ing briskly toward him, his jaw working like a
sheep eating hay.

"Afoot, air ye?" he exclaimed curiously. "What-fer idea yuh got in yore
head now, young feller? Comin' back here afoot when ye rid two fast
horses? Needn't be afraid of ole Pop--not unless yuh lie to 'im and try
to git somethin' fur nothin'. Made off with Lew's wife, too, didn't ye?
Oh, there ain't much gits past ole Pop, even if he ain't the man he used
to be. I seen yuh lookin' at her when yuh oughta been eatin'. I seen
yuh! An' her watchin' you when she thought nobuddy'd ketch her at it!
Sho! Shucks a'mighty! You been playin' hell all around, now, ain't ye?
Needn't lie--I know what my own eyes tells me!"

"You know a lot, then, that I wish I knew. I've been in Crater all the
time, Pop. Did you know Lew was mixed up in a bank robbery yesterday,
and the cashier of the bank shot him? The rest of the gang is dead or in
jail. The sheriff did some good work there for a few minutes."

Pop pinched in his lips and stared at Bud unwinkingly for a minute.
"Don't lie to me," he warned petulantly. "Went to Crater, did ye? Cashed
them checks, I expect."

Bud pulled his mouth into a rueful grin. "Yes, Pop, I cashed the checks,
all right--and here's what's left of the money. I guess," he went
on while he pulled out a small roll of bills and licked his finger
preparatory to counting them, "I might better have stuck to running my
horses. Poker's sure a fright. The way it can eat into a man's pocket--"

"Went and lost all that money on poker, did ye?" Pop's voice was shrill.
"After me tellin' yuh how to git it--and showin' yuh how yuh could beat
Boise--" the old man's rage choked him. He thrust his face close to
Bud's and glared venomously.

"Yes, and just to show you I appreciate it, I'm going to give you what's
left after I've counted off enough to see me through to Spokane. I feel
sick, Pop. I want change of air. And as for riding two fast horses to
Crater--" he paused while he counted slowly, Pop licking his lips avidly
as he watched,--"why I don't know what you mean. I only ride one horse
at a time, Pop, when I'm sober. And I was sober till I hit Crater."

He stopped counting when he reached fifty dollars and gave the rest to
Pop, who thumbed the bank notes in a frenzy of greed until he saw that
he had two hundred dollars in his possession. The glee which he tried
to hide, the crafty suspicion that this was not all of it the returning
conviction that Bud was