nerative Federal position as a tribute to his 
 ambidextrous versatility in the life strenu 
 ous, and his known prowess as a "Stand- 
 Patter." 
 
 Upon all these things Steve reflected. 
 With caution, some caution, and again cau 
 tion, a goodly sum might well be abstracted 
 from these reckless and capricious persons; 
 provided always that he had money on the 
 table to play a good hand for what it was 
 worth. 
 
 For long his luck held good. Having in 
 creased his gains manyfold, he was (being 
 quite a natural person) naturally incensed 
 
160 The Come On 
 
 that they were not more. Yielding to his 
 half-formed resolve, he dug up his herd 
 of cattle and put them on the table. "I am 
 now prepared to grab old Opportunity by 
 the scalp-lock," he announced. 
 
 He played on with varying success. Pres 
 ently, holding aces up, and being persistently 
 crosslifted by the Eminent One and the 
 Judge, after a one-card draw all around, he 
 became obsessed with the fixed idea that 
 they were both bluffing and afraid to show 
 down. When this delusion was dispelled, 
 he noted with chagrin that the spoils of 
 Egypt had departed, taking with them some 
 plenty of real money. 
 
 That was the turning-point. By midnight 
 he was hoarse with repeating, parrot-wise, 
 "That s good give me another stack." His 
 persistent losses won him sympathy, even 
 from these hardened plungers. 
 
 "Bad luck, old man sure!" purred the 
 
The Come On 161 
 
 consolatory Stockman, raking the pot. "I 
 drawed out on you. Sometimes the cards 
 run against a fellow a long time, that way, 
 and then turn right around and get worse." 
 
 "Don t you worry about me," retorted 
 Steve. "You re liable to go home talking to 
 yourself, yet, if the cards break even." 
 
 In the early stages of the game Steve 
 had been nervous and restless from the fever 
 in his blood. Now he was smiling, easy, se 
 rene, his mind working smoothly, like a well- 
 oiled machine. Collecting all his forces, 
 counting the chances coolly, he played a 
 steady, consistent game. 
 
 The reckless plunging ceased so far as it 
 was against him. The others, for most part, 
 merely called his tentative bets with wary 
 respect. Men of his type are never so for 
 midable as in defeat. Things had come to 
 such a pass that many good hands netted 
 him little or nothing. Then came a rally; 
 
li 62 The Come On 
 
 his pile crept slowly up until he was nearly 
 even. 
 
 With twenty dollars each in a jackpot, the 
 Eminent Person dealing, the Stockman mod 
 estly opened for two hundred. The Tran 
 sient stayed, as did the Merchant and the 
 Judge, the latter mildly stating that he would 
 lie low and let some one else play his hand. 
 Steve stayed. 
 
 "Happy as the dealer in a big jackpot," 
 warbled the Eminent Person. "And now 
 we will take an observation." He scruti 
 nized his cards, contributed his quota, and 
 raised for double the amount. "I ll just 
 play the Judge s hand for him," he re 
 marked blandly. The Stockman cheerfully 
 re-raised five hundred. 
 
 The Transient, momentarily low in funds, 
 stayed for all he had before him. "I ve got 
 a show for this much," he said, pushing back 
 the side money. "And a pretty good one. 
 
The Come On 163 
 
 Bet your fool heads off ! YouVe got to beat 
 a hectic flush to finger this pot!" 
 
 The Merchant laid down three sevens, of 
 diamonds, spades and clubs. "Any one got 
 the seven of hearts ?" he wondered. The 
 Judge called. Steve, squeezing his hand 
 carefully, drew out the seven of hearts, 
 flashed it at the Merchant, replaced it, and 
 stayed. 
 
 The Eminent Person, after due consider 
 ation, saw the five hundred and raised it to 
 a thousand. "To dissuade you all from 
 drawing out on me," he explained, stroking 
 his mustache with deliberate care. 
 
 The Stockman called without comment. 
 The Judge hesitated, swore ferociously, and 
 finally called. 
 
 Steve squeezed his cards with both 
 hands for a final corroborative inspection, 
 scratched his head and rolled his eye sol 
 emnly around the festal board. 
 
164 The Come On 
 
 "Eleven hundred dollars of my good coin 
 in there now, and here I sit between the 
 devil and the deep, blue sea. One thousand 
 bucks. Much money. Ugh ! One thousand 
 days, each day of twenty-four golden hours 
 set with twenty near-diamond minutes 1 Well I 
 I sure hate to give you fellows this good 
 gold." 
 
 "Steve s got one of them things!" sur 
 mised the Stockman. 
 
 "A fellow does hate to lay down a bob 
 tail straight flush when there s such a chance 
 for action if he fills," chimed in the Emi 
 nent dealer. 
 
 "It s face up, Steve. You d just as well 
 show us. My boy, you ought to wear a 
 mustache," said the Judge, critically. "Your 
 lips get pale and give you away when you 
 try to screw your courage up. Of course, 
 you ve got a sweet, little, rosebud mouth; 
 
The Come On 165 
 
 but you need a big, ox-horn mustache in this 
 
 vocation." 
 
 "Don t show it, Steve," advised the Stock 
 man. "I judge his Honor s got one of them 
 same things his black self. You might both 
 fill and you don t want to let him see how 
 high yours is." 
 
 "If I only don t fill the wrong way," said 
 Steve. "Want to split the pot or save stakes 
 with me, Judge?" 
 
 "That would be a foolish caper. If I fill 
 I mean," the Judge corrected himself has 
 tily "I mean, I ve got the money won now, 
 unless you draw out, and that s a 52 to i 
 shot." 
 
 "Me, too," said the dealer. "We both 
 got it won. But I ll save out a hundred 
 with you, Steve. That ll pay your bills and 
 take you home." 
 
 "That ll be nine hundred to draw cards 
 for a chance at nine thousand and action on 
 
1 66 The Come On 
 
 what I got left. Faint heart never won a 
 jackpot Here goes nothin !" said Steve, 
 pushing the money in. "One from the top, 
 when you get to me. If I bet after the 
 draw, you all needn t call unless you re a 
 mind to." 
 
 "Got that side money and pot straight?" 
 queried the dealer lightly. "All right?" He 
 stretched out a long left arm and flipped the 
 cards from the pack with a jerk of the wrist. 
 "Cards and spades? (Tin pat, myself, of 
 course.) Cards to you? None? Certainly. 
 None to you, and one to you, one to you, 
 none " 
 
 Steve s card, spinning round as it came, 
 turned over and lay face up on the table 
 the three of hearts. (Laymen will please 
 recall that, as already specified, a straight 
 flush was, in this game, the Best.) As the 
 dealer was sliding the next card off to re- 
 
The Come On 167 
 
 place it, Steve caught the thin glint of a red 
 8 on the corner. 
 
 With a motion inconceivably swift he was 
 on his feet, his left hand over the pack. 
 "Hold on I" he cried. "Look at this !" He 
 made a motion as if to spread out the four 
 cards he had retained, checked himself and 
 glared, crouching. 
 
 "Sit down, Steve. Don t be a fool," said 
 the Stockman. "You know you ve no right 
 to an exposed card, and you know he didn t 
 go to do it." 
 
 Steve bunched his four cards carefully and 
 laid them on the table, face down. "Cer 
 tainly not. Oh, no ! He didn t go to do it. 
 But he did it, just the same," he said bitter 
 ly. "Now, look here! I don t think there s 
 anything wrong not for a minute. Noth 
 ing worse n dumb, idiotic thumb-hand-sided- 
 ness. I specially don t want no one else to 
 get mixed up in this," with a glance at the 
 
1 68 The Come On 
 
 Stockman. "So you and the Judge needn t 
 feel called upon to act as seconds. But I m 
 vexed. I m vexed just about nine thousand 
 dollars worth, likely much more, if my hand 
 hadn t been tipped. Mira!" addressing the 
 dealer, who sat quietly holding the pack in 
 his left hand, his right resting on the table. 
 "I ve a right to call for my card turned up, 
 haven t I ?" 
 
 "Sure thing," said the dealer equably. 
 
 "All right, then. One bad turn deserves 
 another. But plenty cuidado! If any card 
 but the eight of hearts turns up, protect 
 yourself, or somebody s widow ll be in a po 
 sition to collect life insurance, and I ain t 
 married! Turn her over." He leaned 
 lightly on the table with both hands. Their 
 eyes met in a level gaze. 
 
 "Let her zip!" said the Eminent Person. 
 Without hesitation he dropped the card over. 
 No slightest motion from either man, no re- 
 
The Come On 169 
 
 laxing of those interlocked eyes. A catch 
 ing of breaths 
 
 "The eight of hearts!" This in concert 
 by the quartette of undisinterested witnesses. 
 
 The two Principals looked down, then. 
 That the Eminent Person s free hand had 
 remained passive throughout bore eloquent 
 testimony to nerve and integrity alike. Nev 
 ertheless, he now ran that hand slowly 
 through his hair and wiped his forehead. 
 "That was one long five seconds most a 
 week, I guess. Did you ever see such a 
 plumb dam-fool break in your whole life?" 
 he said, appealingly, to the crowd. 
 
 "I guess," said Steve sagely, pushing the 
 eight-spot in with his other cards "I guess 
 if you d separated from a thousand big 
 round dollars to draw a card and then got it 
 turned over, you wouldn t have cared a 
 whoop if your left eye was out, either. It is 
 
170 The Come On 
 
 v/arm, ain t it?" He sat down with a sigh 
 of relief. 
 
 The Stockman bunched his cards idly and 
 tapped the table with them. The Judge 
 was casually examining the chandelier with 
 interest and approval. Presently, he looked 
 down and around. 
 
 "Oh, thunder! What are you waiting 
 for, Thompson? I pass, of course !" he said 
 testily. 
 
 Steve shoved in his pile. "As I men 
 tioned a while ago, you re not obliged to call 
 this," he said demurely. "Just suit your 
 selves." 
 
 One card at a time, with thumb and fore 
 finger, the Eminent Person turned over his 
 hand with careful adjustment and alignment. 
 After much delay, he symmetrically ar 
 ranged an Ace-full, face up, and regarded it 
 with profound attention. 
 
 "That was a right good-looking hand, too 
 
Tne Come On 171 
 
 before the draw," he remarked at last, 
 sweeping them into the discard. 
 
 "Ye-es," assented the Stockman, mildly 
 dubious. "It might have taken second mon 
 ey maybe." He tossed in four deuces. 
 
 The Transient spread out a club flush. 
 "Do you know?" he said confidentially "do 
 you know, I was actually glad to see that 
 hand when I first picked it up?" 
 
 "Won t you fellows never learn to play 
 poker?" said the Judge severely. "Why 
 don t you stay out till you get something?" 
 He laid his hand down. "Four tens and 
 most five ! The Curse of Scotland and For 
 ty Miles of Railroad! For-ty miles, before 
 the draw and gone into the hands of a de 
 ceiver!" 
 
 "Oh!" Leaning over, Steve touched the 
 ten of spades lightly. "So that s why I 
 couldn t fill my hand!" he remarked inno 
 cently. 
 
172 The Come On 
 
 "Get outl" snorted the Judge. "No use 
 throwing good money after bad. I wouldn t 
 call you, not if I had five tens !" 
 
 He slammed in his hand. The Eminent 
 Person thoughtfully took out the hundred 
 he had saved. "Some one press the button, 
 and I ll do the rest," said Steve. He re 
 moved the side-money, placidly ignoring the 
 "pot" of some fifteen hundred dollars, for 
 which the Transient, having his money all 
 in, was entitled to a showdown. 
 
 The Transient s jaw dropped in unaffected 
 amazement. Dealer and Stockman drummed 
 their fingers on the table unconcernedly. And 
 the Judge saw a great light. 
 
 "You, Thompson!" he roared. "Turn 
 over that hand ! I feel that you have treat 
 ed this Court with the greatest contempti- 
 bility!" He pawed the discard with fran 
 tic haste, producing the seven of hearts. 
 
The Come On 173 
 
 "Why, you pink-cheeked, dewy-eyed catama 
 ran! What have you got, anyway? * 
 
 "Why, Judge," said Steve earnestly, "I ve 
 got a strong case of circumstantial evidence." 
 He turned over the eight of hearts; then, 
 after a pause, the ace, king, queen and jack 
 of spades; and resumed the stacking of his 
 chips. "I discarded that seven of hearts," 
 he said, smiling at the Merchant. 
 
 A howl of joyous admiration went up; the 
 Transient raked in the pot. 
 
 "The Crime of the Century!" bellowed 
 the Judge. "I m the victim of the Accom 
 plished Fact! Cash my checks! I m going 
 to join the Ladies Aid!" 
 
 "Aw, shut up," gasped the Transient. 
 "No sleep till morn where youth and booty 
 meetsh! Give ush nother deck!" 
 
 But Steve, having stacked his chips, fold 
 ed the bills and put them in his pocket. 
 
 "What s the matter with you, you old 
 
174 The Come On 
 
 fool?" demanded the Eminent Person af 
 fectionately. "You can t quit now." 
 
 Steve rose, bowing to right and left, 
 spreading his hand over his heart. "Deeply 
 as I regret and, as I might say, deplore, to 
 quit a good easy game," he declaimed, "I 
 must now remove myself from your big 
 midst. For a Lalla-Cooler can only be 
 played once in one night. Besides, I ve al 
 ways heard that no man ever quit ahead of 
 the game, and I m going to prove the rule. 
 I will never play another card, never no 
 more!" 
 
 "What not in your whole life?" said the 
 Stockman, chin on hand, raising his eye 
 brows at the last word. 
 
 "Oh in my whole life!" admitted Steve. 
 He drew a dollar from his pocket, balanced 
 it on his thumb, and continued: "We will 
 now invoke the arbitrament of chance to de 
 cide the destinies of nations. Heads, I or- 
 
The Come On 175 
 
 der an assortment of vines and fig trees, go 
 back to the Jornado and become a cattle- 
 king. Tails, I proceed to New-York-on-the- 
 Hudson, by the Ess-Pee at 3:15 this A. M. 
 presently, and arouse that somnolent city 
 from its Rip Van Winkle." 
 
