done for you? Remember,' sez she, 'he
saved you a hundred head of cattle, and fought Red Mask's gang until
help came and he fell from his horse.' Oh, she was a dandy, and heaped
it on like bankin' a furnace. She cried lots an' lots, but it didn't
signify. Out I wus to git, an' out I got. An' now I'll gamble that
swine Jake'll try and set me to work. But I'll level him--sure."

One of the men, Lew Cawley, laughed silently, and then put in a
remark. Lew was a large specimen of the fraternity, and history said
that he was the son of an English cleric. But history says similar
things of many ne'er-do-wells in the Northwest. He still used the
accent of his forebears.

"Old blind-hunks knows something. With all respect, Arizona has
winning ways; but," he added, before the fiery Southerner could
retort, "if I mistake not, here comes Jake to fulfil Arizona's
prophecy."

Every one swung round as Lew nodded in the direction of the house. A
huge man of about six feet five was striding rapidly down the slope.
Tresler, who had been listening to the story on the outskirts of the
group, eyed the newcomer with wonder. He came at a gait in which every
movement displayed a vast, monumental strength. He had never seen such
physique in his life. The foreman was still some distance off, and he
could not see his face, only a great spread of black beard and
whisker. So this was the much-cursed Jake Harnach, and, he thought
without any particular pleasure, his future boss.

There was no further talk. Jake Harnach looked up and halted. Then he
signaled, and a great shout came to the waiting group.

"Hi! hi! you there! You with the pants!"

A snigger went round the gathering, and Tresler knew that it was he
who was being summoned. He turned away to hide his annoyance, but was
given no chance of escape.

"Say, send that guy with the pants along!" roared the foreman. And
Tresler was forced into unwilling compliance.

And thus the two men, chiefly responsible for the telling of this
story of Mosquito Bend, met. The spirit of the meeting was
antagonistic; a spirit which, in the days to come, was to develop into
a merciless hatred. Nor was the reason far to seek, nor could it have
been otherwise. Jake looked out upon the world through eyes that
distorted everything to suit his own brutal nature, while Tresler's
simple manliness was the result of his youthful training as a public
schoolboy.

The latter saw before him a man of perhaps thirt