Page:J Allan Dunn--The Girl of Ghost Mountain.djvu/276

258 there is a place near the depot where it is for sale. When I was in that house I saw, through the window, while the woman was getting out her goods, two men talking together. They both seemed to be Mexicans, they were both dressed as Mexicans. One of them was Pedro. The other—was a Chinaman. Under the wide brim of his sombrero it was easy for him to pass as a Mexican. He was bronzed and his features were not very different from Pedro's. They were finer cut, but they were not"—she glanced at Quong—"distinctively Chinese. Only the slant of his eyes really suggested that.

"I knew the combination meant no good. Of course all that you had told me about the trip to the Painted Rocks was fresh in my mind. It flashed across me that this Chinaman was making inquiries for Quong. I thought at first that Pedro would direct him to the Circle S, not knowing about the treasure expedition. And Quong would not be there. So at first I did not worry, except that I did not want to run across Pedro, although Thora wanted to get her hands on him. But she knew as well as I did that it would only start people talking and presently the two went away.

"We started back and took the wagon road. We usually cut off across the prairie for the Homestead about a mile after you cross the bridge over Cedar Creek. We rode off the road at the bridge and down through the willows to water the horses. We didn't get off them, but sat in our saddles while they drank and cooled off their fetlocks.

"Then we heard—the horses first of all, pricking