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Yeager reached Noches late, for he had unsaddled and let his horse rest at Willow Springs during the heat of the broiling day

After he had washed and had eaten, Yeager drifted to the Log Cabin Saloon and gaathered the varied and turbulent life of the border country Dark-skinned Mexicans rubbed shoulders with range riders baked almost as brown by the relentless sun Piroes crowded round the faro and dice tables Games of monte and chuckaluck had their devotees, as had also roulette and poker

It was a picturesque scene of strong, untamed, self-reliant frontiersmen Some of them were outlaws and criminals, and some were as simple and tender-hearted as children But all had become accustomed to a life where it is possible at anythe wheel dropped a friendly nod at Jim He waited till the wheel had stopped and saw the man behind it rake in his chips before he spoke Then, as he scattered er with a whoop

"Hi there, Malpais! What's doing in the hills these yere pleasant days?"

"A little o' nothin', Sa all the fun down here"

Saathered the chips pushed toward him by the croupier and cashed in He was a heavy-set, bronzedhis friend by the arm, he led him to one end of the bar that happened for the ot You're ridin' the water wagon and don't irrigate More'n I can say for soht woozy the other day"

"The boys will act the fool when they hit town Who was it?"

"Sli Sanderson"

"Was Phil Sanderson drunk?" Yeager asked, hardly surprised, but certainly troubled

"I ain't sure he was, but he was makin' the fur fly at the wheel, there Must have dropped two hundred dollars"

Ji how the boy had come by so much money at a time

"Who was he trailin' with?"

"With a lad called Spiker, that fair-haired guy sitting in at the poker table He's another youngster that has been dropping ht plentiful"

"Who is he?"

"He's what they call a showfer He runs one o' these auto? Looks kind o' like a tinhorn gaents I've seen him with Healy a few"