baked plaza
at a run, when he came into the general store which supplied Tubacca with
nine-tenths of the materials necessary for frontier living. He made his
selection with care.

"You planning a trip, Mister Kirby?" Stein peered at him over a pair of
old-fashioned, steel-bowed spectacles which perched on his sharp parrot's
beak of a nose.

"No. My cousin just rode in; he lost his gear on the road and needs a new
outfit complete."

Stein nodded, patted smooth the top shirt on a growing pile. "Anything
else?"

"Add those up. I'll look around." Drew paused to glance into the single
small, glass-fronted case which was Stein's claim to fame in the
surrounding territory. The exotic wares on display were a strange mixture:
a few pieces of jewelry, heavy Spanish things which might be a century or
more old, several six-guns--one with an ornate ivory handle.... Drew
stopped and pulled a finger across the dusty surface of the glass case.
Spurs--silver spurs--not quite so elaborate as those he now wore, but of the
same general workmanship.

"I'd like to look at those spurs."

Stein unlocked the case and took them out. As Drew unstrapped those he
wore and fitted the new pair to his boots, a brown, calf-bound book
thudded to the floor. Books--here in Stein's?

Weighing the volume in his hand, the Kentuckian straightened up. There
were two more books lying on the top of the case. The leather bindings
were scuffed and one was scored clear across the back, yet they had been
handsome, undoubtedly treasured. Drew turned them up to read the scrolled
gold titles on their spines.

"_History of the Conquest of Mexico_, _The Three Musketeers,__ The Count
of Monte Cristo_ ... Where'd these come from, Mister Stein?" Drew's
curiosity was aroused.

"That is a story almost as fanciful as the ones inside them." Stein rested
his bony elbows on the counter as he talked. "Would you believe, Mister
Kirby, these were brought to me by Amos Lutterfield?"

"Lutterfield? Who's he?"

"I forget, you have not been in Tubacca long. Amos Lutterfield--he is what
one might term a character, a strange one. He goes out into the wilds
alone, seeking always the gold."

"In Apache country?" Drew demanded.

"The Apaches, they do not touch a man they believe insane, and Amos has
many peculiarities: peculiarities of dress, of speech, of action. He roams
undisturbed, sometimes coming in with relics from the old cliff houses to
trade for supplies. Last mon