now, anything about your dirty work," he
said, shortly. "Moreover, if you think I'm bent on vengeance, you are
a damned fool to tell me."

Rodman laughed satirically.

"Oh, I'm not so easy as you give me credit for being. You are trying
to 'kiss your way out,' as the thieves put it. You're trying to talk
me out of killing you, but do you know why I'm willing to tell you all
this?" He halted, then went on tempestuously. "I'll tell you why. In
the first place, you know it already, and, in the second place, you'll
never repeat any information after to-night. It's idiotic perhaps, but
my reason for not killing you right at the start is that I've got a
fancy for telling you the true facts, whether you choose to believe
them or not. It will ease my conscience afterward."

Saxon stood waiting for the next move, bracing himself for an
opportunity that might present itself, the pistol muzzle still pointed
at his chest.

"I'm not timid," went on the other. "You know me. Howard Rodman,
speakin' in general, takes his chances. But I am afraid of you, more
afraid than I am of the devil in hell. I know I can't bluff you. I
saw you stand against this wall with the soldiers out there in front,
and, since you can't be frightened off, you must be killed." The man's
voice gathered vehemence as he talked, and his face showed growing
agitation. "And the horrible part is that it's all a mistake, that I'd
rather be friends with you, if you'd let me. I never was informant
against you."

He paused, exhausted by his panic and his flow of words. Saxon, with a
strong effort, collected his staggered senses.

"Why do you think I come for vengeance?" he asked.

"Why do I think it?" The thin man laughed bitterly. "Why, indeed? What
except necessity or implacable vengeance could drive a man to this
God-forsaken strip of coast? And you--you with money enough to live
richly in God's country, you whose very face in these boundaries
invites imprisonment or death! What else could bring you? But I knew
you'd come--and, so help me God, I'm innocent."

A sudden idea struck Saxon. This might be the cue to draw on the
frightened talker without self-revelation.

"What do you want me to believe were the real facts?" he demanded,
with an assumption of the cold incredulity that seemed expected of
him.

The other spoke eagerly.

"That morning when General Ojedas' forces entered Puerto Frio, and the
government seized me, you were free. Then, I was releas