 The coin went spinning to the ceiling. 
 "Tails!" said the Merchant, picking it up. 
 "I must warn my friends on Wall Street. 
 Hello! this is a bad dollar!" 
 
 "I ll keep it for a souvenir of the joyful 
 occasion," said Steve. "Just one more now, 
 and we ll all go home!" 
 
 "Hold on, you abandoned profligate!" 
 said the Judge. "You don t know any one 
 in the Big Burgh, do you? Thought not. 
 Without there ! Ho, varlet !" He thumped 
 on the table, demanding writing materials. 
 "I ll fix you out. Give you a letter to a firm 
 of mining experts I m in touch with." 
 
 After an interval devoted to refreshments, 
 
176 The Come On 
 
 the Judge read with all the pride of author 
 ship: 
 
 Messrs. Atwood, Strange & Atwood, 
 25 Broad Street, New York City. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 This will introduce to you Mr. Stephen 
 Thompson, of Dundee, New Mexico. You 
 will kindly consider yourself in loco parentis 
 to him, charging same to my account. 
 
 On presentation of this letter, please pay 
 Mr. Thompson s fine or go his bail, as the 
 case may be, furnish him with pocket-money 
 and a ticket home, and see him safely on the 
 right train. 
 
 Should the matter be more serious, wire me 
 at once. Periodical insanity can be readily 
 proved. He has just recovered from a 
 paroxysm at this writing. He is subject to 
 these attacks whenever his wishes are 
 crossed, having been raised a pet. There- 
 
The Come On ; i77 
 
 fore, you will be doing yourself a great fa 
 vor by acceding to any request he may make, 
 however unreasonable it may seem. It is 
 unlucky to oppose or thwart him; but he is 
 amenable to kindness. Kindly apprize mu 
 nicipal and Federal authorities for the pres 
 ervation of public safety. t Your loss is our 
 eternal gain. 
 
 During the ensuing applause he signed 
 this production. Steve pocketed it gravely. 
 "Thank you," he said. "When I get down, 
 to husks I ll look up my locoed parent." 
 
 "The Bird of Time," said the Transient 
 vociferously, "hash but a little way to flutter.; 
 Cash inl The bird ish on the wing! To- 
 morro sh tangle to the winds reshign. Come, 
 all ye midnight roish-roishterers ! A few 
 more kindly cupsh for Auld Lang Shine. 
 Then let ush eshcort thish highwayman to 
 
178 The Come On 
 
 the gatesh of the city and cash him forth to 
 outer darknesh! Let ush shing! 
 
 / stood on a flush at midnight, 
 
 When my money was nearly gone, 
 
 And two moonsh rosh over the city 
 
 Where there shouldn t have been but one. 
 
 In Ohio, one of rough appearance, clad in 
 a fire-new, ready-made suit, began to per 
 vade Thompson s car; restlessly rushing 
 from one side to the other in conscientious 
 effort to see all there was to be seen ; finally 
 taking to the vestibule as affording better 
 conveniences for observations. He was, 
 however, not so absorbed in the scenery but 
 that he took sharp note of the cowboy s un 
 sophisticated garb and guileless mien. Later, 
 when Steve went into the smoker, he struck 
 up acquaintance with him; initiated by the 
 mere demand for a light, continued through 
 
The Come On [179 
 
 community of interest, as both being evi 
 dently non-urban. 
 
 A voluble and open-hearted person, the 
 stranger, displaying much specie during their 
 not infrequent visits to the buffet for refresh 
 ment of the jocund grape, where they vied 
 with each other in liberality, and one who 
 nai vely imparted his private history without 
 reticence. A lumberman, who had risen 
 from the ranks; a Non-Com. of Industry, 
 so to speak, who, having made his pile, was 
 now, impelled by filial piety, revisiting 
 his old New England Home. 
 
 This touching confidence so ingratiated 
 the bluff and hearty son of toil to the un 
 suspicious cowboy, that he, in turn, began 
 to ooze information at every pore. Steve 
 Thompson was his name; miner of Butte, 
 Montana. He had, after years of struggle 
 and defeat, made a lucky strike. He had 
 bonded his mine to New York parties the 
 
ii8o The Come On 
 
 Copper-bottom, just to the left of the High 
 Line Trail from Anaconda to Philipsburgh ; 
 receiving $10,000 down for a quarter inter 
 est, giving option on two-thirds remainder 
 for $50,000, if, after six months develop 
 ment work, the mine justified its promise. It 
 had proved all his fancy painted it; he was 
 on his way to the big town, to be paid the 
 balance on the sixteenth, at the office of 
 where is that letter? Oh, yes, here it is 
 "Atwood, Strange & Atwood, 25 Broad St." 
 retaining a one-fourth interest. He was 
 going to see the sights. Possibly he would 
 take a trip round the world. 
 
 Incited by judicious interest of his auditor, 
 he prattled on and on, till the lumberman 
 (Dick Barton, the name of him) was pos 
 sessed with the salient points of his past, 
 present and future; embellished by a flood 
 of detail and personal reminiscence. It is to 
 be regretted that the main points were inao 
 
The Come On 181 
 
 curate and apocryphal, the collateral details 
 gratuitous improvisations, introduced for the 
 sake of local color. 
 
 "For," Steve reasoned, "evidently this 
 party is a seeker after knowledge; it is bet 
 ter to siphon than to be pumped. Doubtless 
 it will be as bread upon the waters." 
 
 Freely did he gush and freely buy (the 
 bulk of his money, in large bills, was safely 
 wadded at the bottom of the six-shooter 
 ^cabbard under his arm, his .45 on guard 
 but his well-filled billhook was much in evi 
 dence). So thoroughly charmed was Barton 
 that he lamented loud and long that he and 
 his new acquaintance might not have their 
 first view of the metropolis in company. But 
 he had promised his aged parents to come 
 to them directly, by way of Albany. How 
 ever, he was a day ahead of his schedule; 
 neither of them had seen Niagara; if 
 Thompson would excuse him, he would write 
 
1 82 The Come On 
 
 his father, that the letter would go on to 
 herald the hour of his coming. Then they 
 both would take one day s lay-over at Buf 
 falo, visiting the famous cataract entirely at 
 his, Barton s, expense. Thence, exchanging 
 addresses, on their respective ways, to meet 
 in Manhattan later. To which Thompson 
 agreed with cordiality. 
 
 The letter Barton mailed at Buffalo was 
 addressed: 
 
 J. F. MITCHELL 
 
 Binghamton 
 The Arlington N. Y. 
 
Chapter II 
 
 "A goodly, portly man, . faith, and ct corpulent: 
 of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye, and a most noble 
 carriage; and, as I think, his age some fifty, or by r 
 lady, inclining to three score" 
 
 IT had been a good morning, thought 
 Mendenhall. If only more citizens like 
 this big, talkative, prosperous looking 
 stranger would settle in Elmsdale! Over a 
 thousand dollars worth in one bill not bad, 
 that, for a little rural New York town. 
 Moreover, the stranger had evinced a taste 
 in his selection of furniture and carpets 
 scarcely to be expected from his slightly 
 overdressed appearance and his loud, domi 
 nating talk. His choice had been always 
 swift and certain, wholly unaffected by 
 prices. Obviously, a self-made man, with a 
 long purse, this. 
 
 183 
 
184 The Come On 
 
 The big man threw up his hands in mock 
 surrender. Time King s X nuff!" he 
 bellowed, a pervading and infectious smile 
 spreading over his broad, jovial, smooth- 
 shaven face. "Police! Nine eleven 
 twelve hundred, sixty-eight. I ll pay you 
 a hundred to bind the No, I ll just pay 
 you now and have done with it. Don t 
 want the stuff delivered till some time next 
 week, though. Wife ll run up to-morrow 
 or next day to take her choice of the two 
 houses I ve been looking at. Then, paper- 
 hanging, mantels, plumbing and all that 
 Make it even twelve-fifty?" he demanded, 
 pen poised in a plump, white hand, eying 
 the dealer with shrewd expectancy. 
 
 "Certainly, certainly," Mendenhall mur 
 mured, rubbing his hands with a thought of 
 future custom. 
 
 Scratch-tch-ch ! The check was made out 
 with a flourish. "Here you are. I ll come 
 
The Come On 185 
 
 round when I m ready and tell you where 
 to send the stuff. By the way, where do 
 you bank? Want to send in checks for 
 collection." 
 
 "At the Farmers 1 and Citizens , mostly. 
 The First National is right around the cor 
 ner, first turn to your left. Thank you very 
 much, Mr." he glanced at the check 
 "Mr. Britt Mr. N. C. Britt. I hope for 
 the pleasure of your better acquaintance, 
 Mr. Britt." 
 
 "Oh, you will!" laughed Britt. "Nice 
 little town, here. If I like it as well a year 
 from now as I do to-day I ll stick!. Time 
 for an old fellow like me to settle down. 
 I ve worked hard all my life. But I ve got 
 enough. What s the good of more? No 
 dying in the harness for mine. I want to 
 retire, as they call it, and let the young 
 bucks do the work." 
 
 "Oh, you re not an old man," protested 
 
1 86 The Come On 
 
 Mendenhall with reason. "Your amazing 
 
 vitality your energetic " Britt pulled 
 
 at his luxuriant white hair. 
 
 "Oh, good enough for an old has-been!" 
 He laughed with pardonable vanity. 
 "Pretty hearty yet, owing to having lived 
 a clean and wholesome life, thank God; but 
 aging, sir aging. The evil days draw 
 nigh F He shook his head with a sober 
 air, which at once gave way to the satis 
 fied smile habitual on his round, contented 
 face. Briskly, he consulted a heavy gold 
 repeater, replacing it with the quick move 
 ment of one to whom seconds are valuable. 
 "Well, well! Twelve-thirty! Been here 
 all morning, picking and choosing! Take 
 luncheon with me? No? All right see 
 you later! * He swung out through the 
 door. 
 
 Turning the corner, he crossed the street 
 to the First National, bounced in and pre- 
 
The Come On 187 
 
 sented himself at the teller s window, light 
 ing a cigar, puffing like a tugboat. "To 
 open a small account two of em. Checks 
 for collection," he announced. Tone and 
 manner were breezily self-assertive; the 
 president, from his desk, turned and looked. 
 He indorsed, blotting with a swift dab, and 
 a final fillip through the window. "Chi 
 cago, thirty-three hundred credit to Britt 
 & Stratton. Here s our signature. Den 
 ver, eight hundred, to private account H. E. 
 Stratton. He ll be here next week. I ll 
 bring him around and identify. Draw on 
 this by Wednesday? Good! Gimme check 
 book. Excuse haste; yours truly!" He 
 popped out. 
 
 The president smiled. "An original 
 character, apparently," he said. "He 
 doesn t aim to let grass grow under his 
 feet." 
 
1 88 The Come On 
 
 Between two and three Britt bustled into 
 Mendenhall s, making for the office. 
 
 "Oh, I say!" he puffed, as Mendenhall 
 rose. "Banked that check yet?" 
 
 "Not yet," replied the other sedately. 
 "It is our custom to send the day s checks 
 for deposit just before three. Nothing 
 wrong, I trust?" 
 
 Britt dropped into a chair, mopping his 
 face. "Oh, no, nothing wrong; but I m 
 afraid I ve made a little mistake. I m not 
 a good business man not systematic 
 though I worry along. Like the young 
 wife s bookkeeping Received fifty dol 
 lars from John spent it all. Fact is, I 
 never entirely got over the days when a 
 very short memory was enough to keep 
 track of all my transactions. Always for 
 getting to fill out my stubs," he explained. 
 "So I don t remember what bank I checked 
 on. But I m pretty sure twas the Com- 
 
The Come On 189 
 
 mercial, and my balance there is low not 
 enough to cover your bill, I m thinking." 
 He leaned back, his portly sides shaking 
 with merriment "By Jove!" he roared. 
 "It would have been a good joke on me if 
 I hadn t remembered. Nice introduction to 
 a town where I expect to make my home. 
 Oh, well, even so, you had the furniture 
 safe in your warehouse. Guess you 
 wouldn t have been much scared, eh?" He 
 poked Mendenhall playfully with a stubby 
 finger. "Well, let s see about it." 
 
 Secretly, the other resented the familiar 
 ity, deprecated the boisterous publicity with 
 which the stranger saw fit to do business. 
 Business, with Mendenhall, was a matter 
 for dignified and strictly private conference. 
 With stately precision he took up the neat 
 bundle of checks which he had just indorsed, 
 ran them over, slipped one from under the 
 rubber band, and scanned it with great de- 
 
190 The Come On 
 
 liberation. He could not afford to offend a 
 good customer, but he could thus subtly re 
 buke such hasty and slipshod methods. 
 
 "Yes, it is on the Commercial." He held 
 it out inquiringly. 
 
 "Thought so I" snorted the other. 
 "Dolt! Imbecile! Ass! I ll apply for a. 
 guardian. Fix you out this time!" He 
 whipped out fountain pen and checkbook. 
 "National Trust Company (guess I ve got 
 enough there). Pay to J. C. Mendenhall 
 & Co. how much was that?" 
 
 He took the check from the unresisting 
 Mendenhall, spread it out on the desk with 
 a sprawling gesture, tore it to strips with 
 the same impetuous vehemence, and threw 
 it in the waste-basket. After this brief 
 outburst of anger his good humor returned. 
 "Twelve-fifty. Here you are. No mistake 
 this time. Say, old man, that s the drinks on 
 me come along!" 
 
The Come On 191 
 
 "Thank you, I never drink," returned 
 Mendenhall primly. He had not relished 
 the roughness with which the other had 
 snatched the check from him, though making 
 allowance for the natural annoyance of one 
 who had been betrayed into a mortifying 
 mistake. 
 
 "All the better, all the better. Seldom 
 do myself, but sometimes Have a ci 
 gar? No? Well, I must toddle along!" 
 
 It may here be mentioned that during 
 his moment of impulsive vexation Mr. Britt 
 had inconsiderately substituted for the 
 "Commercial" check another, precisely sim 
 ilar save for the important particular that 
 it lacked the Mendenhall indorsement. The 
 original had slipped between the leaves of 
 Britt s check book, under cover of his large 
 hands. Those hands were most expert in 
 various amusing and adroit feats of leger 
 demain, though Mr. Britt s modesty led 
 
192 The Come On 
 
 him to a becoming, if unusual, reticence 
 in this regard. The substitute, as we have 
 seen, was in the waste-basket. 
 
