out of his
mind--all consideration of other and possibly more feasible methods of
pushing his suit. He came of a race of men who had dared and dominated,
who had loved and fought, but had never learned how to work or to endure.

When he gave himself up to his dream he was almost elated, but when he
came to contemplate his actual circumstances, he fell into depths of
discouragement and melancholy. His uncle stood like a rock between him and
his desire. He thought of trying to borrow a few thousand dollars from old
Diego, and of leaving the future to luck, but he was too intelligent long
to entertain such a scheme. The Don would likely have provided him with
the money, and he would have done it by hypothecating more of the Delcasar
lands to MacDougall. Then Ramon would have had to borrow more, and so on,
until the lands upon which all his hopes and dreams were based had passed
forever out of his reach.

The thing seemed hopeless, for Don Diego might well live for many years.
And yet Ramon did not give up hope. He was worried, desperate and bitter,
but not beaten. He had still that illogical faith in his own destiny which
is the gift that makes men of action.

At this time he heard particularly disquieting things about his uncle. Don
Diego was reputed to be spending unusually large sums of money. As he
generally had not much ready cash, this must mean either that he had sold
land or that he had borrowed from MacDougall, in which case the land had
doubtless been given as security. Once it was converted into cash in the
hands of Diego, Ramon knew that his prospective fortune would swiftly
vanish. He determined to watch the old man closely.

He learned that Don Diego was playing poker every night in the back room
of the White Camel pool hall. Gambling was supposed to be prohibited in
the town, but this sanctum was regularly the scene for a game, which had
the reputation of causing more money to change hands than any other in the
southwest. Ramon hung about the White Camel evening after evening, trying
to learn how much his uncle was losing. He would have liked to go and
stand behind his chair and watch the game, but both etiquette and pride
prevented him doing this. On two nights his uncle came out surrounded by a
laughing crowd, a little bit tipsy, and was hurried into a cab. Ramon had
no chance to speak either to him or to any one else who had been in the
game. But the third night he came out alone, heavy with liquor, ta