ian!"

It struck him on hearing this gossip that he had missed Mescal. What had
become of her? Curiosity prompting him, he asked little Billy about her.

"Mescal's with the sheep," piped Billy.

That she was a shepherdess pleased Hare, and he thought of her as free
on the open range, with the wind blowing her hair.

One day when Hare felt stronger he took his walk round the farm with
new zest. Upon his return to the house he saw Snap's cream pinto in the
yard, and Dave's mustang cropping the grass near by. A dusty pack lay on
the ground. Hare walked down the avenue of cottonwoods and was about to
turn the corner of the old forge when he stopped short.

"Now mind you, I'll take a bead on this white-faced spy if you send him
up there."

It was Snap Naab's voice, and his speech concluded with the click of
teeth characteristic of him in anger.

"Stand there!" August Naab exclaimed in wrath. "Listen. You have been
drinking again or you wouldn't talk of killing a man. I warned you. I
won't do this thing you ask of me till I have your promise. Why won't
you leave the bottle alone?"

"I'll promise," came the sullen reply.

"Very well. Then pack and go across to Bitter Seeps."

"That job'll take all summer," growled Snap.

"So much the better. When you come home I'll keep my promise."

Hare moved away silently; the shock of Snap's first words had kept him
fast in his tracks long enough to hear the conversation. Why did Snap
threaten him? Where was August Naab going to send him? Hare had no means
of coming to an understanding of either question. He was disturbed in
mind and resolved to keep out of Snap's way. He went to the orchard, but
his stay of an hour availed nothing, for on his return, after threading
the maze of cottonwoods, he came face to face with the man he wanted to
avoid.

Snap Naab, at the moment of meeting, had a black bottle tipped high
above his lips.

With a curse he threw the bottle at Hare, missing him narrowly. He was
drunk. His eyes were bloodshot.

"If you tell father you saw me drinking I'll kill you!" he hissed, and
rattling his Colt in its holster, he walked away.

Hare walked back to his bed, where he lay for a long time with his whole
inner being in a state of strife. It gradually wore off as he strove for
calm. The playground was deserted; no one had seen Snap's action, and
for that he was glad. Then his attention was diverted by a clatter
of ringing hoofs on the road; a mustang an