 Just before three Britt ran heavily up 
 the steps of the First National, puffing 
 down the corridor, cocking a hasty eye at 
 the clock as he came. 
 
 "Hey, there, sonny! I was almost too 
 late, wasn t I?" was his irreverent greet 
 ing to the cashier. "Time to cash this be 
 fore closing up?" he demanded breathless 
 ly, but with unabated cheerfulness. He 
 flopped the check over. "Mendenhall s in 
 dorsement. Hi! Mr. President! Just a 
 minute ! I m a stranger here, but if you ll 
 let us slip in at a side door I ll trot around 
 and fetch Mendenhall. Need this money 
 to-night." 
 
 The president took the check from the in 
 dignant young cashier, nodded at the fa 
 miliar signature with the cabalistic peculiari- 
 
The Come On 193 
 
 ties which attested its authenticity, glanced 
 indulgently at the bobbing white head in 
 window, with difficulty suppressing a smile. 
 
 "It will not be necessary, Mr. Mr. 
 Britt," he said courteously. "Not necessary 
 at all. You have an account here, I be 
 lieve?" 
 
 "It won t be here long," retorted Britt, 
 with garrulous good nature. "Draw it all 
 out next week. Eleven, twelve and fifty. 
 Thanks to you. There goes the clock. 
 Good day!" 
 
 "Quite an odd character, that Mr. 
 Britt?" said the president casually at the 
 club that night. "Boyish old chap." 
 
 "Yes, isn t he?" said Mendenhall, fold- 
 ing his paper. "I sold him a pretty stiff bill 
 of goods this morning. Warmish, I take it. 
 He s going to settle here." 
 
 "Friend of yours?" 
 
 "Oh, no, I never saw him before." 
 
194 The Come On 
 
 "Why, you indorsed his check for twelve 
 hundred and fifty," said the president, in 
 terested, but not alarmed. Doubtless the 
 man had references. Besides, his face was 
 a letter of credit in itself. 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Mendenhall unsuspicious 
 ly, thinking of the check sent to the Farm 
 ers and Citizens Bank. The president, 
 thinking of the other, was fully reassured, 
 and was about to pass on. Here the mat 
 ter might have dropped, and would in most 
 cases. But Mendenhall, a methodical and 
 careful man, wished to vindicate his busi 
 ness prudence by explaining that he had 
 taken no risk in indorsing for a stranger, 
 since he retained possession of the goods. 
 
 The rest is too painful. 
 
 "I do not rhyme for that dull wight" 
 who does not foresee that New York, Chi 
 cago and Denver checks were returned in 
 due course, legibly inscribed with the sad- 
 
The Come On 195 
 
 dest words of tongue or pen, "No funds." 
 Or that Mr. Britt fully justified his self- 
 given reputation for absence of mind by 
 neglecting to call for his furniture. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Britt unostentatiously 
 absented his body as well, taking the trol 
 ley for an inland village. At the time of 
 Mendenhall s interview with the president 
 he was speeding southward across country 
 in a livery rig, catching the Lackawanna lo 
 cal for Binghamton about the time the wires 
 were working and he was being searched 
 for on all Lehigh Valley trains. 
 
 "Hello, Kirkland!" he said to the night 
 clerk at the Arlington. "Back again, like 
 a bad sixpence ! Have my trunk sent up, 
 will you? No no supper!" 
 
 "Letter for you, Mr. Mitchell. Just 
 came," said the clerk respectfully. "So we 
 were expecting you. Haven t seen you for 
 a long time." 
 
196 The Come On 
 
 Britt-Mitchell thrust the letter in his 
 pocket unopened. "It ll keep till morning. 
 I m for bed. Good-night, Frank." 
 
 He turned in, weary with his exertions 
 to be sure, but with the pleasing conscious 
 ness that 
 
 . . . some one done 
 Has earned a night s repose. 
 
 Elmsdale never learned these particulars, 
 however. His genial and expansive smile 
 and the unobtrusive manner of his fading 
 away are there vaguely associated with Che 
 shire Puss, of joyful memory, whose disap 
 pearance, like his, began with the end of 
 the tale. 
 
Chapter III 
 
 "Therms a franklin in the wilds of Kent, hath 
 brought three hundred marks with him in gold 
 . . . a kind of auditor! 
 
 IT was quite late when Britt-MitcheJl 
 arose like a giant refreshed. First 
 ringing for breakfast, he bathed and shaved 
 and arrayed himself carefully in glad ha 
 biliments of quiet taste and cut, in which 
 he bore slight resemblance to the rough- 
 and-ready Britt of Elmsdale. 
 
 Sitting indolently sideways to the table, 
 his feet on a chair, he discussed an ex 
 cellent breakfast leisurely, as one at peace 
 with the world. His paper was propped 
 before him; he chuckled as he read. Break 
 fast finished, he pulled his coffee over, lit a 
 cigar and puffed luxuriously. Not till then 
 197 
 
198 The Come On 
 
 did he open the letter taken from the dis 
 carded coat of yesterday. It read: 
 
 Well, old man, I am sending you an easy 
 one. Crack him hard for me. He s the 
 rankest sucker yet. I was going to work 
 the Scholar s Gambit on him, but he ll get 
 his hooks on a whole bunch of money when 
 he gets down town, so I turn him over to 
 you. Fifty thou. to be paid hijn by At- 
 wood, Strange & Atwood. You know of 
 them Mining Engineers and Experts, 25 
 Broad. Let him get the boodle and hand 
 him a sour one. 
 
 Name, Steve Thompson, en route to New 
 York. Section 5, Sleeper Tonawanda, 
 Phoebe Snow. Brown, smooth-shaved, 
 hand-me-down suit, cowboy hat. From 
 Butte, Montana. Has sold his mine, the 
 Copper-bottom (on right of trail northeast 
 
The Come On 199 
 
 of Anaconda). Former partner, Frank 
 Short, killed by powder explosion at Boze- 
 man, two years ago. Appendix subjoined 
 with partial list of his friends, details about 
 his mine, his ten years of unsuccessful pros 
 pecting, etc. Am not so explicit as usual, 
 because he is such a big-mouthed damfool 
 he ll tell you all he knows before you get to 
 Hoboken. Also I am in some haste. I am 
 to take him to Niagara with me to give you 
 time to get this and join him at Bingham- 
 ton, if you are there as planned. If not, I 
 have wired Jim to meet train at Hoboken 
 and keep in touch with him till you come, 
 scraping acquaintance if necessary. Then 
 he can disappear and leave you to put the 
 kibosh on him. Jim is all right, but he lacks 
 your magnetism, and your light, firm touch. 
 You can beat us all putting up a blue front. 
 
 RUBE. 
 
2OO The Come On 
 
 Mr. Mitchell rose to instant action. In a 
 very few minutes his trunk was packed, his 
 bill paid. He then hied him in haste to 
 the Carnegie Library, where, till train time, 
 he fairly saturated himself with informa 
 tion concerning Butte and vicinity. 
 
 When the train pulled out from Bingham- 
 ton, Mitchell sat across the aisle from 
 Thompson, deep in his paper. A visorless 
 black cap adorned his head, beneath which 
 flowed his reverend white hair; rimless eye 
 glasses imparted to his unimpeachable re 
 spectability an eminently aristocratic air. 
 These glasses he wiped carefully from time 
 to time with a white silk handkerchief, 
 which he laid across his ample knees, re 
 suming his reading, oblivious to all else. 
 
 The paper was laid aside and the big 
 man became immersed in a magazine. The 
 handkerchief slipped from his knees into the 
 aisle. Thompson politely restored it. 
 
The Come On 201 
 
 "Thank you, young man, thank you," 
 said Britt. Then a puzzled look came over 
 his brow. Polishing the glasses he took an 
 other sharp look. He leaned across the 
 aisle. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," he said, with state 
 ly courtesy. "But I am sure I have met 
 you somewhere. No, don t tell me. Par 
 don an old man s harmless vanity, but it is 
 my weakness to make my memory do its 
 work unaided, when possible. I have a fa 
 mous memory generally, and yours is not a 
 face to be easily forgotten. Let me see not 
 in New York, I think Philadelphia 
 Washington? No you would be from the 
 West, by your hat. LJm-m-Omaha Chica 
 go, St. Louis? Buttef" he said, with a re 
 sounding thwack on his knee. "Butte! 
 Where every prospect pleases, and only 
 man is vile !" 
 
 "Right you are," said the Westerner, well 
 
2O2 The Come On 
 
 pleased. "I seem to remember you, too." 
 "I have it!" said Mitchell. "Don t re- 
 member your name but you re the very 
 man Judge Harney pointed out to me as the 
 unluckiest prospector in Montana. Said 
 you could locate a claim bounded on all 
 sides by paying property and gopher 
 through to China without ever striking ore." 
 "May I come over there and talk?" said 
 Steve. "Mighty glad to see some one from 
 my town. You didn t live there though, or 
 I should have met you." 
 
 "Certainly," said Mitchell, making room. 
 "Glad to have you. Live there? Oh, no, 
 I only made a couple of trips. Some asso 
 ciates of mine were in with Miles Finlen 
 you know him, I reckon? on the Bird s- 
 eye proposition, and I took a flyer with 
 them," he explained. "I lost out. Dropped 
 several dollars." His face lit up with com 
 fortable good-humor. "It was a good mine, 
 
The Come On 203 
 
 but it got tied up in the courts. Let me see 
 what did Harney call you Townsend, 
 Johnson?" 
 
 "Thompson," said Steve, smiling. "Steve 
 Thompson." 
 
 "So it was so it was. Well, I was get 
 ting close. Glad to meet you, Mr. Thomp 
 son. That is my name." He handed over 
 a bit of pasteboard, inscribed: 
 
 MR. J. F. MITCHELL 
 
 "On Vesey Street now, just south of Bar 
 clay Street Ferry. I ll jot down the num 
 ber you want to come round and look me 
 up. Sorry I can t ask you to use my house 
 for headquarters. Wife s away to Bar 
 Harbor for the summer, and I m camping 
 out in a hotel. Tell you what, though 
 you put up at my caravanserai the Cor 
 nucopia good house, treat you well. I ll 
 
204 The Come On 
 
 be busy a day or so catching up after my 
 trip up-state, but after that I ll show you 
 around. But perhaps youVe been here be 
 fore?" 
 
 "Not I," said Steve. "My first trip. 
 Haven t been out of Montana since I was a 
 kid. I m sure glad to meet a friend so 
 
 soon. * 
 
 "Lots of Montana people here," said 
 Mitchell cheerily. "We ll look em up. 
 Probably find some of your old friends. 
 People here from everywhere. Say Judge 
 Harney got into a bad mix-up, didn t he? 
 That young Charley Clark is a devil. I ve 
 met him up here." With this he launched 
 into a discussion of Butte, with inquiries as 
 to various figures of local prominence, from 
 which Steve was fain to escape by turning 
 the talk on his final good luck, the sale of 
 his mine and his rosy prospects. For 
 Mitchell had "crammed up" on Butte indus- 
 
The Come On 205 
 
 triously. Steve lacked his facilities, his sole 
 source of information being certain long- 
 past campfire tales of Neighbor Jones. 
 
 "Made it at last, did you? Glad to hear 
 it. Can t keep a good man down, as the 
 whale said to Jonah," said Mitchell heart 
 ily. " But with all thy getting, get under 
 standing, " he quoted with unctuous benev 
 olence. "The city is full of traps for the 
 unwary. You can t be too careful, young 
 man. Don t be drawn into gambling, or 
 drinking, or fast company, or you ll be 
 robbed before you know it. Watch out for 
 pickpockets, and, above all, be chary of 
 making acquaintance with strangers. They re 
 sly down here, my boy devilish sly. Have 
 you any friends in town? If you have, get 
 them to go around with you till you learn 
 the ropes." 
 
 "Don t know a soul but you," said Steve 
 truthfully. "But I have a letter here to the 
 
206 The Come On 
 
 people who are putting the sale through. 
 Do you know these people?" 
 
 "Atwood, Strange & Atwood," Mitchell 
 read. "A good, reliable firm. I don t know 
 them, but I know of em. They will advise 
 you just as I do." 
 
 "But," objected Steve, "I want to see a 
 good time. That s what I come for. For 
 instance, I want to see the races. And nat 
 urally, I want to put up a few dollars to 
 make it interesting." 
 
 "Bad business bad business," admon 
 ished the elder man wisely. "I don t ob 
 ject to a quiet game of cards myself, among 
 friends, and for modest stakes. But I can t 
 afford to do anything to hurt my business 
 reputation. Let a man of small means, 
 like myself, play the ponies, or affect shady 
 company, and what happens? All the banks 
 know it at once, and shut down on loans in- 
 
The Come On 207 
 
 stanter. They keep tab on all business men 
 religiously." 
 
 "What s your line?" said Steve, im 
 pressed. 
 
 "Mainly buying on commission for Mexi 
 can and South American trade though I 
 handle a good many orders for country 
 dealers, too," replied Mitchell. "My spe 
 cialty is agricultural implements, barbed 
 wire, machinery and iron stuff generally, for 
 the export trade. There s things about it 
 would surprise you. Why, such things, 
 farm machinery more especially, retail in 
 Buenos Ayres at from 40 to 60 per cent, 
 of what they do here, after paying freight 
 charges and a snug commission to me." 
 
 "How can they do it?" asked Steve, in 
 terested. 
 
 Mitchell plunged into an explanation of 
 the workings of the tariff and its effect on 
 home prices. He had it at his fingers 1 end. 
 
2o8 The Come On 
 
 Under his skillful hands the dry subject 
 became really interesting, embellished with 
 a wealth of illustration and anecdote. He 
 was still deep in his exposition, when, be 
 yond Scranton, a hand was laid on his arm. 
 A dapper, little, dark man, with twinkling, 
 black eyes and pointed black beard, stood 
 in the aisle. 
 
 "Well, Mitchell !" he said, with an affec 
 tionate pat. "Still riding your hobby?" 
 
