ck.

Noah Ezekiel had been approached several times by infuriated ranchers
with suggestions that they organize a mob. But American ranchers were
too few and unpopular to make mobs highly hopeful. An attack on these
guards would bring on a conflict with the whole Mexican garrison at
Mexicali, consisting of several hundred well-trained troops. Noah
Ezekiel advised strongly against this. Noah was opposed to strife of
any kind. But he had been doing a little plotting of his own.

He knew the Red Owl employed a number of boosters for the games--men
who went from table to table and gambled with the house's money. The
psychology of gambling is like the psychology of anything else--the
livelier the game the more there are who want to get into it. The job
of the booster is to stimulate business by gambling freely himself.
These boosters are paid four dollars a day; and the ordinary Mexican,
if given his choice between being secretary of state and a booster at
the Red Owl, would pick the Owl every time.

After a reasonable wait to see if water was coming in by the due
process of law and growing doubtful about it, Noah Ezekiel had begun
carefully laying plans.

That morning he had gone to the Red Owl and had a secret session with
Jack the Ace of Diamonds, one of the game keepers. Jack and the hill
billy had become good friends, and Jack was more than willing to
accommodate a friend.

"Now, Ace," said Noah, "the idea is like this: This afternoon you send
a Mexican out to that camp on the Dillenbeck canal with the information
that the Owl wants to hire about eleven good boosters to begin work at
twelve o'clock to-night; and have the messenger casually but secretly
give each of them a slip of paper that is dead sure to get him one of
the jobs.

"And," Noah grinned, "you give every one of 'em that applies a job for
two days--as a treat on me. You can fix it with the boss."

"Sure," grinned Jack, "I'll fix it." And a Mexican messenger had been
dispatched on the spot.

Noah sat at the ranch shack as dark came on and counted them as they
went by down the road. As he guessed, the officer would get away
first, and the rest begin to drop away from camp one or two at a time
soon after dark. By eleven o'clock he had counted seventeen: and then
Noah saddled his horse. When he had met Imogene, he had thought she
was another Mexican, but he was not alarmed at one or even three.

A little before one o'clock Noah tied his h