be for his money. So Pan took cheap lodgings, and patronized a
restaurant kept by a Chinaman.

He chose a table at which sat a young man whose face and hands and
clothes told of rough life in the open in contact with elemental
things. Pan could catch such significance as quickly as he could the
points of a horse. He belonged to that fraternity himself.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked, indicating the vacant chair.

"Help yourself, stranger," was the reply, accompanied by an appraising
glance from level quiet eyes.

"I'm sure hungry. How's the chuck here?" went on Pan, seating himself.

"The Chink is a first rate cook an' clean.... Just come to town?"

"Yes," replied Pan, and after giving his order to a boy waiter he
turned to his companion across the table and continued. "And it took a
darn long ride to get here. From Texas."

"That so? Well, I come from western Kansas, just across the Texas
line."

"Been here long?"

"Reckon a matter of six months."

"What's your work, if you'll excuse curiosity. I'm green, you see, and
want to know."

"I've been workin' a minin' claim. Gold."

"Ah-huh!" replied Pan with quickened interest. "Sounds awful good to
me. I never saw any gold but a few gold eagles, and they've sure been
scarce enough."

Pan's frankness, and that something simple and careless about him,
combined with his appearance, always created the best of impressions
upon men.

His companion grinned across the table, as if he had shared Pan's
experience. "Reckon you needn't tell me you're a cowpuncher. I heard
you comin' before I saw you.... My name's Brown."

"Howdy, glad to meet you," replied Pan, and then with evident
hesitation. "Mine is Smith."

"Panhandle Smith?" queried the other, quickly.

"Why, sure," returned Pan with a laugh.

"Shake," was all the reply Brown made, except to extend a lean strong
hand.

"I'm most as lucky as I am unlucky," said Pan warmly. "It's a small
world.... Now tell me, Brown, have you seen or heard anything of my
dad, Bill Smith?"

"No, sorry to say. But I haven't mingled much. Been layin' pretty
low, because the fact is I think I've struck a rich claim. An' it's
made me cautious."

"Ah-uh. Pretty wide open town, I'll bet. I appreciate your confidence
in me."

"To tell you the truth I'm darn glad to run into some one from near
home. Lord, I wish you could have brought word from my wife an' baby."

"Married, and got a kid. That's fi