 The fat man jumped up, beaming. "Lor- 
 ing! by all that s holy! Let me make you 
 acquainted with my friend. Mr. Thomp 
 son Mr. Loring. Mr. Loring is one of 
 our rising young artists." 
 
 "The rising young artist," said Loring 
 with a flash of white teeth, "is trying to get 
 up a whist game, to pass away the time. 
 Will you gentlemen assist?" He turned 
 aside in a paroxysm of coughing. 
 
 "Certainly, certainly that is, if Mr. 
 
The Come On 209 
 
 Thompson plays. That s a bad cough 
 
 you ve got there, Loring." 
 
 "Yes caught cold fishing," said the ar 
 tist. "Will you join us, Mr. Thompson?" 
 
 "Glad to," said that worthy. "Only my 
 game is bumble-puppy. You can hardly call 
 it whist. Who s the fourth?" 
 
 "Yet to be found," laughed Loring. After 
 a few rebuffs they picked up a drummer, 
 and adjourned to the smoker, buying a deck 
 from the train boy. The little dark man 
 and Steve played against the other two, a 
 suitcase on their knees serving as a table. 
 They played a rubber. Steve verified his 
 statements as to his style of play. 
 
 "Well, that s enough nearly in," said 
 Loring, as they drew near their destination. 
 
 "Yes, indeed. I must go back to my car. 
 We ve had a pleasant game," said the 
 fourth man, taking his leave. 
 
 "Have a smoke you ll find these A! I," 
 
2io The Come On 
 
 said the artist. "Say, Mitchell, I ve learned 
 a new trick to illustrate the old saying that 
 the hand is quicker than the eye." Sticking 
 a cigar in the corner of his mouth, he ran 
 over the cards swiftly, took out the two red 
 jacks, and held them up, one in each hand, 
 backs toward himself, faces to Mitchell and 
 Steve. 
 
 "Now," he said, "you can put these two 
 jacks in the deck wherever you wish, shuf 
 fle them all you please, let me give them 
 just one riffle, and you ll find them both to 
 gether. He put his handkerchief to his lips 
 and turned away to cough, laying the two 
 jacks face downward on the table. 
 
 With a nudge to Steve, Mitchell threw 
 the jack of hearts under Loring s seat, where 
 it lay, face up, substituting therefor the five 
 of clubs from the top of the deck. 
 
 Loring held the cards up again. "There 
 are the two jacks, gentlemen: the two in- 
 
The Come On 211 
 
 separable jacks. Put them in for your 
 selves, and watch me close!" 
 
 Steve took the five of clubs and put it in 
 the middle. Mitchell put in the jack of dia 
 monds. Both shuffled. Loring cut the pack 
 into two equal parts, using only the extreme 
 tip ends of his fingers, and shoved them to 
 gether in the same fashion. Balancing the 
 deck on the open palm of his left hand, he 
 turned the cards carefully with his right 
 thumb and forefinger, keeping up a running 
 fire of comment. 
 
 "Now watch me ! This trick won t work 
 with any other cards but the jacks. The rea 
 son is easy to see. Where you find one 
 knave there s always another close by. Birds 
 of a feather flock together, you know. Ah I 
 here we are !" He turned over the knave of 
 diamonds, and laid the deck down. "Now," 
 he said to Mitchell, "what ll you bet the next 
 card isn t the knave of hearts?" Here he 
 
212 The Come On 
 
 was again attacked by that excruciating 
 cough. 
 
 As he turned away Mitchell slyly turned 
 up the corner of the next card, winking at 
 Steve. It was the five of clubs. Evidently 
 Loring had done the trick right, except for 
 the substituted card. 
 
 "I ll bet you five hundred dollars!" said 
 Mitchell jubilantly. He drew out a billhook 
 and shook a handful of notes at the artist. 
 "A thousand, if you like!" 
 
 "Nobody wants to rob you, Mitchell," 
 laughed Loring. "Put up your money. I 
 don t need it. I ll do the trick, of course." 
 Steve was laughing immoderately. 
 
 "Rob me! Go ahead! You re welcome !" 
 said Mitchell, riotously radiant. He waved 
 the bills before Loring s eyes. "Money 
 talks ! Yah ! You haven t the nerve to bet 
 on it," he taunted, his knee touching Steve s 
 under the table. 
 
The Come On 213, 
 
 Loring s black eyes snapped maliciously. 
 "Oh, well, you insist on it," he said. "I ve 
 warned you now, remember ! No rebate on 
 this. How much?" He pulled out a fat 
 rubber-banded roll and began stripping bills 
 from the outside. 
 
 "A thousand all you want!" shouted 
 Mitchell, in high glee. "Getting on, Thomp 
 son?" 
 
 Steve, still laughing, shook his head. "I ll 
 be stakeholder," he said in a choking voice. 
 
 The black-eyed man shot a malevolent 
 glance at him as they put up the money in 
 his hands. For he had a supernumerary jack 
 of hearts, neatly palmed, to turn up if Steve 
 "bit." This quickly disappeared, however, 
 or rather did not appear at all. With an ex 
 pectant smile the artist turned up from the 
 top of the deck the five of clubs. He looked 
 at it in stupefied amazement, which, if not 
 real, was well invented. 
 
214 The Come On 
 
 Mitchell roared and pounded the suitcase. , 
 "Oh, Loring!" he gasped, drying his eyes. 
 "You will teach an old dog new tricks, will 
 you? My stars, but you re easy!" He took 
 the cash from the grinning stakeholder, 
 counted out Loring s half and pushed it over 
 to that much discomfited gentleman. "I don t 
 want to rob you!" he quoted mockingly. 
 "But if I had time I d have kept you on the 
 anxious seat a while. There s your jack of 
 hearts, under your feet I" 
 
 "Why, you fat, old swindler ! You white- 
 headed outrage you you Foxy Grandpa!" 
 cried Loring in blushing chagrin not wholly 
 dissembled, either. "I ought to make you eat 
 it. Come, have a drink." He led the way, 
 the others following with gibe and jeer. 
 
 "Why didn t you bet with him, Thomp 
 son?" demanded Mitchell, still shaking with 
 Homeric laughter. "Say, I should have kept 
 
The Come On 215 
 
 his money, by good rights. Twould have 
 been the joke of the season I" 
 
 Steve raised his glass. "I would," he re 
 plied innocently, "but I knew you d give it 
 back, anyhow, so what s the use among 
 friends? If it had been a stranger, now, I d 
 a 1 hopped on the band-wagon too quick. I 
 like a little easy money as well as anybody. 
 Well, here s to our next meeting!" 
 
 "Hello I" said Mitchell. "Here s the tun- 
 nel and Hoboken. Let s go back to our be 
 longings. Now, Thompson, business first 
 and pleasure after, you know. You take the 
 Barclay Street boat. If I don t get time to 
 see you before noon to-morrow you run up 
 to the office and see me. It s only a block 
 from the Cornucopia. I ve got to go the 
 other way, and so does Loring at least his 
 studio s uptown. I say, Loring, tell Mr. 
 Thompson what s doing at the theatres. 
 That s in your line." 
 
216 The Come On 
 
 Loring named several plays, recommend 
 ing one as particularly good. In the waiting- 
 room they parted with warm handshakings 
 and great good-will. 
 
 "Do you suppose he s wise?" said Loring, 
 on the ferry. 
 
 Mitchell guffawed. "That bumpkin? 
 Not he. The poor, dumb idiot took it all 
 as a practical joke among friends. Nat 
 urally, just as he said, he thought I d give 
 you your money back. Glad you had pres 
 ence of mind enough to go on through with 
 the five-spot. It s fine business to be able to 
 think on your feet, especially for us moon- 
 minions. Good thing it turned out the way 
 it did. He s got perfect confidence in me 
 now he s seen me tried, and knows I m 
 straight. We ll get more out of him in the 
 long run." He explained Steve s mining 
 expectations at length. 
 
 "I don t like it much," said Loring. "It s 
 
The Come On 217 
 
 a bad sign. My experience is that it s hard 
 to overreach a man that isn t on the hog 
 himself. When they re eager to annex 
 something dishonestly you get em every 
 time. Maybe you ll lose him. Why didn t 
 you stay with him? He may not go to the 
 Cornucopia at all." 
 
 "Oh, yes, he will!" said Mitchell con- 
 dently. "I am going to play him for all he s 
 worth, and I want him to feel sure I m O. 
 K. It might make him suspicious if I kept 
 at his coat tails. Plenty of time. I won t 
 even look him up to-morrow. Rig the old 
 joint as my office, and wait there till he 
 hunts me up. Let him make all the ad 
 vances, d ye see? Teach him bridge, on 
 the square, at night. Let him win a little 
 just enough to keep him satisfied with him 
 self you?\\ see. Wait till he draws his 
 wad, and we ll throw the gaff in him to the 
 queen s taste. If he won t nibble at one hooli 
 
2i 8 The Come On 
 
 try another. But, I say, Billy, you ll have 
 to furnish the scads for bait, in case he don t 
 rise to something easy. I know you re flush 
 from that Manning job." 
 
 Meantime, with unspoiled and sparkling 
 eye, the inlander saw, broad sweeping be 
 fore him, mist-bordered, dream-vast, dim- 
 seen beneath the lowering sky, the magic 
 city whose pulsings send and call a nation s 
 life-blood. 
 
 The salt tang of the sea was in his nos 
 trils; greetings, many-keyed, hoarse-whistled 
 by plying craft, were in his ears; creamy- 
 foamed wakes of turbulent keels, swift-sent 
 or laboring, boiled their swirling splendor 
 against the black water. Mysterious, cou- 
 chant, straining, the bulwarked city rode the 
 waves; a mighty ship, her funnels the great 
 buildings beyond, where sullen streamers of 
 smoke trailed motionless and darkling; the 
 
The Come On 219 
 
 indescribable, multitudinous hum of the 
 city s blended voices for purring of monster 
 engines, deep in her hold; bold and high, 
 her restless prow swung seaward in majes 
 tic curve, impatient to beat to open main. 
 
 This simple young man actually found 
 impressiveness, glamour, even beauty, in this 
 eye-filling canvas; the crowding of crashing 
 lights and interwoven shadows, massed, in 
 numerable, bewildering; the turmoil of con 
 fused and broken line, sprawled with tre 
 mendous carelessness for a giant s delight. 
 
 Plainer proof of his utter unsophistica- 
 tion could not be. For it is traditional with, 
 all "correct" and well-informed folk that 
 New York is hopelessly ugly. It gives one 
 such a superior air to disprize with easy 
 scorn this greatest of the Gateways of the 
 World. 
 
Chapter IV 
 
 "A good plot, good friends, and full of expecta 
 tion: an excellent plot, very good friends." 
 
 STEVE went, not to a theatre, but to 
 bed. In the morning, after a few in 
 quiries, he sauntered round to get his bear 
 ings. He made these explorations afoot, 
 opining that, at first, the use of street cars 
 or the "L" would tend to confuse his orien 
 tation. He contented himself with locat 
 ing 25 Broad Street, without presenting his 
 letter. Incidentally, he left most of his cash 
 in a safe-deposit drawer. "For," he mused, 
 "the touching attachment of my open-hand 
 ed, prepossessing friend may not always ad 
 here to the lofty plane recognized by busi 
 ness ethics. He may, at any time, abandon 
 the refined and artistic methods of high fi- 
 220 
 
The Come On 221 
 
 nance for primitive, crude and direct means 
 unworthy of his talents. The safe side of a 
 safe is the inside of a safe." 
 
 So back by the water-front, where he 
 spent a pleasant and interesting forenoon. 
 At one o clock there were still no signs of 
 Mitchell. So Steve, Mahomet-like, sought 
 his office. 
 
 The mise-en-scene was admirable. A well- 
 littered desk, two phones, code-book, direc 
 tory, typewriter, file-books, a busy book 
 keeper, a fair stenographer no detail was 
 omitted. Mitchell, pacing the floor, paused 
 in his dictation to give him a cheerful greet 
 ing. 
 
 "Hello, Thompson up already? Just sit 
 down till I m through here, will you? Most 
 done. How d you like to walk around the 
 docks? That ought to interest you. All 
 right thought it would. I ve got some 
 business at No. 4. Make yourself at home. 
 
222 The Come On 
 
 There s the papers Ready, Miss Stanley?" 
 Clearing his throat, he put a hand under his 
 coat-tails and resumed dictation: 
 
 " Melquiades Sandoval y Hijos, Monte- 
 vidio. Gentlemen: Your order shipped to 
 day by steamer Escobar as per your esteemed 
 favor of the 5th. Invoices inclosed. In the 
 item of mowing machines, was unable to fill 
 order with Nonpareil as desired. Have 
 taken liberty of substituting fifty Micas, the 
 Mica being the same in every respect except 
 the name plate. In fact, the two firms, with 
 others, have a "gentleman s agreement" 
 sharing patents, keeping up separate plants 
 only to preserve the appearance of compe 
 tition. (Confound it excuse me, Miss 
 Stanley there s my hobby again. Shouldn t 
 have said that, but let it go.) Trusting you, 
 will find this satisfactory in every particu 
 lar, and hoping to be favored by your future 
 orders, I am, etc. Got that? Next! 
 
The Come On 223 
 
 " Brown, Small & VanRiper, Hartford, 
 Ct. Gentlemen: Inclosed find my check 
 for $27,000, to be used in the matter we 
 discussed the other day. Kindly send pa 
 pers to my lawyers, Reed, Reed, Perkins & 
 Reed. 
 
 " Am sorry I cannot more largely avail 
 myself of the privilege so kindly extended 
 me. At the present, however, my capital is 
 tied up in various enterprises, and I am real 
 ly crowding myself to raise this. Thanking 
 you for past favors, etc. Here s the last. 
 Mr. Joseph Yates, Rehobeth Beach, Dela 
 ware. Dear old Joe: Sorry to hear of 
 your undeserved bad luck. While not ex 
 actly a financial Napoleon these days, I am 
 able to accommodate you, and glad to do 
 so. Have not forgotten the time you helped 
 me out of a mighty tight place. Draw on 
 me for $10,000 through the Marine. Take 
 your time for repayment. If this is not 
 
224 The Come On 
 
 enough, let me know. Kind regards to the 
 wife and take care of yourself, old man. 
 In haste, your old friend 
 
 "Pound those off, Miss Stanley. Jim" 
 this to the silently industrious bookkeeper 
 "how much have we got at the Marine?" 
 
