dow curtain he examined the plaza.

"Not a soul in sight. Don't believe there's a man about the place. No
risk at all, looks to me."

With that, he swept the match to a flame, and lit the pipe. He sat close
to the open window, so that the smoke could drift out without his being
seen.

The experiment brought no disaster. He finished his smoke undisturbed,
and went back to reading.

The hours dragged slowly past. Noon came and went; mid-afternoon was
upon him. His watch showed a few minutes past four when he decided on
another smoke. From the corner of his pocket he raked the loose tobacco
into the bowl of his pipe, and pressed it down. Presently he was again
puffing in pleasant serenity.

Suddenly there came a blinding flash and a roar.

Buck started to his feet in amazement, the stem of the pipe still in his
mouth, the bowl shattered into a hundred bits. His first thought was
that he had been the target for a sharpshooter. There was a neat hole
through the framework of the window case, showing where the bullet had
plowed. But an investigation left him in the air; for the direction of
the bullet hole was such that, if anybody from outside had fired it, he
must have been up in a balloon.

The explanation came to him like a flash. In raking the tobacco into his
pipe with his fingers, he must have pressed into the bowl a stray
cartridge left some time in the pocket. This had gone off after the heat
had reached the powder.

By the time he had reached this conclusion some one came running along
the passage and tried the locked door. After some rattling at the knob,
the footsteps retreated. Buck could hear excited voices.

"Coming back in force, I'll bet," he told himself, with a dubious grin.

The fat was surely in the fire now.

Footsteps made themselves heard again, this time in numbers. The door
was tried cautiously. A voice demanded admittance sharply.

Buck opened the door and gazed at the intruders in mild surprise. Old
Sanderson and Phil were there, together with Slim and a cow-puncher
known as Cuffs. All of them were armed.

"Want to come in, gentlemen?" Weaver asked.

"So you're here, are you?" spoke up Phil.

"That's right. I'm here, sure enough."

"How long you been here?"

"Been hanging round the place ever since my escape. You kept so close a
watch I couldn't make my getaway. Some time the other side of noon I
drifted in here, figuring some of you would drive me from cover by
accident during