oor, and was furnished with a bare table and a few chairs. It
was clean, but having only one window and that always closed, it had a
pronounced and individual odour. In one corner was a little fireplace,
which had long served both for cooking and to furnish heat, but as a
concession to modern ideas Archulera had lately supplemented it with a
cheap range in the opposite corner. There Catalina was noisily distilling
an aroma from goat liver and onions. The entrails she threaded on little
sticks and broiled them to a delicate brown over the coals, while the head
she placed whole in the oven. Later this was cracked open and the brains
taken out with a spoon, piping hot and very savoury. These viands were
supplemented by a pan of large pale biscuits, and a big tin pot of coffee.
Catalina served the two men, saying nothing, not even raising her eyes,
while they talked and paid no attention to her. After eating her own
supper and washing the dishes she disappeared into the next room.

This self-effacing behaviour on the part of the girl accorded with the
highest standards of Mexican etiquette, and showed her good breeding. The
fact that old Archulera paid no more attention to her than to a chair did
not indicate that he was indifferent to her. On the contrary, as Ramon had
long ago discovered, she was one of the chief concerns of his life. He
could not forget that in her veins flowed some of the very best of Spanish
blood, and he considered her altogether too good for the common
sheep-herders and wood-cutters who aspired to woo her. These he summarily
warned away, and brought his big Winchester rifle into the argument
whenever it became warm. When he left the girl alone, in order to guard
her from temptation he locked her into the house together with his dog.
Catalina had led a starved and isolated existence.

After the meal, Archulera became reminiscent of his youth. Some
thirty-five years before he had been one of the young bloods of the
country, having fought against the Navajos and Apaches. He had made a
reputation, long since forgotten by every one but himself, for ruthless
courage and straight shooting, and many a man had he killed. In his early
life, as he had often told Ramon, he had been a boon companion of old
Diego Delcasar. The two had been associated in some mining venture, and
Archulera claimed that Delcasar had cheated him out of his share of the
proceeds, and so doomed him to his present life of poverty. When pr