 After swift search in a little black book 
 the bookkeeper looked up "Seven thousand 
 six hundred-twenty, sir," he replied respect 
 fully. 
 
 "I ll give you enough to make out ten 
 thousand to honor old Joe s draft," rumi 
 nated Mitchell, twirling the safe-knobs deft 
 ly. "You take it round and deposit it. On 
 your way back jack Stevens up about those 
 plows. Tell him if he don t get em round 
 on time he loses one big customer and 
 that s me." Counting out the required 
 amount, he stuffed the slight remainder in 
 his pocket, slammed shut the safe, signed his 
 
The Come On 225 
 
 letters briskly, and took up his hat. "Come 
 on, Thompson, we ll be off." 
 
 "Now then," he resumed, in the elevator, 
 "IVe got to go down to slip No. 4, to see 
 about some stuff I m shipping to Mexico. 
 Walk or ride? It s only a little ways." 
 
 "Let s walk, then," said Steve. "You 
 can tell me about the boats as we go. That s 
 what takes my eye. What s that big one 
 coming in?" 
 
 "Rotterdammer. The one behind her is 
 a coaster Menacho, Puig & Co. Look up 
 stream there s a big Cunarder just swing 
 ing out. Hello, there s the Rosenthal and 
 Montoya stuff now!" 
 
 A string of heavily-laden drays moved 
 slowly down the rock-paved street. "Lights 
 out! Protect yourself!" thought Steve. "I 
 feel a presentiment that there ll be a heavy 
 transportation bill on that stuff and that my 
 friend won t have enough cash to settle it. 
 
226 The Come On 
 
 Perhaps he will accept a temporary accom 
 modation from me. Thompson, he pays the 
 freight nit!" 
 
 This unworthy suspicion proved unfound 
 ed. As they watched the rumbling wagons 
 they were joined by one of businesslike ap 
 pearance and swift step. 
 
 "Going down, Mitchell? That s your 
 Argentine freights, I suppose? At least, I 
 recognize your foreman. " 
 
 Mitchell introduced him: Mr. Archibald, 
 of the Bowring and Archibald line, in the 
 coastwise and southern trade. 
 
 "Just going down to your place, Archie. 
 We were going to walk, but if you re in a 
 hurry " 
 
 "Not at all. Have a cigar ?" said the 
 pseudo-Archibald urbanely. 
 
 "You can show my young friend over the 
 boats, if you will," said Mitchell. "Rank 
 inlander, Thompson. Rather look at a boat 
 
The Come On 227 
 
 than eat. Been talking boat, boat, boat to 
 me ever since we left the office." 
 
 "Happy to do so," said the merchant- 
 mariner. "You d better take a little trip 
 with us, Mr. Thompson say a run down 
 to Havana. Any friend of Mr. 
 Mitchell s " 
 
 A young man came tearing across the 
 street at a great rate. "Mitchell!" he 
 shouted. "Mitchell! Look here!" He 
 thrust a telegram into Mitchell s hand. 
 "Just reached me by A. D. T. from the 
 Carlton. Let me have some money, will 
 you? About three thousand. Just got time 
 to catch the next Pennsylvania train and 
 make connections at Baltimore." 
 
 Mitchell spread out the yellow slip and 
 read it aloud. "H m! Tonce de Leon St 
 Augustine Florida John E Bickford The 
 Carlton New York Come at once Father 
 worse Doctor orders to Egypt Jennie. Why 
 
228 The Come On 
 
 sure, my boy. Here s what cash I got, and 
 I ll give you a check. Too bad, too bad! 
 By George, I hope your dad pulls through. 
 What! Blame it, I mean dammit, I ve come 
 off without my checkbook. Got yours, 
 Archie?" 
 
 Archie patted his pockets. "No, I 
 haven t. Left it in the office. Got a couple 
 of hundred cash you re welcome to, though." 
 
 The young man looked nervously at his 
 watch. Mitchell turned hesitatingly toward 
 Thompson. But the Westerner did not wait 
 for an appeal to his generosity. He volun 
 teered, eager to oblige a man of such large 
 affairs as his substantial friend. 
 
 "I ll write you a check. You can just run 
 in to the nearest bank with me and indorse 
 it, Mr. Mitchell. Sorry I haven t the cash 
 with me." Thus Steve, his clumsy innocence 
 eluding the toils with all the grace of an 
 agile hippopotamus. 
 
The Come On 229 
 
 The grafters glanced at each other. But 
 Mitchell was equal to the emergency. 
 
 "No need to bother you, Mr. Thompson, 
 thanks, all the same," he said suavely. 
 "Archibald, just give me what youVe got 
 and I ll run over to Jersey City with John. 
 Traffic Manager of the Pennsylvania is a 
 friend of mine. If he s in his office I ll get 
 it of him. Otherwise, I ll start John on, 
 and wire balance to him at St. Augustine 
 when I get back. Wait a minute, John. 
 Got plenty of time to catch the boat. Look 
 here, Archie you re not busy, are you? 1 
 
 "I m always busy," said the shipowner 
 gayly, "but no more so to-day than any 
 other day. Why?" 
 
 "Oh, well, you can get off. I promised 
 Thompson, here, to do him the honors, and 
 now I ve got to help John out. Oh, you two 
 are not acquainted, are you? Excuse me! 
 Mr. Archibald, Mr. Bickford Mr. Thomp- 
 
230 The Come On 
 
 son, Mr. Bickford. Mr. Bickford s father 
 was a dear old friend of mine. Once very 
 wealthy, too, but has had reverses. Bless 
 me, how I do ramble on! Old age, sir, old 
 age ! Osier was half right. Now, Archie, 
 phone up to your office that you re unavoid 
 ably detained and all the rest of it, like a 
 good fellow, and take my place as cicerone. 
 Never mind your dinky little boats take 
 him up and show him the big fellows the 
 ocean greyhounds." 
 
 "But," objected Archibald, "I ve got to go 
 down to the office to get some money. 
 You ve broke me, you shanghaier." 
 
 "So I have, so I have!" He peeled off a 
 hundred-dollar-bill, ignoring Steve s protest. 
 "That enough? I ll fix John up, some way. 
 You re at Mr. Thompson s orders. Mind, 
 his money isn t any good. I pay for both 
 of you. Wish it was more, but you see how 
 I m hooked up. You ll have a better time 
 
The Come On 231 
 
 with a young fellow like Archie than you 
 would with an old fogy like me, anyhow. 
 Here, we ll be left!" He made for the fer 
 ry slips with the anxious Bickford. 
 
 Thus did the wily Mr. Mitchell justify 
 his headship. In these profuse strains of 
 unpremeditated art, apparently the merest 
 of rambling commonplace, he had plainly 
 conveyed to his henchmen that, though foiled 
 by the countryman s straightforward single- 
 mindedness, they were not to adopt a policy 
 of scuttle, but persevere in the paths of man 
 ifest destiny to benevolent assimilation; at 
 the same time adroitly extricating his embar 
 rassed lieutenant from a very present pre 
 dicament. Because "Archibald" felt a cer 
 tain reluctance about accompanying Steve to 
 Pier Number 4 in the capacity of owner, 
 for the sufficiently obvious reason that he 
 might be summarily kicked off. Such a con 
 tretemps might give cause for conjecture 
 
232 The Come On 
 
 even in one so green as his companion, re 
 flected Archie. 
 
 He saluted with easy grace. "Orders, 
 captain? Happy to oblige. My friend s 
 friend is my friend." 
 
 Steve saw the big steamships. Thence, at 
 his artless suggestion, they went to Brooklyn 
 Bridge. Followed rides on the Subway and 
 Elevated, a viewing of skyscrapers and such 
 innocent and exhilarating delights. Noting 
 Archibald s well-groomed and natty appear 
 ance, Steve naively asked his advice in mat 
 ters sartorial, purchasing much raiment and 
 leaving an order with a fashionable tailor. 
 But, after an amazing dinner at an uptown 
 house of call, Archibald took the reins into 
 his own guidance, and led him forth to quite 
 other distractions in the agricultural quar 
 ter of the city, where that popular and ever- 
 blooming cereal, wild oats, is sown by night 
 and by day. 
 
The Come On 233 
 
 Behind them the plausible Mr. Mitchell 
 and his old friend s son held high commune. 
 
 "Why, the lantern-jawed, bug-eyed, rub 
 ber-necked, double-jointed, knock-kneed, 
 splay-foot, hair-lipped, putty-brained country 
 Jake! Did you see him sidestep that?" de 
 manded the aggrieved Bickford, forgetting, 
 in his pique, his stricken father. "What you 
 want to do to him is to sandbag him, give 
 him knockout drops, stab him under the fifth 
 
 rib! He s too elusive the devil-sent " 
 
 He was proceeding to further particulars 
 when Mitchell checked him. 
 
 "I want you to bear in mind that this is 
 no strong-arm gang, and I m neither dip 
 nor climber." His emphasis was withering. 
 "My credit is involved in this affair now, 
 and I m going through with it. If he d had 
 the dough with him he d handed it out just 
 like he did the check. He floundered out 
 through pure, unadulterated innocence. I ll 
 
234 The Come On 
 
 land him yet. Next time I won t leave the 
 shirt to his back. I tried him with covetous- 
 ness. I ve tried him with distress. Now 
 I ll tempt him with a business opportunity 
 one that he ll have to have cash for. Keep 
 your eye on your uncle. He ll see you 
 through." 
 
 The next day being Sunday, Mitchell took 
 the cowboy to the Speedway, and back 
 through Central Park, in an auto, frankly 
 hired. 
 
 "I can hardly afford to set up one," he 
 confided. "And anyway, I haven t much 
 leisure. Of course, when a good fellow like 
 you comes along I can take a day off, once in 
 a way. But generally my nose is down to 
 the grindstone." 
 
 On their way home he pointed out a fine 
 building, ornamented with a "To Let" sign 
 in the window. "There s a place I used to 
 own, Thompson," he said. "Belongs to a 
 
The Come On 235 
 
 friend of mine, young Post. One of the best 
 families but, poor fellow, he s in trouble 
 now." He dismissed the subject with a be 
 nevolent sigh. "Would you like to go in and 
 look at it? The caretaker will show it to 
 you. He ll think you re a prospective buyer. 
 You needn t tell him so, but then again you 
 needn t tell him any different. There s no 
 harm and it s well worth seeing." 
 
 Thompson, nothing loth, agreed. It was 
 a fine house, as Mitchell had guessed. 
 
 "Gracious!" said Steve, when the inspec 
 tion was over. "What s such a house 
 worth?" 
 
 "I sold it for forty thousand. It s worth 
 
 more now." 
 
 Steve gazed at him wide-eyed. "My! I 
 shouldn t have thought it worth that much." 
 (It was, in fact, worth a great deal more.) 
 
 "It s the ground that makes it cost so," 
 explained Mitchell. "That s why the value 
 
236 The Come On 
 
 has increased. The house itself is not worth 
 as much as when I had it, but land values are 
 coming up by leaps and bounds. Young 
 man, the ground valuation alone of the six 
 square miles adjoining Central Park is more 
 than the value of all real estate in the great 
 commonwealth of Missouri. And it is going 
 higher every year." 
 
 "I don t understand it," said Steve, much 
 impressed. 
 
 "Do you understand the philosophy of an 
 artesian well? Yes? Then you understand 
 this. Every farm cleared, every acre plant 
 ed, every mine developed, every baby born, 
 enhances the value of all city property and 
 New York s got the biggest standpipe. The 
 back country soaks up the rain and it is de 
 livered conveniently at our doors through 
 underground channels, between the unleak- 
 ing walls that confine its flow; our price on 
 the surplus you have to sell and our price 
 
The Come On 237 
 
 on the necessities you buy. Every city taps 
 this flow, be the pipe large or small; and as 
 I said before, New York has the biggest 
 gusher. 
 
 "We ve got the money. So you may do 
 the work and we allow you to get enough 
 to sustain life, and just as little more as pos 
 sible. Sell at our price, buy at our price 
 we ve got you coming and going. You can t 
 get away. 
 
 "You re poor, you take what you can get 
 to pay your debts. That keeps down prices 
 on what you sell. YouVe got families, 
 you ve got to play. Yes, yes, quite right, 
 the rules are not entirely fair; we ll revise 
 them to-morrow, maybe, some time. Let 
 you do it? Tut, tut, no, no! Why, you 
 object to em! That won t do at all. Let 
 the rules be revised by their friends and 
 beneficiaries, to-morrow, next day, by and 
 by; busy to-day, stockholders meeting, divi- 
 
238 The Come On 
 
 dend declared, good-by! You 1 re virtually 
 peons. Fourth of July, elections and war 
 times you re the sovereign people, Tommy 
 this and Tommy-rot; but for all practical 
 purposes you re peons. 
 
 "We re rich, we can afford a scratch-my- 
 back-and-I ll-scratch-yours tariff that keeps 
 our prices up arbitrarily, that takes fifty 
 dollars out of your pockets to put in ours 
 for every dollar it puts into the national 
 treasury." 
 
 "If the tariff was repealed," said Steve 
 diffidently, "if we raised money for the 
 National Government, just as we do for 
 county government " 
 
 "Hush-sh!" said Mitchell, shocked. 
 "That s High Treason that s Unconstitu 
 tional ! Some one will hear you ! Then 
 there s another. You sell at a sacrifice to 
 pay your debts. If we get in debt that s ex 
 actly what we won t do. A poor man goes 
 
The Come On 239 
 
 broke, but a rich man goes bankrupt. Ever 
 think of that? 
 
 "That baby I spoke of will grow up, pro 
 duce corn, cotton, cattle or copper, maybe - 
 but the net result of his life will be to enrich 
 the rich. If, by any means industry, op 
 portunity, invention, speculation, dishonesty, 
 chance or inheritance he gets on top, then 
 the workers will be working for him by the 
 same law. The fact remains that every dol 
 lar s worth of betterment in the country in 
 creases the value of city property one dol 
 lar, without effort to the owner. A city is 
 an artesian well. Take it from me, Thomp 
 son, a man of your ability ought to make 
 connections and get your little tin pail un 
 der." 
 
