he told Filer of the wonderful character
of Jerkline Jo and assured him that, despite his past rascality, he
would be handsomely rewarded by her, the helpless old man agreed to all
that he proposed.

Knowing that the prospector would not reach Ragtown for a long time
with his sauntering burros, Hiram was for making a copy of what the
precious paper contained and hurrying on ahead, to overtake Jo as soon
as possible, and suggest that she make arrangements for a strip to the
lost claims before starting back from Julia. To this the desert rat
agreed; but when they were ready for Hiram to make a copy it was
discovered that neither man had a scrap of paper, or even a pencil.

There was nothing to be done then, if the original plan was to be
carried out, but for Basil Filer to surrender into Hiram's keeping the
document. This, with many misgivings, Filer consented to do.

So they broke camp early next morning, and Hiram hurried on ahead with
the original in his pocket. The old man was to traipse along after
him, and in all probability would reach Ragtown before Hiram had
overtaken Jo.

Al Drummond passed Hiram in his car as he was nearing his journey's end
late that afternoon; but of course Hiram thought nothing of this, as
Drummond and his car made a familiar sight about the country. Hiram
had decided to ask Tweet to carry him in his machine until Jerkline Jo
had been overtaken, which would probably occur between the foot of the
mountains and Artesian Ranch on the other side. Then Tweet would
return, and Hiram would ride on with the outfit and reveal to the girl
what he had heard of the strange thing she had worn concealed under her
lustrous hair since she was two years old.

Hiram knew about how Drummond and Lucy had stumbled onto the truth,
which Jerkline Jo herself had not even dreamed of.

What the old prospector had told him of his "dream" convinced Hiram
that Lucy had got wind of the secret and had cleverly posed as the lost
child grown up, and had been able to draw Filer's story out of him. He
had said that in his dream he had been shown something on the girl's
scalp, under her hair, that looked like tattooing. Hiram reasoned that
Drummond could have dotted Lucy's scalp with a pen and ink sufficient
to convince the old desert rat that she was the girl he was seeking.
Then he had told his story, but had been in some way rendered
unconscious and disposed of before he could demand the clipping of
Lucy's ha