an't be! Her child!... In a gamblin' hell! But that
face!... Ah! where else could I expect the child of such a mother?'

"An' Lee went closer to where the gurl was waitin'. His party follered
an' I follered too.... Jest whin the moosic sthopped an' the gurl looked
up--thin she seen Lee. Roight out he sthepped away from the crowd. He
wuz whiter 'n a ghost. An' the gurl she seemed paralyzed. Sthrange it
wor to see how she an' him looked alike thin.

"The crowd seen somethin' amiss, an' went quiet, starin' an' nudgin'....
Gineral, dom' me if the gurl's face didn't blaze. I niver seen the
loike. An' she sthepped an' come straight fer Lee. An' whin she sthopped
she wuz close enough to touch him. Her eyes wor great burnin' holes an'
her face shone somethin' wonderful.

"Lee put up a shakin' hand.

"'Gurl,' he sez, 'did yez iver hear of Allison Lee?'

"An' all her seemed to lift.

"'He is my father!' she cried. 'I am Allie Lee!'

"Ah! thin that crowd wuz split up by a mon wot hurried through. He wuz
a greaser--one of thim dandies on dress an' diamonds--a handsome,
wicked-lookin' gambler. Seein' the gurl, he snarled, 'Go back there!'
an' he pointed. She niver even looked at him.

"Some wan back of me sez thot's Durade. Wal, it was! An' sudden he seen
who the gurl wuz watchin'--Lee.

"Thot Durade turned green an' wild-eyed an' stiff. But thot couldn't
hould a candle to Lee. Shure he turned into a fiend. He bit out a
Spanish name, nothin' loike Durade.

"An' loike a hissin' snake Durade sez, 'Allison Lee!'

"Thin there wuz a dead-lock between thim two men, wid the crowd waitin'
fer hell to pay. Life-long inimies, sez I, to meself, an' I hed the
whole story.

"Durade began to limber up. Any man what knows a greaser would have been
lookin' fer blood. 'She--wint--back--to yez!' panted Durade.

"'No--thief--Spanish dog! I have not seen her for nineteen years,' sez
Lee.

"The gurl spoke up: 'Mother is dead! Killed by Injuns!'

"Thin Lee cried out, 'Did she leave HIM?'

"'Yes, she did,' sez the gurl. 'She wuz goin' back. Home! Takin'
me home. But the caravan wuz attacked by Injuns. An' all but me wor
massacred."

"Durade cut short the gurl's spache. If I iver seen a reptoile it wuz
thin.

"'Lee, they both left me,' he hisses. 'I tracked them. I lost the
mother, but caught the daughter.'

"Thin thot Durade lost his spache fer a minnit, foamin' at the mouth
wid rage. If yez niver seen a greaser mad thin yez niver