Chapter V 
 
 "A man so various that he seemed to be 
 Not one, but all mankind s epitome." 
 
 THOMPSON sat in his room alone, 
 meditating on Mitchell, statesman and 
 Political Economist. On the table lay his 
 letter of introduction and his bad "Souvenir" 
 dollar. 
 
 "The meeting will please come to order!" 
 he said, rapping the table smartly. "The 
 Gentleman from Montana has the floor." 
 
 "I move you, Mr. Chairman," said the 
 Gentleman from Montana, "that the letter 
 of introduction be laid upon the table, and 
 that this House do now go into Committee 
 of putting the other fellows in the Hole." 
 
 No objection being heard, this was done. 
 Steve stared at the tabled letter with a puz- 
 
 ; 
 
 zled frown. 
 
 240 
 
The Come On 241: 
 
 "Gentlemen, the Chair awaits your pleas 
 ure," he announced, at last. "Have you any 
 suggestions to make?" 
 
 The Gentleman from Montana again ob 
 tained recognition. 
 
 "Mr. Speaker, I see here present an exy 
 member, my alter ego, Mr. Reuben Rubber- 
 Neck, who once parted with six months 
 wages on another man s game. Mr. Rub 
 ber-Neck is a graduate of the celebrated and 
 expensive school of Experience, of which it 
 is written that a large and influential class 
 will learn of no other. As an ex-Member, 
 he is entitled to the privilege of the floor. I, 
 for one, would like to have his counsels at 
 this juncture." 
 
 Thus appealed to, Mr. Rubber-Neck got 
 stumblingly to his feet with a gawky and 
 timid demeanor. 
 
 "Mr. Chairman, it is not a theory but a 
 hell of a condition that confronts us," he 
 
242 The Come On 
 
 said, uncertainly. "I think that we should 
 use the letter so providentially er um 
 provided to make friends with the mammon 
 of righteousness. Two heads are proverbi 
 ally better than one, if one is an Expert. 
 It behooves us, for the sake of the near and 
 dear kinsmen, the Mark brothers, that we 
 should so bear ourselves toward our gener 
 ous hosts as to make them feel that they 
 have entertained a devil unawares. Avenge 
 now the innumerable wrongs of me and my 
 likes. Before deciding on our line of action, 
 however, I should like to hear from a 
 learned gentleman in our midst, whose brain 
 is ever fertile in expedients. I refer to the 
 only one of us who has been through college 
 in at the front door and out the back. I 
 call on the representative of the class of 
 Naughty-naughty !" 
 
 He sat down amid vociferous cries of 
 "Hear! Hear!" 
 
The Come On 243 
 
 The Bookman arose gracefully. "While 
 I thank the gentleman who has preceded me 
 for his encomiums," he said, with depreca 
 tory modesty, "yet I can lay no claim for 
 scholastic honors, owing to an unfortunate 
 difference of opinion with the Faculty in the 
 scorching question of turning state s evidence 
 concerning the ebullition of class feeling, in 
 which I was implicated by a black eye or so. 
 
 I fought the good fight, I kept the faith, but 
 
 i 
 
 I did not finish my course. But to return 
 to our sheep. 
 
 "In every crisis, I have always found 
 precedent for action in the words of the 
 immortal Swan of Avon. What does Will 
 say? He says: 
 
 Put monetf in thy purse! 
 
 "Follows naturally the advice of the mel 
 ancholy Dane, bearing directly on the case 
 in hand : 
 
244 The Come On 
 
 Let It work. 
 
 For tis the sport to see the engineer- 
 Hoist with his own petard 
 
 : " Again, 
 
 Look on this picture, then on that! 
 The counterfeit. 
 
 " Where is that counterfeit, anyhow? * He 
 took from his pocket a good silver dollar, 
 compared it thoughtfully with the bad one 
 on the table, and continued. 
 
 "What else? Why, this: 
 
 Art thou not horribly afeared? . . . Could the 
 world pick thee three such enemies again as that 
 fend Douglas, that spirit Percy, and that devil 
 Glendowerf 
 
 "Having thus pointed out the danger, he 
 plainly indicates the remedy: 
 
 Where shall I find one that will steal well? Of 
 for a fine thief of the age of two-or-three and 
 twenty! I am heinously unprovided. 
 
The Come On 245 
 
 "Gentlemen, in my opinion we need three 
 things. First, the services of a skillful and 
 discreet silversmith. Second, a pair of eye 
 glasses fitted with a powerful microscopic 
 lens, able to distinguish good from evil. 
 Third, a confederate who can steal well, 
 such as we can doubtless find in or about 
 Broad Street. By these simple and feasible 
 means we shall be enabled to whip-saw our 
 redoubtable opponents or, to use the local 
 term, give em the double-cross. 
 
 He sat down amid boisterous applause. 
 
 "The Watch-dog of the Treasury!" said 
 Steve icily. The Watch-dog stood apologeti 
 cally, twisting nervous fingers together. "It 
 strikes me, Mr. Speaker," he stammered, 
 "that my eminent colleague might aptly have 
 quoted from the same high authority two 
 maxims in praise of prudence, discretion 
 is the better part of valor, he says, and also, 
 
246 The Come On 
 
 He who fights and runs away 
 Will live to fight another day? 
 
 "It appears to me the part of pru 
 dence " 
 
 Here he was howled down by disapprov 
 ing groans. 
 
 "The Chair will take great pleasure in 
 recognizing the Gentleman from New Mex 
 ico," suggested Steve, with a gracious nod. 
 
 Wildcat Thompson, cowboy, sprang to his 
 feet; lithe, active, eager. Swiftness, alert 
 ness, poise, certainty were in every line of his 
 splendid body. His was the assured, re 
 sourceful bearing of the man of action, 
 whose hands have kept his head, contrasting 
 sharply with the Miner s heavy and tenta 
 tive slowness, the awkward self-conscious 
 ness of the Easy One, the Objector s furtive 
 and apprehensive manner, or the Near-Col 
 legian s languid affectation of dilettantism. 
 
 "Be a sport!" He threw out a hand, his 
 
The Come On 247 
 
 confident voice ringing with decision. "We 
 are seven! (or at least we will be when we 
 pick up a financier at Atwood s). Get to 
 gether! Let us adopt our learned brother s 
 ingenious device. Should fraud fail, we can. 
 always fall back on 
 
 the simple plan 
 
 That each should take who hath the power 
 And he should keep that can. 
 
 "As alternative, or, I should say, as re 
 serve, I offer this!" A swift gleam of 
 silver and steel: he laid a cocked .45 beside 
 the other exhibits. 
 
 "The sword of Brennus! Woe to the 
 vanquished!" murmured the School-man, 
 when the cheering had abated. "Mr. Chair 
 man, the amendment is accepted." 
 
 The entire meeting then lit a cigarette. 
 
 The Chair arose, using the six-shooter as 
 gavel. "Gentlemen, have you anything more 
 
248 The Come On 
 
 to offer? If not will you hear the question? 
 Is it the sense of this meeting that united 
 we fall upon this infamous coalition with 
 the jaw bone of an ass and get their money; 
 dishonestly if we can, and if not, then by 
 main strength and awkwardness? Those in 
 favor of the motion will please rise. I am 
 unanimous, and it is so ordered. This reso 
 lution will be spread all over the minutes, 
 right off. The Chair will appoint as com 
 mittee to get a move on, Mr. Stephen 
 Thompson of Montana; the earnest Shake 
 spearian student, Mr. Thompson-Stephen; 
 Mr. Wildcat Thompson of New Mexico; 
 and myself. Having no further use for a 
 sucker or a quitter, the other two gentlemen 
 may go to the devil, and I hereby stand ad 
 journed." 
 
 So saying, he gathered up his resources 
 and departed. 
 
The Come On 249 
 
 At a later hour Steve presented himself 
 in a body to the senior Atwood, with his let 
 ter from the Judge as credentials. 
 
 Bless my soul!" ejaculated that person, 
 when he had read a few lines. His eyes 
 dropped to the signature. "Oh the 
 Judge!" he said, enlightened, and read on, 
 chuckling. 
 
 He wheeled his chair around. "Well, 
 Mr. Thompson, what is it fine or bail?" 
 he queried. 
 
 "I want to borrow a man," Steve began 
 mildly. Here he was interrupted. The 
 ante-room door opened. One entered no, 
 floated in faultlessly arrayed, with an air 
 at once languid and gloomy. 
 
 "Wyatt!" said Atwood, cordially. "Man! 
 You re good for sore eyes ! What fair wind 
 blows you here?" 
 
 Wyatt sank into a chair. "Doldwums. 
 Nothing at all," he said listlessly. "Mewest 
 
250 The Come On 
 
 chawnce, I assuah you. Fawct is, I was er 
 howwidly boahed, y know. It s no good. 
 All of it!" He spread out his immaculate 
 pink palm in a comprehensive gesture. "All 
 wot ! Dinnahs and dawnces and bwidge, the 
 hawse-show and ah all the west of it. 
 Vahnity fawr, y know. If you have what- 
 evah you want diwectly, of cow se you cawnt 
 want anything you daunt have, y know. 
 Doocid unpleasant. I find myself like the 
 boy that wanted to leah n to shivah and 
 shake, y 1 know. Needin the excitement of 
 what this fellah ah at Washington, y 
 know PToosevelt! of what Woosevelt 
 calls the stwenuous life. Saht in the club 
 thinkin it ovah, and decided to sally fowth 
 to seek adventuah " 
 
 "Adventure ! You ?" Atwood threw baclc 
 his head and roared. 
 
 " adventuah. In a hansom," returned 
 the new-comer placidly. "So the dwivah 
 
The Come On 251 
 
 ahsked me Whah to? y know. I was feel- 
 in nawsty enough, so I told him To 
 pwugatowy! like that! He was ah a 
 vewy litewal-minded puhson." There was a 
 faint flicker of amusement in his gray eyes. 
 "He ah bwought me to the Stock Ex 
 change. Aftah I got out, y know, I we- 
 membahed that you ah did something 
 heah. So I thought I d just wun ovah and 
 see you." He relapsed into moody silence. 
 
 "YouVe come to the right shop, I do be 
 lieve/ said Atwood. "Mr. Thompson, let 
 me make you acquainted with my old friend 
 Wyatt." 
 
 "Chawmed, I m suah!" muttered Wyatt, 
 adjusting his monocle. 
 
 "You have probably heard of him," pur 
 sued Atwood. "He appears regularly in 
 the Sunday Supplements as a Horrible Ex 
 ample Anson Walworth Wyatt, nephew to 
 his uncle. But for all he seems such a silly, 
 
252 The Come On 
 
 supercilious ass, he s a good old chap at 
 heart, a weal lion in an ass-skin. Mr. 
 Thompson, have I permission to share this 
 letter with my friend?" 
 
 "Why not?" said Steve. 
 
 "This is a Western man s business letter," 
 explained Atwood. The clubman listened 
 with a well-bred stony stare. 
 
 "Aw!" he said. "How vewy extwaohdi- 
 nawy!" 
 
 "Now, old fellow, Mr. Thompson was 
 just about to negotiate the loan of a man 
 from me when you came. Here we have 
 the adventure seeking the man, and the man 
 seeking the adventure. It sounds promising. 
 Of course, I shall expect a commission both 
 ways. Now give us your plans and specifi 
 cations, Mr. Thompson." 
 
 "I want to borrow a young man, as I said 
 before, of good appearance" with a glance 
 at Wyatt s sumptuous apparel "and some 
 
The Come On 253 
 
 little brains" another and a sharper glance. 
 "One who will obey orders if he breaks own 
 ers, who will stand without being tied, and 
 who doesn t especially care whether school 
 keeps or not. I would particularly request 
 that he leave his money, his memory, ac 
 quired good habits, if any, and his con 
 science, in your safe -keeping till he is re 
 turned." 
 
 "That sounds like the makings of a pretty 
 adventure, Wyatt," said Atwood, delighted. 
 "Are you for loan, old chap?" 
 
 Wyatt laid his affectation aside. "That 
 depends on the interest, the security, and 
 length of the term. It certainly appears, from 
 your very flattering description, that you 
 were searching for me, Mr. Thompson." 
 His eyes were dancing. 
 
 "Interest from the word Go. The secur 
 ity s all right, too, if you take a gun," said 
 Steve reassuringly. "You might get a long 
 
254 The Come On 
 
 term, but it can be avoided with luck and 
 good management. I think the parties con 
 cerned will hardly make a complaint." 
 
 "You are not contemplating anything il 
 legal, I trust?" Atwood was enjoying him 
 self to the full. 
 
 "I don t know. Really hadn t given it 
 much attention," returned the Committee, 
 simply. "But now you mention it, I think 
 probably I am." 
 
 "Will you allow my accomplice and myself 
 to use your private room for executive ses 
 sion?" asked Wyatt. 
 
 ** 
 
 "But why don t you have them arrested?" 
 
 "Arrested? O no!" cried Steve, in pained 
 surprise. "That wouldn t be fair. That 
 isn t done! Besides, don t you see, that 
 wouldn t hurt their feelings like this?" 
 
 "I see," said Wyatt. "I m your man. 
 And I say, old chap, before I go back to my 
 
The Come On 255 
 
 Cholly-talk again, advise me. Would I look 
 any more idiotic, do you think, if I should 
 suck my cane? I don t want to disappoint 
 
 any one 
 
 "I would not," said Steve. "You re too 
 good to be true, without that." 
 
 "Wouldn t you naturally suppose," sighed 
 Wyatt, "that people would know that no 
 man could be as big a fool as I am, unless 
 he did it on purpose? But they don t. They, 
 swallow it, hook, bob and sinker!" 
 
Chapter VI 
 
 "If the bowl had been stronger 
 My tale had been longer" 
 
 STEVE entered Mitchell s office with the 
 painful uprightness and precise carriage 
 of one who has lunched not wisely but rather 
 too well. His speech, too, was of ponder 
 ous brevity. The man of affairs chided him 
 with fatherly kindness. 
 
