go
browsin' 'round Larned, and not get snapped up, do you? They don't chase
deserters very far out here, but that's the post I skipped from, and
they'd jug me all right. Besides, I'm damned if I'll go back until I get
a stake. I want to see a fellow first."

"What fellow?"

"Well, it's Hawley, if you want to know so bad. He said if I would come
here and wait for him he'd put me on to a good thing."

The boy fidgeted along the edge of the bed, evidently half ashamed
of himself, yet obstinate and unyielding. Keith sat watching his face,
unable to evolve any means of changing his decision. Hawley's influence
just at present was greater than Hope's, because the lad naturally felt
ashamed to go slinking home penniless and defeated. His pride held him
to Hawley, and his faith that the man would redeem his promise. Keith
understood all this readily enough, and comprehended also that if "Black
Bart" had any use for the boy it would be for some criminal purpose.
What was it? Was there a deeply laid plot back of all these preparations
involving both Willoughby and his sister? What was it Hawley was
scheming about so carefully, holding this boy deserter in one hand,
while he reached out the other after Christie Maclaire? Surely, the man
was not working blindly; he must have a purpose in view. Willoughby
had acknowledged he had told the fellow something once when he was
drunk--about his family history, no doubt, for he had shown him Hope's
picture. What that family secret was Keith had no means of guessing,
but Hawley, the moment he saw the face on the cardboard, had evidently
recognized Christie Maclaire--had thought of some way in which what he
now knew could be turned to advantage. The few scattered facts which
Keith had collected all seemed to point to such a conclusion--Hawley had
sent the boy to Sheridan, where he would be out of sight, with orders to
wait for him there, and the promise of a "stake" to keep him quiet. Then
he had gone to Independence and Topeka seeking after Christie Maclaire.
Evidently he meant to keep the two apart until he had gained from each
whatever it was he sought. But what could that be? What family secret
could Willoughby have blurted out in his cups, which had so stimulated
the gambler's wits?

Two things combined to cause Keith to determine he would uncover this
rascality,--his desire to repay Hawley, and his interest in the girl
rescued on the Salt Fork. This gossamer web of intrigue into wh