d beside him, eying him sharply, hoping for an expression of
approval--even of congratulation. In this he was doomed to
disappointment, for the other continued silent, and in silence finally
turned back, his whole attitude that of one who saw nothing in the
spectacle worthy of comment. Felipe followed him, nettled, and sat down
and himself rolled a cigarette. As he sat smoking it the other seated
himself beside him, and presently touched him on the arm and began to
speak. Felipe listened, with now and again a nod of approval, and, when
the _compadre_ was finished, accepted the brilliant proposition.

"A bet, eh?" he exclaimed. "All right!" And he produced his sheepskin
pouch and dumped out his three dollars. "All right! I bet you feety
cents, Franke, thot eet don' be!"

Frank looked his disdain at the amount offered. Also, his eyes blazed
and his round face reddened. He shoved his hand into his overalls,
brought forth a silver dollar, and tossed it down in the sand.

"A bet!" he yelled. "Mek eet a bet! A dolar!" Then he narrowed his eyes
in the direction of the mare. "Mek eet a good bet! You have chonce to
win, too, Felipe--you know!"

Felipe did not respond immediately. Money was his all-absorbing
difficulty. Never plentiful with him, it was less than ever plentiful
now, and was wholly represented in the three dollars before him. A sum
little enough in fact, it dwindled rapidly as he recalled one by one his
numerous debts. For he owed much money. He owed for food in the
settlement store; he owed for clothing he had bought in town; and he
owed innumerable gambling debts--big sums, sums mounting to heights he
dared not contemplate. And all he had to his name was the three dollars
lying so peacefully before him, with the speculative Franke hovering
over them like a fat buzzard over a dead coyote. What to do! He could
not decide. He had ways for this money, other than paying on his debts
or investing in a gambling proposition. There was to be a _baile_
soon, and he must buy for Margherita (providing her father, a caustic
_hombre_, bitter against all wood-haulers, permitted him the girl's
society) peanuts in the dance-hall and candy outside the dance-hall. The
candy must be bought in the general store, where, because of his many
debts, he must pay cash now--always cash! So what to do! All these
things meant money. And money, as he well understood, was a thing hard
to get. Yet here was a chance, as Franke had generously i