n camp fer a couple o' days. Them greaser
_rancheros_ air half starved 'most all year 'round an' they jumped at
th' chance ter earn some good U.S. gold. Some o' us had quite some
visitors one night an' some o' th' waggins, ourn among 'em, shore
strayed away from th' encampment an' got lost in th' hills. He had said
somethin' 'bout not wantin' to waste so much time, an' o' takin' a
short-cut; an' everybody war so excited about bein' so clost ter Santer
Fe, an' by this time used ter folks goin' on ahead, that we warn't
hardly missed. Them that did miss us soon forgot it. We're ahead five
hundred dollars a waggin, besides th' other imposts an' th' salve money;
our waggins air waitin' fer us when we go back, an' our goods air comin'
in from th' ranchos in _carretas_ an' by pack mule, under hay, hoja an'
faggots, an' other stuff. Thar's them two axles o' Joe Cooper's that he
war so anxious about back at th' Grove an' at every stream we had ter
cross. Thar empty now, but thar war plumb full o' high-class contraband
when they got here. Woodson slung 'em under one o' his waggins that come
through on th' reg'lar trail, an' brought 'em in. Over thar's what's
left o' your stuff."

"Have you fellers looked in a glass yit?" demanded Alonzo, taking a
mirror from the wall. "Hyar, Boyd, whichever ye air, see what ye look
like."

The passing of the mirror and the candle was the cause of much hilarity,
and the room was filled with subdued merriment until there came a
peculiar knock on the massive door. The candle flame struggled under a
box while voices murmured at the portal, and then there came a cautious
shuffling of feet until the box was removed.

Joe Cooper's curious glance became a stare and his jaw dropped. Tearing
his eyes from the faces of the villainous four he used them to ask a
question of the grinning Enoch which his lips were incapable of framing.

Enoch looked at the four. "One o' ye, who knows who's who, interduce yer
friends ter Mr. Cooper, o' St. Louis, Missoury," he suggested.

Hank shoved Jim Ogden a step forward. "This 'Rapahoe is Jim Ogden, o'
Bent's Fort an' th' Rockies; this other un is Zeb Houghton, o' th'
Louisiana Purchase, Mexico an' Texas; hyar's Tom Boyd, hopin' ter save
his ear-tabs; an' I'm--" from his mouth sounded the twang of a
bowstring.

Uncle Joe sank down on a pile of smuggled Mackinaw blankets, shoved a
cigar in his mouth, lit it and took several puffs before he slammed it
on the floor and