"Jim," said Johnson, showing his perfect teeth
with an unpleasant grin, "we'll hop right to this!
I think my little proposition here is fair and square.
Thirty dollars in money against that black horse
out there. I told you where you could get a good
horse, and you got one sure enough! And he's
yours! But I've taken a kind of shine to him
myself, and why ain't this a good way to push
it over? My little gray and thirty dollars in
money. What's the matter with it?"

The other did not appear greatly pleased,
nevertheless. Thoughtfully he riffled the cards a
long moment. Then he looked up into Johnson's
black eyes steadily.

"Poker?" he asked, quietly.

"Draw poker," replied the leader, giving his
black mustache a satisfied twist. He jerked his
head in the direction of the chips. "Win all, take
all," he added.

Jim lowered his eyes again. He was not more
than a boy, this outlaw, and he had formed a
strong attachment for the black horse. And because
he had come to understand Pat and to appreciate
him, he hated to think of the horse's
serving under this bloodless man opposite. Pat's
life under this man would be a life of misery.
It was so with all of Johnson's horses. Either
they died early, or else, as in the case of the little
gray, their spirits sank under his cruelty to an
ebb so low that nothing short of another horse,
and one obviously capable of rendering successful
protection, roused them to an interest in their

[[176]]

p175 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p176w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p177

v?