Bert’s first thought, therefore, was that Pedro was “lying down on his job” and shirking duty for the sake of a day’s debauch in town.  It roused his indignation, as he always hated anything that savored of sneaking or disloyalty.  Still, it was not his affair and Pedro was safe as far as he was concerned.  He would not act as talebearer.

He had never liked the half-breed from the moment that he had met him.  There was a sullen reticence that checked advances, and although he had always tried to be friendly, Pedro had held him at a distance.  He was tall and swarthy, and, for one of his mixed race, not bad looking.  But there was a furtive shiftiness in his eyes that were set too close together, that awakened distrust, and although Bert reproached himself for it and never revealed it by word or look, he could not help an instinctive aversion.

His first impulse was to approach and speak to the man, who had not seen him as he came in and was now standing with his back partly toward him, tossing down a drink that he had poured out generously from the bottle the bartender placed before him.

Bert checked himself, however, as he saw that Pedro had just greeted a man who had risen from a table where he had been sitting apart from the others, as though waiting for some one.  An almost imperceptible sign passed between them that aroused Bert’s curiosity.  Nor was this lessened when the newcomer took from his pocket a pouch, such as gold dust is usually carried in, and slipped it over to Pedro, who placed it carefully in the breast of his buckskin shirt.

Here was the beginning of a mystery.  Why should this man be giving money to the half-breed?  To be sure, it might be in payment of a loan or a gambling debt.  But, if so, why the air of secrecy?

The conversation with Mr. Melton that morning recurred to him.  He pulled his hat over his eyes, half turned in his seat, and, picking up a greasy pack of cards that lay on the table began to lay them out before him as in solitaire.  But under the brim of his sombrero, his keen eyes stole frequent glances at the two, who had now adjourned to a table in the farther corner and were engaged in a low and earnest conversation.

The stranger had before him what seemed to be a diagram, drawn on the back of an old envelope, and both studied it with care, Pedro especially, as though seeking to engrave it on his memory.  Then he nodded assent to what the other had been saying, and they shook hands, evidently in confirmation of a bargain.  Once more they adjourned to the bar, gulped down several glasses of the fiery liquor that masqueraded as whiskey, and then Pedro, with a gesture of farewell, went outside.  A moment later Bert heard the clatter of hoofs as he rode away.

There was no further need of concealment, and with exceeding care Bert studied the features of the man who he felt sure was involved in some plan that boded no good to Pedro’s employer.