elongings of the Whitely's left
behind in the haste of departure. Well, a few mule loads would be a
neighborly gift to take north when he crossed the border, and Soledad
was nearer the border!

It arranged itself very well indeed, and as Tula emerged from the
patio smoothing out an old newspaper fragment discarded by Fidelio,
and chewing _chica_ given her by Clodomiro, he hailed her with joy.

"Blessed Indian Angel," he remarked appreciatively, "you greased the
toboggan for several kinds of hell for us this day of our salvation,
but your jinx was on the job, and turned the trick our way! Do you
know you are the greatest little mascot ever held in captivity?"

But Tula didn't know what "mascot" meant, and was very much occupied
with the advertisement of a suit and cloak house in the old Nogales
paper in which some trader at the railroad had wrapped Fidelio's
tobacco. It had the picture of an alluring lady in a dress of much
material slipping from the shoulders and dragging around the feet. To
the aboriginal mind that seemed a very great waste, for woven material
was hard to come by in the desert.

She attempted an inquiry concerning that wastefulness of Americanas,
but got no satisfactory reply. Kit took the tattered old paper from
her hand, and turned it over because of the face of Singleton staring
at him from the other side of the page. It was the account of the
inquest, and in the endeavor to add interest the local reporters had
written up a column concerning Singleton's quarrel with the range
boss, Rhodes,--and the mysterious disappearance of the latter across
the border!

There was sympathetic mention made of Miss Wilfreda Bernard, heiress
of Granados, and appreciative mention of the efficient manager,
Conrad, who had offered all possible assistance to the authorities in
the sad affair. The general expression of the article was regret that
the present situation along the border prevented further investigation
concerning Rhodes. The said Rhodes appeared to be a stranger in the
locality, and had been engaged by the victim of the crime despite the
objections of Manager Conrad.

There followed the usual praise and list of virtues of the dead man,
together with reference to the illustrious Spanish pioneer family from
whom his wife had been descended. It was the first time Kit had been
aware of the importance of Billie's genealogy, and remembering the
generally accepted estimates of Spanish pride, he muttered some