“Miss Joyce, he’s here,” Bob said.

“Who—­Dave?”

She and her father and Bob had more than once met as a committee of three to discuss the interests of Sanders both before and since his release.  The week after he left Canon City letters of thanks had reached both Hart and Crawford, but these had given no address.  Their letters to him had remained unanswered nor had a detective agency been able to find him.

“Yes, ma’am, Dave!  He’s right here in town.  Met him half an hour ago.”

“I’m glad.  How does he look?”

“He’s grown older, a heap older.  And he’s different.  You know what an easy-goin’ kid he was, always friendly and happy as a half-grown pup.  Well, he ain’t thataway now.  Looks like he never would laugh again real cheerful.  I don’t reckon he ever will.  He’s done got the prison brand on him for good.  I couldn’t see my old Dave in him a-tall.  He’s hard as nails—­and bitter.”

The brown eyes softened.  “He would be, of course.  How could he help it?”

“And he kinda holds you off.  He’s been hurt bad and ain’t takin’ no chances whatever, don’t you reckon?”

“Do you mean he’s broken?”

“Not a bit.  He’s strong, and he looks at you straight and hard.  But they’ve crushed all the kid outa him.  He was a mighty nice boy, Dave was.  I hate to lose him.”

“When can I see him?” she asked.

Bob looked at his watch.  “I got an appointment to meet him at Delmonico’s right now.  Maybe I can get him to come up to the house afterward.”

Joyce was a young woman who made swift decisions.  “I’ll go with you now,” she said.

Sanders was standing in front of the restaurant, but he was faced in the other direction.  His flat, muscular back was rigid.  In his attitude was a certain tenseness, as though his body was a bundle of steel springs ready to be released.

Bob’s eye traveled swiftly past him to a fat man rolling up the street on the opposite sidewalk.  “It’s Ad Miller, back from the pen.  I heard he got out this week,” he told the girl in a low voice.

Joyce Crawford felt the blood ebb from her face.  It was as though her heart had been drenched with ice water.  What was going to take place between these men?  Were they armed?  Would the gambler recognize his old enemy?

She knew that each was responsible for the other’s prison sentence.  Sanders had followed the thieves to Denver and found them with his horse.  The fat crook had lied Dave into the penitentiary by swearing that the boy had fired the first shots.  Now they were meeting for the first time since.

Miller had been drinking.  The stiff precision of his gait showed that.  For a moment it seemed that he would pass without noticing the man across the road.  Then, by some twist of chance, he decided to take the sidewalk on the other side.  The sign of the Delmonico had caught his eye and he remembered that he was hungry.