an into you today?"

"I reckon he did," replied Pan, with a grim laugh.

"Panhandle, this is getting sort of warm," she said, leaning across the
table to him. "I'm not prying into your affairs. But I could be your
friend. God knows I like a _man_."

"That's the second compliment you've paid me tonight. What're you up
to, Louise?"

"See here, cowboy, when I pay any two-legged hombre compliments you can
gamble they are sincere."

"All right, no offense meant."

"Do you resent my curiosity?"

"No."

"I've got you figured right when I say you're in trouble. You're
_looking_ for someone?"

"Yes."

"I knew it," she retorted, snapping her fingers. "And that's Hardman
and his outfit ... I didn't hear all Dick said. When he talked loud
he cussed. But I heard enough to tie up Panhandle Smith with this girl
Lucy and the Hardman outfit."

Pan eyed her steadily. She was encroaching upon sacred ground. But
her feeling was genuine, and undoubtedly she had some connection with a
situation which began to look complex. The same instinct that operated
so often with Pan in his relation to men of the open now subtly
prompted him. Regardless of circumstances he knew when to grasp an
opportunity.

"Louise, you show that you'd risk taking a chance on me--a stranger,"
he replied, with quick decision. "I return that compliment."

The smile she gave him was really a reward. It gave him a glimpse of
the depths of her.

"Who's this girl, Lucy?" she queried.

"She's my sweetheart, ever since we were kids," returned Pan with
emotion. "I went to riding the ranges, and well, like so many cowboys,
I didn't go back home. When I did go Lucy was gone, my family was
gone. I trailed them here--to find that Dick Hardman was about to
force Lucy to marry him."

"The ---- ---- ----!" she burst out. Then after her excitement cooled:
"How'd he aim to force her?"

Quickly Pan explained the situation as related to Jim Blake.

"Aha! Easy to savvy. That's where Jard Hardman and Matthews come
in.... Panhandle, they're a dirty outfit--and the dirtiest of them is
Dick Hardman!"

"What's he to you, Louise?" inquired Pan gravely. "You'll excuse me if
I say I can't see you in love with him."

"In love with Dick Hardman?" she whispered, hotly. "My God! I
wouldn't soil even my hands on him--if I didn't have to.... He met me
in Frisco. He brought me to this damned stinking rough hole. He made
me promises he never kept.