breakfastless, twenty-one miles to El Toro
in two hours. They can do it, but not under an impost of a hundred and
ninety pounds. You might ruin both of them--" he scraped his chin,
smiling blandly-- "and I know you'd about ruin yourself, sir. The
saddle had commenced to get very sore before you had completed eight
miles yesterday."

"Then I'm out of luck, I dare say."

"Strikes me that way, Mr. Parker."

"Very well. You force me to talk business. What will that quit-claim
deed cost me?"

"Six hundred thousand dollars. I've raised the ante since last night."

"I'll not pay it."

"What will you pay?"

"About fifty per cent. of it."

"I might consider less than my first figure and more than your last.
Make me a firm offer--in writing--and I'll give you a firm answer the
instant you hand me the document. I'm a poor bargainer. Haggling
irritates me--so I never haggle. And I don't care a tinker's hoot
whether you buy me off or not. After nine o'clock this morning you
will have lost the opportunity, because I give you my word of honor, I
shall decline even to receive an offer."

He reached over on his bureau and retrieved therefrom a sheet of paper.
"Here is the form I desire your offer to take, sir," he continued,
affably, and handed the paper to Parker. "Please re-write it in ink,
fill in the amount of your offer and sign it. You have until nine
o'clock, remember. At nine-one you will be too late."

Despite his deep annoyance, Parker favored him with a sardonic grin.
"You're a good bluffer, Farrel."

Don Mike turned from the mirror and regarded his guest very solemnly.
"How do you know?" he queried, mildly. "You've never seen me bluff.
I've seen a few inquests held in this country over some men who bluffed
in an emergency. We're no longer wild and woolly out here, but when we
pull, we shoot. Remember that, sir."

Parker felt himself abashed in the presence of this cool young man, for
nothing is so disconcerting as a defeated enemy who refuses to
acknowledge defeat. It occurred to Parker in that moment that there
was nothing extraordinary in Farrel's action; for consideration of the
sweetness of life cannot be presumed to arouse a great deal of interest
in one who knows he will be murdered if he does not commit suicide.

John Parker tucked the paper in his pocket and thoughtfully left the
room. "The boy distrusts me," he soliloquized, "afraid I'll go back on
any promise I make him, so he de