he exposure of trim ankles. The agitated Mr. Brown
coughed, his uneasy glances straying down the open shaft. He would
gladly, and with extreme promptness, have shoved the cold muzzle of his
Colt beneath the nose of any man at such moment of trial; but this
young girl, with a glance and a laugh, had totally disarmed him.
Disturbed conscience, a feeling akin to disloyalty, pricked him, but
the temptation left him powerless to resist--those black eyes held him
already captive; and yet in this moment of wavering indecision, that
teasing hand once again rested lightly upon his shirt-sleeve.

"Please do dat, senor," the voice low and pleading. "It vas not ver'
mooch just to let a girl see your leetle mine. What harm, senor? But
maybe it's so because you no like me?"

Startled by so unjust a suspicion, the eyes of the young giant
instantly revealed a degree of interest which caused her own to light
up suddenly, her red lips parting in a quick, appreciative smile which
disclosed the white teeth.

"Ah, I see it vas not dat. Eet make glad de heart--make eet to sing
like de birds. Now I know eet vill be as I vish. How do I get down,
senor?"

Thus easily driven from his last weak entrenchments, his heart
fluttering to the seduction of her suggestive glance, the embarrassed
Stutter made unconditional surrender, a gruff oath growling in his
throat. He leaned out over the dark shaft, his supporting hand on the
drum.

"Come u-u-up, M-M-Mike," he called, rattling his letters like
castanets. "I w-w-want to g-go d-d-down."

There followed a sound of falling rocks below, a fierce shaking of the
suspended rope, and then a muffled voice sang out an order, "H'ist
away, and be dommed ter yer." Brown devoted himself assiduously to the
creaking windlass, although never able entirely to remove his attention
from that bright-robed, slender figure standing so closely at his side.
For one brief second he vaguely wondered if she could be a witch, and
he looked furtively aside, only to perceive her bright eyes smiling
happily at him. Then suddenly a totally bald head shot up through the
opening, a seamed face the color of parchment, with squinting gray
eyes, peered suspiciously about, while a gnarled hand reached forth,
grasped a post in support, and dragged out into the sunlight a short,
sturdy body. Mike straightened up, with a peculiar jerk, on the dump,
spat viciously over the edge of the canyon, and drew a short, black
pipe