riding toward the mare. "Wait! You in
too mooch hurry yourself now!" Then, as the other returned: "Is eet a
bet? Is eet a bet?"

The fellow-townsman nodded. Whereat Felipe nodded approval of the nod,
and stepped out into the trail, followed by the other.

It was night, and quite a dark night. Stretching away to east and west,
the dimly outlined trail was lost abruptly in engulfing darkness; while,
overhead, a starless sky, low and somber and frowning, pressed close.
But, dark though the night was, it did not wholly conceal the outlines
of the mare. She was standing as they approached, mildly encouraging a
tiny something beside her, a wisp of life, her baby, who was struggling
to insure continued existence. And it was this second outline, not the
other and larger outline, that held the breathless attention of the men.
Nervously Felipe struck a match. As it flared up he stepped close,
followed by the other, and there was a moment of tense silence. Then the
match went out and Felipe straightened up.

"Franke," he burst out, "I haf win thee bet! Eet is not a mare; eet is a
li'l' horse!" He struck his _compadre_ a resounding blow on the
back. "I am mooch sorry, Franke," he declared--"not!" He turned back to
the faint outline of the colt. "Thees _potrillo_," he observed,
"he's bringin' me mooch good luck! He's--" He suddenly interrupted
himself, aware that the other was striding away. "Where you go now,
Franke?" he asked, and then, quick to sense approaching trouble: "Never
mind thee big bet, Franke! You can pay me ten dolars soom time! All
right?"

There was painful silence.

"All right!" came the reply, finally, through the darkness.

Then Felipe heard a lumber rigging go rattling off in the direction of
the canyon, and, suddenly remembering the money underneath the stone,
hurried off the trail in a spasm of alarm. He knelt in the sand and
struck a match.

The money had disappeared.

CHAPTER II

FELIPE CELEBRATES

It was well along in the morning when Felipe pulled up next day before
his little adobe house in the mountain settlement. The journey from the
mesa below had been, perforce, slow. The mare was still pitiably weak,
and her condition had necessitated many stops, each of long duration.
Also, on the way up the canyon the colt had displayed frequent signs of
exhaustion, though only with the pauses did he attempt rest.

But it was all over now. They were safely before the house, with the
colt lyin