the reason Bob went to Colina last week to kind of arrange for Pearl
going up to make a visit to the old man. But shucks!" he broke off,
"what am I telling you this for, when you know more than I do?" His
bright, beady eyes rested on Hanson's with pleased and eager
anticipation as he awaited further revelations.

"Nothing more to tell," replied the other disappointedly. "It's all
just as you say. Well, I got to go up and see Mrs. Gallito. I'm off
myself early to-morrow morning. See you before that though. So long."

He walked away, feeling dazed for the moment and beaten. Not at once did
he turn his steps in the direction of the Gallito home, but continued to
tramp up and down the road, and presently, as the cool, fresh air
restored his spirit, he was able to think clearly again. His world was
in chaos, but, even so, he still held some winning cards. He had no
intention, he gritted his teeth as he made this vow, of dropping out of
the game. He meant to play it to a finish. Those cards! He ran over his
hand mentally. There was that commanding trump--his knowledge, his
unsuspected knowledge of the whereabouts of Crop-eared Jose. Then his
next biggest trump--and here his heart lifted with a thrill--was the
fact that Pearl loved him. Yes, in spite of her anger, in spite of the
fact that she had rushed off to Colina, where she knew he could not
follow her, she loved him; and his desire for her was but increased by
the dangers and difficulties with which she surrounded herself. But he
must keep in touch with her, and the question as to how this might best
be accomplished rose in his mind. Mrs. Gallito was the almost immediate
answer, and he determined, no matter what objections might be raised, to
communicate with Pearl through that available source. Of one thing was
he convinced and that was that not for long would Pearl linger in the
gloomy mountains which he knew she abhorred. She belonged to the desert
or to the world of men and admiration, the world of light and color and
music. He couldn't see her in the mountains, he shivered a little at the
thought of her among them; the cold, silent, austere mountains, so alien
to this flower of the cactus.

His first poignant disappointment over, and his plan of action decided
upon, he wasted no time in seeking Mrs. Gallito. He found her, to his
satisfaction, quite alone, Hughie having, as she told him, gone to spend
the evening with some friends. She had, before his arrival, bee