I mek eet a bet -- a good bet! I bet you two dolars
thot eet -- thot eet don' be!"

It was now the other who hesitated. But he
did not hesitate for long. Evidently the spirit of
the gambler was more deeply rooted in him than
it was in Felipe, for, after gazing out in the trail
a moment, then eying Felipe another moment,
both speculatively, he extracted from his pockets
two more silver dollars and tossed them down
with the others. Then he fixed Felipe with a malignant
stare.

"I bet you t'ree dolars thot eet cooms what I
haf say!"

Felipe laughed. "All right," he agreed, readily.
"Why not?" He heaped the money under a
stone, sank over upon his back with an affected
yawn, drew his hat over his eyes, and lay still.
"We go to sleep now, Franke," he proposed.
"Eet's long time -- I haf t'ink."

Soon both were snoring.

Out in the trail hung the quiet of a sick-room.
The long afternoon waned. Once a wagon appeared
from the direction of town, but the driver,
evidently grasping the true situation, turned out
and around the mare in respectful silence. Another
time a single horseman, riding from the
mountains, cantered upon the scene; but this
man, also with a look of understanding, turned
out and around the mare in careful regard for her
condition. Then came darkness. Shadows crept
in from nowhere, stealing over the desert more
and more darkly, while, with their coming, birds

[[10]]

p009 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p010w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p011

v?