made forever notorious by a mysterious crime. He noted
them all; the faces of the men, the gestures of the women; but he did not
show any special interest till he came to that portion of the road where
the long line of half-buried fences began to give way to a few scattered
houses. Then his spirit woke, and be became quick, alert, and persuasive.
He entered houses; he talked with the people. Though evidently not a
dissipated man, he stopped at several saloons, taking his time with his
glass and encouraging the chatter of all who chose to meet his advances.
He was a natural talker and welcomed every topic, but his eye only
sparkled at one. This he never introduced himself; he did not need to.
Some one was always ready with the great theme; and once it was started,
he did not let the conversation languish till every one present had given
his or her quota of hearsay or opinion to the general fund.

It seemed a great waste of time, for nobody had anything to say worth the
breath expended on it. But Sweetwater showed no impatience, and proceeded
to engage the attention of the next man, woman, or child he encountered
with undiminished zest and hopefulness.

He had left the country road behind, and had entered upon the jumble of
sheds, shops, and streets which marked the beginnings of the town in this
direction, when his quick and experienced eye fell on a woman standing
with uncovered head in an open doorway, peering up the street in anxious
expectation of some one not yet in sight. He liked the air and well-kept
appearance of the woman; he appreciated the neatness of the house at her
back and gauged at its proper value the interest she displayed in the
expected arrival of one whom he hoped would delay that arrival long
enough for him to get in the word which by this time dropped almost
unconsciously from his lips.

But a second survey of the woman's face convinced him that his ordinary
loquaciousness would not serve him here. There was a refinement in her
aspect quite out of keeping with the locality in which she lived, and he
was hesitating how to proceed, when fortune favoured him by driving
against his knees a small lad on an ill-directed sled, bringing him
almost to the ground and upsetting the child who began to scream
vociferously.

It was the woman's child, for she made instantly for the gate which,
for some reason, she found difficulty in opening. Sweetwater, seeing
this, blessed his lucky stars. He was at his bes