Part 26 (1/2)

”Hold your horses, Steve. I know what I'm doing. Said I was a spy and a thief and a liar, didn't she? Threw the hot shot into me proper for a cheap skate swindler, eh?” The young man laid down his knife, leaned across the table, and wagged a forefinger at Davis. ”What do you reckon that young woman is going to think of herself when she opens that registered package and finds the letter that would have put the rollers under her claim _muy p.r.o.nto?_”

”Think! She'll think you the biggest burro that ever brayed on the San Jacinto range. She'll have a commission appointed to examine you for lunacy. What in Mexico is ailin' you, anyhow? You're sick. That's what's wrong. Love-sick, by Moses!” exploded his friend.

d.i.c.k smiled blandly. ”You've got another guess coming, Steve. She's going to eat dirt because she misjudged me so. She's going to lie awake nights and figure what play she can make to get even again. Getting hold of those blamed letters is the luckiest shot I've made yet. I was in bad--darned bad. Explanations didn't go. I was just a plain ornery skunk. Then I put over this grand-stand play and change the whole situation. She's the one that's in bad now. Didn't she tell me right off the bat what kind of a hairpin I was? Didn't she drive me off the ranch with that game leg of mine all to the bad? Good enough. Now she finds out I'm a white man she's going to be plumb sore at herself.”

”What good does that do you? You're making a fight for the Rio Chama Valley, ain't you? Or are you just having a kid quarrel with a girl?”

”I wouldn't take the Rio Chama Valley as a gift if I had to steal it from Miss Valdes and her people. Ain't I making enough money up at Cripple Creek for my needs? No, Steve! I'm playing for bigger game than that. Size up my hand beside Don Manuel's, and it looks pretty b.u.m. But I'm going to play it strong. Maybe at the draw I'll fill.”

”Mebbe you won't.”

”I can bet it like I had an ace full, can't I? Anybody can play poker when he's got a mitt full of big ones. Show me the man that can make two pair back an all-blue hand off the map.”

”Go to it, you old sport. My money's on you,” grinned the miner admiringly. ”I'll go order a wedding present.”

Through the pleasant coolness of the evening d.i.c.k sauntered along the streets to the Underwood home, nor was his contentment lessened because he knew that at a safe distance the brown shadows still dogged his steps. In a scabbard fitted neatly beneath his left arm rested a good friend that more than once had saved its owner's life. To the fraction of a second Gordon knew just how long it would take him to get this into action in case of need.

Kate Underwood met him at the door and took her guest into the living-room. Beside a student lamp a plump little old lady sat knitting.

Somehow even before her soft voice welcomed him the visitor knew that her gentle presence diffused an atmosphere of home.

”Thee is welcome, Mr. Gordon. Kate has been telling us of thee.”

The young man gave no evidence of surprise, but Kate explained as a matter of course.

”We are Friends, and at home we still use the old way of address.”

”I have very pleasant memories of the Friends. A good old lady who took the place of my own mother was one. It is nice to hear the speech again,” answered Gordon.

Presently the conversation drifted to the Valdes family. It appeared that as children Kate and Valencia had known each other. The heiress of the Valdes estates had been sent to Was.h.i.+ngton to school, and later had attended college in the East. Since her return she had spent most of her time in the valley. So that it happened the two young women had not met for a good many years.

It occurred to d.i.c.k that there was a certain aloofness in Miss Underwood's att.i.tude toward Valencia, a reticence that was not quite unfriendliness but retained the right of criticism. She held her judgment as it were in abeyance.

While Miss Underwood was preparing some simple refreshments Gordon learned from her mother that Manuel Pesquiera had been formerly a frequent caller.

”He has been so busy since he moved down to his place on the Rio Chama that we see nothing of him,” she explained placidly. ”He is a fine type of the best of the old Spanish families. Thee would find him a good friend.”

”Or a good foe,” the young man added.

She conceded the point with a sigh. ”Yes. He is testy. He has the old patrician pride.”

After they had eaten cake and ice cream, Kate showed Gordon over the house. It was built of adobe, and the window seats in the thick walls were made comfortable with cus.h.i.+ons or filled with potted plants. Navajo rugs and Indian baskets lent the rooms the homey appearance such furnis.h.i.+ngs always give in the old Southwest. The house was built around a court in the center, fronting on which were long, shaded balconies both on the first and second floor. A profusion of flowering trailers rioted up the pillars and along the upper railing.

”The old families knew how to make themselves comfortable, anyhow,”

commented the guest.

”Yes, that's the word--comfort. It's not modern or stylish or up to date, but I never saw a house really more comfortable to live in than this,” Miss Underwood agreed. She led the way through a French window from the veranda to a large room with a southern exposure. ”How do you like this room?”

”Must catch the morning suns.h.i.+ne fine. I like even the old stone fireplace in the corner. Why don't builders nowadays make such rooms?”