hemselves an eye to
picturesque garb upon occasion, but this passed even Pink's love of
display.

"He's some gaudy to look at," Irish murmured under his breath to Cal
Emmett.

"All he lacks is a spot-light and a brass band," Cal returned, in much
the same tone with which a woman remarks upon a last season's hat on the
head of a rival.

Miguel was not embarrassed by the inspection. He was tall, straight,
and swarthily handsome, and he stood with the complacence of a stage
favorite waiting for the applause to cease so that he might speak his
first lines; and, while he waited, he sifted tobacco into a cigarette
paper daintily, with his little finger extended. There was a ring upon
that finger; a ring with a moonstone setting as large and round as the
eye of a startled cat, and the Happy Family caught the pale gleam of it
and drew a long breath. He lighted a match nonchalantly, by the artfully
simple method of pinching the head of it with his fingernails, leaned
negligently against the wall of the bunk-house, and regarded the group
incuriously while he smoked.

"Any pretty girls up this way?" he inquired languidly, after a moment,
fanning a thin smoke-cloud from before his face while he spoke.

The Happy Family went prickly hot. The girls in that neighborhood were
held in esteem, and there was that in his tone which gave offense.

"Sure, there's pretty girls here!" Big Medicine bellowed unexpectedly,
close beside him. "We're all of us engaged to `em, by cripes!"

Miguel shot an oblique glance at Big Medicine, examined the end of his
cigarette, and gave a lift of shoulder, which might mean anything
or nothing, and so was irritating to a degree. He did not pursue the
subject further, and so several belated retorts were left tickling
futilely the tongues of the Happy Family--which does not make for
amiability.

To a man they liked him little, in spite of their easy friendliness with
mankind in general. At supper they talked with him perfunctorily, and
covertly sneered because he sprinkled his food liberally with cayenne
and his speech with Spanish words pronounced with soft, slurred
vowels that made them sound unfamiliar, and against which his English
contrasted sharply with its crisp, American enunciation. He met their
infrequent glances with the cool stare of absolute indifference to their
opinion of him, and their perfunctory civility with introspective calm.

The next morning, when there was riding to be done, a