 "This won t do, my boy this won t do. 
 I like you, Thompson. I m sorry I m 
 pained to see this. Don t go in for this sort 
 of thing, or your good fortune will prove 
 a curse in disguise." 
 
 Steve hung his head, muttering something 
 incoherent about not being used to wine and 
 that he d soon get over it. 
 256 
 
The Come On 257 
 
 "Oh, young men will be young men, I sup 
 pose," sighed Mitchell tolerantly. "Tell you 
 what. Archibald s going for a spin over to 
 East New York. I ll just phone him to 
 drop by on his way and take us along. Fresh 
 air ll do you good." 
 
 Steve assented, and fell to poring over the 
 immense wall map of New York with pre 
 ternatural gravity. 
 
 But Mitchell s benevolent plan was 
 doomed to be frustrated. Hardly had 
 Archibald arrived and the employees been 
 dismissed, when the sordid, busy, money- 
 making city intruded in the person of Loring. 
 
 There were merry greetings all around. 
 The artist was much pleased to renew his 
 acquaintance with Thompson, to whom he 
 had taken a fancy. Loring, it seemed, was 
 an old friend of Archibald s and was 
 promptly invited to make one of the party. 
 
 "Oh, I can t," demurred Loring. "And I 
 
258 The Come On 
 
 hate to spoil sport, but I ve got a good thing 
 which must be put through to-night or not 
 at all. I ran in to get Mitchell to handle it 
 for me. IVe got the opportunity, but not 
 the wherewithal." He made the candid ad 
 mission with a delightful smile. 
 
 "I fear that you are leaning on a mighty 
 nearly broken reed," said Mitchell. "I m all 
 tied up in money matters this week. But spit 
 it out, anyhow. I ve got six or seven thou 
 sand loose. If it s more than that perhaps 
 Archie can swing it if it s a safe proposi 
 
 tion." 
 
 "Safe as United States bonds, and good 
 for thirty per cent, profit. Come back, 
 Thompson!" Steve was making for the 
 cloor, with apologies. "You re not in the 
 way a bit. Sit down, man! Your six thou 
 sand won t be a starter, Joe. I ve got some 
 four thousand myself, in red, red gold. All 
 I have in the world wish it was more." His 
 
The Come On 259 
 
 blithe insouciance was irresistibly charming. 
 
 "Get down to business, old fellow," said 
 Archibald. " What s the lay?" 
 
 "This is all confidential, between gentle 
 men, you understand?" All nodded. "You 
 know young Post is in hiding? Well, I ve 
 been in touch with him all along. He s tired 
 of skulking and wants me to sell that house 
 his mother left him, strictly on the Q. T. 
 He s got a chance to slip away on a private 
 yacht to-night. Said I could have all I could 
 get over thirty thousand. It s worth fifty, 
 at least. I know where I could get forty- 
 five, but I dare not approach those people 
 now, because they are unfriendly to Post 
 and would make him trouble. Once he is 
 safely away " He waved his hand. 
 
 "That ought to be a good thing," said 
 Archibald thoughtfully. "It rents for six 
 thousand a year, and values going up. I ve 
 a good mind to go into it for a permanent 
 
260 The Come On 
 
 investment. Let s see he d want spot cash, 
 wouldn t he?" 
 
 "Naturally. Cash on the nail. He could 
 hardly afford to be identified, you know." 
 
 ""Can t raise that much to-day," said the 
 shipowner. "Maybe, by borrowing from 
 my partner, I could get enough to pool with 
 you and Mitchell. What s your proposi 
 tion? About cutting profits, I mean." 
 
 "I think I should have ten per cent, net, 
 besides the proportionate earning of my 
 four thousand for giving you fellows the 
 first chance. There s plenty would jump 
 at it." 
 
 "That s fair enough," said Archibald. 
 "Mr. Thompson, you will excuse us? Our 
 trip will only be postponed. I ll have to fly 
 around to rustle ready money. I ll see 
 Bowring first." 
 
 "Hold on," said Mitchell. "Why don t 
 
The Come On 261 
 
 you let my friend in on this? He s got the 
 scads, and he s a good fellow." 
 
 "Oh, he would have to go and see the 
 place," objected Archibald, his eye evident 
 ly on the main chance. 
 
 "No, he won t. We looked it over yes 
 terday. I showed it to him because I used 
 to live there. Don t be selfish, Archie. 
 There s plenty of chances for you to make 
 money. Get your pail, Thompson!" 
 
 "We-11," said Archibald grudgingly. "So 
 long as it s not sure that Bowring can spare 
 me the money, let him take over a third if 
 he wants to." 
 
 "Sure I do," grinned the prospective buy 
 er, highly elated, "and much obliged to you, 
 too, Mr. Archibald. 
 
 "That s all right," said that person gruff 
 ly. "Now then, Loring, come out of it! 
 Time s flying. Where? When? How? 
 
262 The Come On 
 
 Never saw an artist yet that could think on 
 straight lines," he grumbled. 
 
 "All of you get your money, meet at 
 Mitchell s rooms. I ll let Post know and 
 join you there later. We ll wait till dark, 
 get a tried and acquitted notary of my ac 
 quaintance, slip around to Post s lair after 
 dark and do the deed. I ll stand a ripping 
 dinner for the bunch out of my ten per cent. 
 Put deed on record to-morrow morning. 
 That ll give him start enough. Is that all 
 clear?" 
 
 "Clear as a bell. I m off!" said Archi 
 bald. 
 
 "Archie s a good sort, but he does hate to 
 let a dollar get by him." The artist laughed 
 indulgently. "I say, Thompson, did you see 
 how he stuck on letting you have a whack at 
 it?" 
 
 "Where do you bank?" inquired MitchelL 
 Steve told him where his money was depose 
 
The Come On 263 
 
 ited. Mitchell shook his head. "I was 
 hoping we would go the same way, but I 
 go uptown." 
 
 Ten minutes after they left the industri 
 ous bookkeeper returned with navvies and 
 draymen, and removed the office furniture 
 to parts unknown. 
 
 When the four financiers got together in 
 Mitchell s room Steve proposed to continue 
 his lessons in the fascinating game of bridge. 
 
 He drank freely and his game was the 
 apotheosis of bumble-puppy. Archibald, his 
 partner, was much irritated by his stupidity. 
 
 A bellboy came to the door. A gentle 
 man in the parlor would like to see Mr. 
 Thompson. 
 
 Mr. Thompson looked at the card. "Mr. 
 3V. W. Wyatt," he announced sneeringly. 
 "You can tell Mr. A. W. Wyatt, if he wants 
 
264 The Come On 
 
 to see me, he can just naturally mosey him 
 self up here." 
 
 "Not the A. W. Wyatt Anson Wai- 
 worth Wyatt?" asked Loring. "I know 
 him I mean, I know him by sight." 
 
 "I believe it is," said Steve with surly in 
 difference. "If you know him, you know 
 an overbearing jabberwock. He s head 
 devil of the push that bought the Copper- 
 bottom and I don t like his style even a lit 
 tle bit. He seems to think I m the dirt under 
 his feet. I ll show him. 7 know what he 
 wants, and that s the other fourth of my 
 mine." He thumped the table viciously. 
 "He ll pay for all he gets from me y I ll tell 
 you that." 
 
 Mr. Wyatt was ushered in; irreproach 
 able, flawless, exquisite. ("It s him!" 
 breathed Loring.) He remained standing, 
 hat in hand, fitted his glass with vacuous 
 care and surveyed the room with deliberate- 
 
The Come On 265 
 
 ly insolent scrutiny. Thompson kept his 
 seat, fairly prickling with antagonism. The 
 others rose with exemplary good breeding. 
 
 "Aw!" said the newcomer, after an elo 
 quent pause. "Mistah er Townsend, 
 cawn I have a few moments of quite pwi- 
 vate convehsation with you?" 
 
 "No, you cawnt!" retorted Thompson 
 truculently. "Sit down, boys, Sit down, I 
 say! These gentlemen are my friends. 
 Anything you got to say? If there is, say 
 it. And my name s Thompson, if you 
 please." 
 
 "Aw! what an extwemely wemahkable 
 ahttitude !" Wyatt fixed his monocle on the 
 offending miner with bland and exasperat 
 ing condescension. "Weally, you quite in- 
 tewest me, y know! I appwoach you, quite 
 civilly, y* know, with an offah decidedly to 
 youah ahdvahntage, Mistah ah Tomlin- 
 son, and you tweat it " 
 
266 The Come On 
 
 "Thompson!! By Heavens, you say Tom- 
 linson again and I ll pound your face into* 
 shape!" roared the misnamed one, jumping 
 up. Mitchell and Loring vainly tried to 
 quiet him. 
 
 "Weally, I shall be obwiged to wefeh you 
 to my lawyehs " Wyatt began. 
 
 "Refer me you animated outrage you 
 libel ! Turn me loose, you fellows I / don t 
 want to see you or your durn lawyers! I 
 know what you want, well enough. You 
 want to bamboozle me into selling my in 
 terest in the Copper-bottom for less than 
 it s worth. Here s my last word to you 
 Mr. ah White I If you want my fourth 
 at forty thousand, to-day, all right. It s 
 worth more it s paid from the grass-roots 
 down. But that ll make me the round six 
 figures, and that s enough. 7 can make 
 money / know my little way about," he 
 boasted, with insufferable complacency. 
 
The Come On 267 
 
 "Nobody left me my pile! Put up or shut 
 up!" 
 
 "Mr. Wyatt," said Mitchell, "pardon 
 me, but may I suggest that you call at a 
 more favorable time?" He made, behind 
 Thompson s back, the motion significant of 
 an emptied glass. 
 
 "Aw! I see I see! Thawnks awfully 
 for the hint. Good-evening, gentlemen 
 and ah Mistah Tomkins !" 
 
 Thompson broke away, shaking his fist in 
 Wyatt s face. "Say that again and I ll 
 brain you pawdon me, I should say, I ll 
 smash your head in. Thompson s my name 
 T-h-o-m-p-s-o-n, Thompson! And 
 you trade with me, now or never !" 
 
 "You see, gentlemen?" Wyatt appealed. 
 "Mistah ah Tawmson, I offahed you 
 twenty-five thousand on my own wesponsi- 
 bility, as a ah business pwoposition. My 
 < ah associawates in this undehtaking aw 
 
268 The Come On 
 
 all fwiends, quite congenwial, y know, and 
 I felt suah they would sanction that. I do 
 not cyah to go futheh lengths without ah 
 a confewence with them, as I believe that 
 pwice quite ahmple, y know. But if I could 
 awwange fo an option " 
 
 "You pay me twenty thousand, cash, in 
 this room, at eight o clock to-night, and I ll 
 give you an option for one week at forty 
 thousand," persisted the morose miner. 
 "After that, the price goes up." 
 
 "Fifty pehcentum down on an option I 
 This is uttehly unpwecedented, y know. I 
 must wemonstwate, weally!" 
 
 "It s all the option you ll get from me, 
 you jackanapes." He snapped contemptu 
 ous fingers under Wyatt s nose. 
 
 Wyatt buttoned his coat with dignity. 
 "Weally, this pahsses all bounds !" he ejacu 
 lated. "Gentlemen, I accept this ah 
 puhson s offeh. I cannot enduah such an 
 
The Come On 269 
 
 associwate. You ah all witnesses. May I 
 ahsk you-ah names, and may I wequest 
 youah pwesence to-night, both to ensuah the 
 ar fulfillment of the vehbal contwact 
 which you have heahd, and to pwevent the 
 wepetition of this scandalous scene?" He 
 opened the door. "Aw wevoah, gentle 
 men !" By this time he was in the elevator. 
 From this coign of vantage he sent a Parth 
 ian shaft. 
 
 "Till eight o clock, Mistah ah Tom- 
 kinson!" 
 
 The three held the raging Thompson 
 with some mutual dishevelment. They 
 soothed him with flattery, stayed him with 
 flagons, for he yearned for blood with a 
 great yearning. 
 
 "Listen to your friends, boy," urged 
 Mitchell. "Take his money, and don t do 
 anything you ll be sorry for. Make out 
 your papers and pay no attention to what 
 
270 The Come On 
 
 he says. Come, brace up! It ll be time 
 for dinner in a jiffy. Promise us not to 
 drink any more, and not to make any trou 
 ble, or we ll phone him not to come." 
 
 Steve allowed himself to be pacified at 
 last, but he regarded his mitigators with a 
 malignant eye. 
 
 "Here s what I owe you on bridge, 
 Mitchell twenty-three dollars," he said 
 sullenly. "Archibald can settle with Loring. 
 I don t want no dinner I m going to 
 sleep." 
 
 "Oh, come on now, that s a good fellow," 
 purred Mitchell, picking up the two bills 
 and the coins. "Say, old man you haven t 
 turned counterfeiter, have you?" he said 
 good-naturedly. "This one s N. G." 
 
 Steve took it clumsily. "It s no such 
 thing," he blurted. "Good as gold. Take 
 it or leave it. I don t care." 
 
 "Oh, very well," said Mitchell, humoring 
 
The Come On 271 
 
 him. Then he reflected. The indications 
 were that their projected coup might fail if 
 Steve s surly humor kept up. Why not im 
 prove the shining hour? The coin was ob 
 viously bad. 
 
 "I ll take it before it gets you into trou 
 ble," he insinuated. 
 
 Steve lurched to his feet, thrusting an un- 
 decorative face over the table. "You think 
 it s bad?" he queried darkly. "You think 
 I m a fool?" He flung a packet of bills on 
 the table. "Cover that, if you dare," he 
 said. "There s the money for the Post 
 place ten thousand dollars. It says that s 
 a good dollar. Put up or shut up!" 
 
 "You ll lose your money!" warned 
 Mitchell. "Then you ll say I took advan 
 tage of you." 
 
 "I know what you think," said Steve 
 shrewdly. "You think I m drunk, but I m 
 not. / know a good thing when I see it. 
 
272 The Come On 
 
 Don t you don t you lose no sleep about 
 me. I m I m all right, you bet! Now 
 what ll you do or take water?" he fleered. 
 
 Surreptitiously Loring had tried the coin 
 with his penknife during this controversy. 
 The metal was quite soft the knife left a 
 great scar, which he flashed at Mitchell. 
 
