party crowded out
on the floor.

"Now, isn't that a pretty bunch!" exclaimed the critical woman again.
"That's the Calabasas gang. Look at those four men with the red
neckerchiefs. Sandusky, that big fellow, with the crooked jaw--Butch,
they call him--and his jaw's not half as crooked as Sandusky himself,
either. He couldn't lie in bed straight. And Harvey Logan, with his
black hair plastered over his eyes. Why, for one drink those two
fellows would turn loose on this crowd and kill half a dozen. And
there's two of Duke Morgan's cowboys with them, boozing old Bull Page,
and that squint-eyed Sassoon--he's worse than the others, that
fellow--a fine bunch to allow in this town."

De Spain had excellent ears. He had heard of these Calabasas men--of
Sandusky and of the little fellow, Logan. They had much more than a
local reputation as outlaws; they were known from one end of the
Superstition Range to the other as evil-doers of more than ordinary
ruthlessness. De Spain, from force of habit, studied every detail of
their make-up. Both showed more than traces of drink, and both
securing partners joined rudely in the dancing. It had become second
nature to de Spain to note even insignificant details concerning men,
and he took an interest in and remarked how very low Logan carried his
gun in front of his hip. Sandusky's holster was slung higher and
farther back on the side. Logan wore a tan shirt and khaki. Sandusky,
coatless, was dressed in a white shirt, with a red tie, and wore a
soiled, figured waistcoat fastened at the bottom by a cut-glass
button.

The Sleepy Cat gossip commented on how much money these men had been
spending all day. She wondered aloud, reckless apparently of
consequences, who had been robbed, lately, to provide it. Her
companion scolded her for stirring up talk that might make trouble;
averred she didn't believe half the stories she heard; asserted that
these men lived quietly at Calabasas, minding their own affairs. "And
they're kind to poor folks, too." "Sure," grimaced the obdurate one,
"with other people's money." De Spain had no difficulty in placing the
two women. One was undoubtedly the wife of a railroad man, who hated
the mountain outlaws, and the other was, with equal certainty, a town
sympathizer with slandered men, and the two represented the two
community elements in Sleepy Cat.

De Spain, discontented, turning again into Main Street, continued on
toward the Thief River stage barn. He