o--we'll take a little look into the future."

"What d'you mean?"

"Simply this: Nature has favored me with second sight and the ability
to read fortunes. I foretell good an' evil, questions of love and
mattermony by means of numbers, cards, dice, dominoes, apple-parings,
egg-shells, tea-leaves, an' coffee-grounds." The speaker's voice had
taken on the brazen tones of a circus barker. "I pro'nosticate by
charms, ceremonies, omens, and moles; by the features of the face,
lines of the hand, spots an' blemishes of the skin. I speak the
language of flowers. I know one hundred and eighty-seven weather signs,
and I interpet dreams. Now, ladies and gents, this is no idle boast.
Triflin' incidents, little marks on the cuticle, although they appear
to be the effect of chance, are nevertheless of the utmost consequence,
an' to the skilled interpeter they foretell the temper of, an' the
events that will happen to, the person bearin' 'em. Now let us take
this little deck of common playing-cards---"

The monologist, suiting the action to the word, conjured a deck of
cards from somewhere, and extended them to Blaze. "Select one; any
one---"

"Hell!" snorted Jones, slipping into his coat.

"You are a skeptic! Very well. I convince nobody against his will. But
wait! You have a strong face. Stand where you are." Extracting from
another pocket a tiny pair of scissors and a sheet of carbon paper, Mr.
Strange, with the undivided attention of the audience upon him, began
to cut Blaze's silhouette. He was extraordinarily adept, and despite
his subject's restlessness he completed the likeness in a few moments;
then, fixing it upon a plain white cardboard, he presented it with a
flourish.

Blaze accepted the thing and plunged for the open air.

IX

A SCOUTING TRIP

"What ails you?" Law inquired as he and Blaze rolled away in the
buckboard.

"Serves me right for leaving my six-shooter at home," panted the
rancher. "Well, I might have known they'd find me some day."

"'They'? Who?"

"That hombre and his wife--the woman with the mustache. They swore
they'd get me, and it looks like they will, for I daresn't raise my
hand to protect myself."

This was very mystifying to Dave, and he said so.

"The woman'll recognize me, quick enough," Blaze asserted, and then,
"God knows what Paloma will do."

"Really! Is it that bad?"

"It's a vile story, Dave, and I never expected to tell anybody; but
it's bound to come out on me n