 "Well if you insist," said Mitchell re 
 luctantly. He counted out ten one-thousand- 
 dollar bills. "Who ll be the judge?" 
 
 "Anybody. Archie. I ve got you skinned 
 a mile anyway." 
 
 "I am sorry, Mr. Thompson," said Archi 
 bald, "but this dollar seems to be pewter, 
 or something of that general description. 
 Aw, give him back his money, Mitchell 
 he s drinking. 
 
 "I won t!" said Mitchell stubbornly. 
 "He forced me into it. He wouldn t have 
 given it back to me if I d lost." 
 
 "Sure I wouldn t," assented Steve. "I m 
 
The Come On 273 
 
 no boy. / play for keeps, me. Don t be so 
 fast, if you please. This money ain t won 
 yet. Cut into that dollar! I was from 
 Missouri before ever I saw Montana." 
 
 "Cut it, Loring," said Mitchell. "Show; 
 him!" 
 
 Loring scratched it with the penknife 
 point. "You see? soft as cheese rotten," 
 he said. And then the knife struck some 
 thing hard. A chill crept over him. Stu 
 pefied, he scraped the base metal back, re 
 vealing a portion of an irrefutably good 
 dollar. 
 
 The dismayed rascals looked up. In 
 Thompson s hand a large, businesslike gun 
 wavered portentously from one head to the 
 other. 
 
 "Go on!" he admonished. His tone was 
 not particularly pleasant. "Peel her off! 
 Yah! You puling infants! You cheap, 
 trading-stamp crooks!" He raked off the 
 
274 The Come On 
 
 money. "Be tran-tranquil ! You doddering 
 idiots, I d shoot your heads off for two bits! 
 Try to rob a countryman, will you? Why, 
 gentle shepherds all, I ve been on to such 
 curves as yours ever since Hec was a pup ! 
 You and your scout Loring and your Bick- 
 ford and your Post!" he scoffed. "Don t 
 open your heads. Bah! Here, you 
 skunks!" He threw an ostentatiously bad 
 dollar on the table. "Take that, and break 
 even if you can. That patronizing half- 
 baked tailor s dummy that called me out of 
 my name will be back bimeby, with his 
 pockets full. I d like to see him taken down 
 a peg, but I dassent spoil the sale of my 
 mine. Tell him I m in bed, full, but ll be 
 out in an hour or so. He ll come again to 
 buy me out. Hates me like poison, he does. 
 If you can get him to bite, go it! But I 
 doubt if you ll find even that saphead as 
 rank as you three wise guys. Anyway, I 
 
The Come On 275 
 
 don t want to see him while I feel this way. 
 My head aches, and I suppose there s some 
 sort of law against shooting the likes of 
 him or you. I m leavin for another ho 
 tel, right now. Don t you fellows bother 
 me if you value your hides. If you can skin 
 that puppy, why, sic em, Towse ! and the 
 devil take the hindmost! Oh, you Smart 
 Alecks!" 
 
 He backed out with a traditional wiggle 
 of his fingers. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the stringent 
 regulations of the postal authorities will not 
 permit us any report of the heart-to-heart 
 talk that followed his departure, other than 
 the baldest summary. It was marked by 
 earnestness, sincerity, even by some petu 
 lance, interspersed with frank and spirited 
 repartee. Mutual recrimination resulted. 
 
 Subdued and chastened, Mr. Mitchell was 
 reduced to the ranks; Loring, by virtue of 
 
276 The Come On 
 
 his own and Mitchell s vote, replacing him. 
 Archibald s preference was for a third per 
 son still namely, himself and he acqui 
 esced with ill grace. 
 
 They had but little over ten thousand dol 
 lars remaining for the return match; and 
 this, as Loring pointed out with just indig 
 nation, would only put them even. They 
 knew that Wyatt would have at least twice 
 that much with him. So they scurried forth 
 and made such good use of the scant time 
 left them, by borrowing, by squeezing both 
 Bickford and the hard-working bookkeeper, 
 and by resource to certain nest-eggs laid by 
 for case of extreme urgency (known among 
 themselves as "fix money"), they scraped 
 together some six thousand more. The 
 "ripping" dinner went untasted. They were 
 hardened, but human. 
 
 All ravages of carking care were 
 smoothed away, and they were disposed in 
 
The Come On 277 
 
 luxuriant and contented ease when Wyatt 
 came. 
 
 "Aw, gentlemen, I am punctual, you see 1" 
 he announced gayly. "It is weally vewy 
 kind of you to be so obliging I m suah. Is 
 the ah mining puhson in?" 
 
 Mr. Loring, speaking for the trio, affably 
 regretted that their young friend was not, 
 in fact, at his best during Mr. Wyatt s pre 
 vious call. They had remonstrated with 
 him for his injurious conduct. At present 
 he was sleeping off the effects of his slight 
 exhilaration: they thought it would not be 
 at all judicious to disturb him: they felt 
 sure that, on awakening, he would prove 
 amenable to reason. Meanwhile, the night 
 was young; if Mr. Wyatt cared to join them 
 in a friendly rubber they would be delighted. 
 
 "Chawmed, I m suahl" said Wyatt. "I 
 do not desiah any contwovewsy with that 
 vewy wuffianly puhson while he is ah 
 
278 The Come On 
 
 wuffled. So I shall wait and shall be happy 
 to join you." 
 
 The score was close; it was only through 
 ingenious manipulation by their opponents 
 that Wyatt and his partner were forced to 
 win a small sum. 
 
 "Weally, gentlemen," drawled Wyatt, 
 looking at his watch, "I shall be fowced to 
 leave you. I have an engagement at eleven, 
 and I weally feah ouah Mr. Townshend will 
 be, as I might say, hors de combat foh the 
 night. I have to thawnk you fow a vewy 
 agweeable evening, nevahtheless." 
 
 He was carelessly sweeping the money in 
 to his pocket when Mitchell, his partner, 
 checked him. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, but is that not a bad 
 dollar?" he said. 
 
 "Oh, no mattah no consequence at all, I 
 assuah you," said Wyatt liberally. He 
 would have pocketed the piece, but Loring, 
 
The Come On 279 
 
 who had paid it, gave him another, and 
 flung the slighted coin over to Mitchell. 
 
 "If you re so set on this dollar being 
 bad," he said angrily, "I ll bet you what you 
 dare it s not bad." 
 
 "Done with you for twenty!" Mitchell 
 covered it promptly. 
 
 Loring drew out a handful of bills. 
 "Here you are. Any one else want any of 
 this?" he inquired captiously. 
 
 Archibald shook his head and laughed. 
 Wyatt screwed his monocle into his eye, re 
 garded both sides of the coin attentively, and 
 laid it down. 
 
 "Quite bad, I assuah you," he said. "I 
 should pwonounce it about the wohst speci 
 men extahnt." 
 
 "Maybe you d like to bet on it?" said 
 Loring, flaunting the big bills. 
 
 Wyatt was evidently nettled. "Weally, 
 you aw wong I assuah you," he said stiffly. 
 
280 The Come On 
 
 "If you aw pawdon me quite able to lose 
 that money without ah inconvenience I am 
 weady to covah it, at least, as fah as what 
 I have with me goes." 
 
 "Done!" said Loring. This was not so 
 bad, after all. 
 
 "How much? . . . Aw! Seventeen thou 
 sand. Exactly. The bet is made, gentlemen. 
 I ah propose that we wing the bell foh 
 the pwopwietah and, shahl we say, the clahk, 
 to act as judge and stakeholdeh." 
 
 "That will be satisfactory," said Loring. 
 "Allow me, in turn, to make a suggestion, 
 Mr. Wyatt. Put the money in your bill- 
 book, hand it to the stakeholder, and let him 
 give it, unopened, to the winner. Of course, 
 you will first take out your other money. 
 There is no heed for them to know that 
 more than a trivial sum is at stake. We do 
 not want to court unpleasant notoriety." 
 
The Come On 28 1, 
 
 "Quite twue! An excellent suggestion," 
 said Wyatt gravely. He proceeded to put 
 it in effect. 
 
 The summoned dignitaries arrived, the 
 situation was explained, and Wyatt, handing 
 the money to the proprietor and the ques 
 tionable dollar to the clerk, requested judg 
 ment. 
 
 The clerk looked at the coin, rubbed it, 
 rang it. It gave out a dull and leaden sound. 
 
 "Bad, beyond a doubt," he said. 
 
 "Try it with your knife," said Loring 
 confidently. 
 
 The clerk complied. By mischance he 
 bore on too hard. The knife went through 
 to the table. 
 
 >A sound of mirth swept to them. With 
 horror frozen on their faces, the three ras 
 cals were aware of Thompson, leaning in 
 the doorway unmistakably sober, given 
 
282 The Come On 
 
 up to reprehensible levity, holding out a 
 bright tin pail with an expectant air. 
 
 Let us give even the devil his due. For 
 Mitchell laughed. 
 
 THE END 
 
ZANE GREY S NOVELS 
 
 May be imd wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap s list 
 
 THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS 
 
 A New York society girl buys a ranch which becomes < the center of frontier war 
 fare. > Her loyal superintendent rescues her when she is captured by bandits. A 
 Surprising- climax brings the story to a delightful close. 
 
 THE RAINBOW TRAIL 
 
 The story of a young: clergyman who becomes a wanderer in the great western I 
 aplands until at last love and faith awake. 
 
 DESERT GOLD 
 
 The story describes the recent uprising 1 along 1 the border, and ends with the finding 1 
 of the gold which two prospectors had willed to the girl who is the story s heroine. 
 
 RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE 
 
 A picturesque romance of Utah of some forty years ago when Mormon authority 
 tuled. The prosecution of Jane Withersteen is the theme of the story. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN 
 
 lais is the record of a trip which the author took with Buffalo Jones, known as the 
 preserver of the American bison, across the Arizona desert and of a hunt in "that 
 wonderful country of d^ep canons and giant pines." 
 
 THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT 
 
 A lovely girl, who has been reared among 1 Mormons, learns to love a young 1 New 
 Englander. The Mormon religion, however, demands that the girl shall become 
 the second wife of one of the Mormons Well, that s the problem of this great story. 
 
 THE SHORT STOP 
 
 The young 1 hero, tiring- of his factory grind, starts out to win fame and fortune as 
 a professional ball player. His hard knocks at the start are followed by such success 
 as clean sportsmanship, courage and honesty ought to win. 
 
 BETTY^ZANE 
 
 This story tells of the bravery and heroism of Betty, the beautiful young sister of 
 old Colonel Zane, one of the bravest pioneers. 
 
 THE LONE STAR RANGER 
 
 After killing a man in self defense, Buck Diiane becomes an outlaw along the 
 Texas border. In a camp on the Mexican side of the river, he finds a young girl held 
 prisoner, and in attempting to rescue her, brings down upon himself the wrath of her 
 captors and henceforth is hunted on one side by honest men, on the other by outlaws. 
 
 THE BORDER LEGION 
 
 Joan Randle, in a spirit of anger, sent Jim Cleve out to a lawless Western mining 
 camp, to prove his mettle. Then realizing that she loved him she followed him out. 
 On her way, she is captured by a bandit band, and trouble begins when she shoots 
 Kells, the leader and nurses him to health again. Here enters another romance 
 when Joan, disguised as an outlaw, observes Jim, in the throes of dissipation. A gold 
 strike, a thrilling robbery gambling and gun play carry you along breathlessly. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE GREAT"SCOUTS, 
 
 By Helen Cody Wetmore and Zane Grey 
 
 The life story of Colonel William F. Cody, " Buffalo Bill," as told by his sister and 
 Zane Grey. It begins with his boyhood in Iowa and his first encounter with an In 
 dian. We see " Bill" as a pony express rider, then near Fort humter as Chief of 
 the Scouts, and later engaged in the most dangerous Indian campaigns. There* 
 also a very interesting account of the travels of "The Wild We? f " Show. No char 
 acter In public life makes a stronger appeal to the imagination of America than 
 " Buffalo Bill," whose daring and bravery made him famous. __ 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK 
 
THE NOVELS OF 
 
 MARY ROBERTS RINEHART 
 
 Maylje had wherever books are sold. Ask for Srosset ft Dunlap < list. 
 
 "K." Illustrated. 
 
 K. LeMoyne, famous surgeon, drops out of the world that 
 has known him, and goes to live in a little town where 
 beautiful Sidney Page lives. She is in training to become a 
 nurse. The joys and troubles of their young love are told 
 with that keen and sympathetic appreciation which has 
 made the author famous. 
 
 THE MAN IN LOWER TEN. 
 
 Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. 
 
 An absorbing detective story woven around the mysteri 
 ous death of the "Man in Lower Ten." The strongest 
 elements of Mrs. Rinehart s success are found in this book. 
 
 WHEN A MAN MARRIES. 
 
 Illustrated by Harrison Fisher and Mayo Bunker. 
 
 A young artist, whose wife had recently divorced him; 
 finds that his aunt is soon to visit him. The aunt, who 
 contribute to the family income and who has never seen 
 the wife, knows nothing of the domestic upheaval. How 
 the young man met the situation is humorously and most 
 entertainingly told. 
 
 THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE. Hhw. by Leeter Ralph 
 
 The summer occupants of "Sunnyside" find the dead 
 body of Arnold Armstrong, the son of the owner, on the cir 
 cular staircase. Following the murder a bank failure is an 
 nounced. Around these two events is woven a plot ot 
 absorbing interest. 
 
 THE STREET OF SEVEN STARS. - 
 
 Illustrated (Photo Play Edition.) 
 
 Harmony Wells, studying hi Vienna to be a great vlo 
 linist, suddenly realizes that her money is almost gone. She 
 meets a young ambitious doctor who offers her chivalry and 
 sympathy, and together with world- worn Dr. Anna and 
 Jimmie, the wai/, they share their love and slender means. 
 
 QROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 N DP7 
 
 M 
 
 CD 
 
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 LD 21-100m-7, 40 (6936s) 
 
Rhodes, Eugene M. 
 
 R46 
 
 de 
 
 me aesi 
 
 re or the mo 
 
 th 
 
 MOV 1Q1941 
 
 1941 
 
 /7 
 
 M63848 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY