har's any news we'll git it. This is th' meetin'
place o' most o' th' Americans hyar. Thar banded purty clost together
an' have made Armijo change his tune a couple o' times. Onct they war
accused o' conspiracy ag'in th' government, which war a danged lie, an'
th' scarecrow troops war ordered out ag'in 'em; but we put up such a
fierce showin' that Armijo climbed down from his high hoss an' nothin'
come o' it except hard feelin's. That's one o' th' reasons, I reckon,
why Adam Cooper ain't worryin' as much as he might about his dater's
safety. An' lookin' at it from a reasonable standpoint, I'm figgerin'
he's right. Boyd, hyar, would worry powerful if _she_ got a splinter in
her finger."

After the laughter had subsided and a little more talk the four
plainsmen slipped out of the building and cautiously made their way to
Armstrong's store and dwelling where, after a whispered palaver at the
heavy door, they were admitted by the sleepy owner of the premises and
shown where they could spread their blankets. In the faint light of the
candle they saw other men lying about on the hard floor, who stirred,
grumbled a little, and went back to sleep again.

When they awakened the next morning they recognized two old friends from
Bent's Fort, a trader from St. Vrain's, and an American hunter and
trapper from the Pueblo near the junction of the Arkansas and Boiling
Spring Rivers. The simple breakfast was soon dispatched and gossip and
news exchanged, and then Hank led aside a hunter named Hatcher, who
stood high at Bent's Fort, and earnestly conversed with him. In a few
moments Hank turned, looked reassuringly at Tom and smiled. Bent's
little ranch on the Purgatoire was being worked and improved and there
would be men and a relay of horses there, providing that the Utes
overlooked the valley in the meantime.

All that day they remained indoors and when night came they slipped out,
one by one, and drifted back to the corral where the _atejo_ still
remained. They had lost their rifles, were sullen and taciturn from too
much drink, and paid no attention to the knowing grins of the friendly
muleteers. Thenceforth they drew only glances of passing interest on the
streets, no one giving a second thought to the stolid, dulled and sodden
wrecks in their filthy, nondescript apparel; and the guard at the
_palacio_ gave them cigarettes rolled in corn husks for running errands,
and found amusement in playing harmless tricks on them.

At the