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 amazingly, and take off his little dove-gray hat and try to look unconcerned as became a valiant man with a thirty-two caliber pistol at his belt.

"Gosh! I'm as tired as a wet dog," he said.

"You better go to bed, then," said Malvina, at no pains to cover her displeasure with her new mate.

Noggle acted on the suggestion at once, heaving himself off up-stairs on his long, ostrich legs, his light trousers making quite an elegant showing as they flickered between the balusters. Malvina shifted the register, and dusted the place where it had lain with her apron, saying nothing until Noggle's feet had sounded along the uncarpeted hall overhead and come to silence.

"There was a man here lookin' for you a little while before you came in, Mr. Hartwell," she said.

"Did you know who he was?"

"No, he was a stranger to me—a little dark man off of the range somewhere. Well, I don't know all of 'em—new ones is comin' in all the time. He said he'd be back."

"I'll set outside by the door and wait for him, thank you, ma'am."

"Don't you mention it," returned Malvina with such stress of earnestness that it was almost a threat. "Wouldn't you like a cup of coffee and a piece of pie?"

"Thank you, ma'am, most kindly, but I'm so full