a word.
He was waiting to see what the other meant.

"You're a gamer man than I am, and a better one. All I can say is that
I'm sorry and ashamed of myself for the way I treated you. If you still
want to fight me, I'll stand up and give you a chance to pepper me.
Anything you think right."

"If you put it so, sir, I have no choice but to join you in regrets and
hopes of future amity."

"I can understand that you'd like to spill me over a ten-acre lot, and
that you don't listen to my apologies with any joy," said the
Coloradoan, smiling whimsically down at his former foe.

"I do not forget that the first offense was mine, _Senor Gordon_," the
Spaniard answered.

Then came Jimmie Corbett again with a message for Miss Valdes.

"Pablo wants to see you, ma'am. Just rode over from the ranch. Says it's
important."

The hands of the two men met in a strong grip as Valencia left the room,
and so, too, did their steady gazes. Each of them knew that the other
was his rival for the heart of the girl. Oddly enough, each thought the
other was the successful suitor. But there was in each some quality of
manliness that drew them together in spite of themselves.

Valencia found Pablo sitting on the porch. A rifle lay across his knees
ready for emergencies. The deputies had ridden away to the other end of
the valley that morning, but Menendez did not intend to be caught
napping in case of their unexpected return.

Miss Valdes smiled. "You needn't be so careful, Pablo. I bring you good
news--better than you deserve. Mr. Gordon has promised to drop the cases
against you and Sebastian. Even if the officers arrest you, nothing can
come of it except a trip to Santa Fe for a few days. If I were you I
would give myself up. The rewards have been withdrawn, so it is not
likely your friends will betray you."

"But, _Dona_, are you sure? Will this _Americano_ keep his word? Is it
certain they will not hold me in prison?"

"I tell you it is sure. Is that not enough? Did you find Mr. Gordon so
ready to give you his word and break it when he was your prisoner?"

"True, _Dona_. He laughed at us and told us to kill him. He is a brave
man."

"And brave men do not lie."

Pablo turned to his horse and took down from the horn of the saddle a
gunny sack tied to it. This he opened. From it he drew a tin box that
had been badly blistered with heat.

"It is _Senor_ Gordon's tin box. After you carried him to the house here
the other night I f