on there'll be some."

"But--"

"Don't 'but' me, Aunt Margaret, I take it you aren't deaf."

The old lady relapsed into dignified silence, but there was much concern
and a little understanding in her eyes as she watched the girl pass out
to the corrals.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE PUSKY

A pusky is a half-breed dance. That is the literal meaning of the word.
The practical translation, however, is often different. In reality it is
a debauch--a frightful orgie, when all the lower animal instincts--and
they are many and strong in the half-breed--are given full sway. When
drunkenness and bestial passions rule the actions of these worse than
savages. When murder and crimes of all sorts are committed without
scruple, without even thought. Latterly things have changed, and these
orgies are less frequent among the Breeds, or, at least, conducted with
more regard for decorum. But we are talking of some years ago, at a time
when the Breeds had to learn the meaning of civilization--before good
order and government were thoroughly established in this great Western
country; in the days when Indian "Sun" dances, and other barbarous
functions were held. In the days of the Red River Jig, when a good
fiddler of the same was held to be a man of importance; when the method
of tuning the fiddle to the necessary pitch for the playing of that
curious dance was a secret known only to a privileged few. Some might
call them the "good" old days. "Bad" is the adjective which best
describes that period.

When Horrocks and his men set out for the Breed camp they had discarded
their police clothes and were clad in the uncouth garb of the
half-breeds. They had even gone to the length of staining their faces to
the coppery hue of the Indians. They were a ragged party, these hardy
riders of the plains, as they embarked on their meditated capture of the
desperate raider. All of the five were "tough" men, who regarded their
own lives lightly enough--men who had seen many stirring times, and
whose hairbreadth escapes from "tight" corners would have formed a
lengthy narrative in themselves. They were going to they knew not what
now, but they did not shrink from the undertaking. Their leader was a
man whose daring often outweighed his caution, but, as they well knew,
he was endowed with a reckless man's luck, and they would sooner follow
such as he--for they were sure of a busy time--than work with one of his
more prudent colleagues.

At the half