t official to a spirited defense.

"I can't see why you hold me responsible for a safe that you've been
keeping within earshot all these years," retorted Tom, in answer to
Talpers's sneers about the lack of protection afforded the county's
business men. "If you can't hear a yeggman working right next to your
sleeping-quarters, how do you expect me to hear him, 'way over to White
Lodge? I'll leave it to Lowell here if your complaint is reasonable.
I'll do the best I can to get this man, but it looks to me as if he's
made a clean getaway. What sort of papers was it you said you lost,
Bill?"

"I didn't say."

"Well, then, I'm asking you. Was they long or short, rolled or flat, or
tied with pink ribbon?"

"Never mind!" roared Talpers. "You round up this burglar and let me go
through him. I'll get what's mine, all right."

Redmond made a gesture of despair. A man who had been robbed and had
recovered his money, and was so keen after papers that he wouldn't or
couldn't describe, was past all fooling with. The sheriff rode off,
grumbling, without even questioning Lowell to ascertain if the Indian
police had seen any suspicious characters on the reservation.

Bill Talpers's mental convolutions following the robbery reminded Lowell
of the writhing of a wounded snake. Bill's fear was that the letter
would be picked up and sent back to the girl at the Greek Letter Ranch.
Suspicion of a plot in the affair did not enter his head. To him it was
just a sinister stroke of misfortune--one of the chance buffets of fate.
One tramp burglar out of the many pursuing that vocation had happened
upon the Talpers establishment at a time when its proprietor was in an
unusually sound sleep. Bill gave himself over to thoughts of the various
forms of punishment he would inflict upon the wandering yeggman in case
a capture were effected--thoughts which came to naught, as Red Egan had
been given so generous a start toward his Omaha goal that he never was
headed.

As the days went past and the letter was not discovered, Bill began to
gather hope. Perhaps the burglar, thinking the letter of no value, had
destroyed it, in natural disgust at finding that he had dropped the
money which undoubtedly was the real object of his safe-breaking.

If Talpers had known what had really happened to the letter, all his
self-comfortings would have vanished. Lowell had lost no time in taking
the missive to Helen. He had found affairs at the Greek Letter Ranch