As for the girl, it seemed that she was not quite sure in her judgment. For now she turned to her father with a faint frown of wonder. And again it seemed to Terry that Joe Pollard made an imperceptible sign, such as he had made to the four men when he introduced Terry. But now he broke into breezy talk. "Met Terry down in Pedro's--" The girl seemed to have dismissed Terry from her mind already, for she broke in: "Crooked game he's running, isn't it?" "I thought so till today. Then I seen Terry, here, trim Pedro for a flat twenty thousand!" "Oh," nodded the girl. Again her gaze reverted leisurely to the stranger and with a not unflattering interest. "And then I seen him lose most of it back again. Roulette." She nodded, keeping her eyes on Terry, and the boy found himself desiring mightily to discover just what was going on behind the changing green of her eyes. He was shocked when he discovered. It came like the break of high dawn in the mountains of the Big Bend. Suddenly she had smiled openly, frankly. "Hard luck, partner!" A little shivering sense of pleasure ran through him. He knew that he had been admitted by her--accepted. Her father had thrown up his head. "Someone come in the back way. Oregon, go find out!" Dark-eyed Oregon Charlie slipped up and through the door. Everyone in the room waited, a little tense, with lifted heads. Slim was studying the last throw that Phil Marvin had made. Terry could not but wonder what significance that "back way" had. Presently Oregon reappeared. "Pete's come." "The hell!" "Went upstairs." "Wants to be alone," interrupted the girl. "He'll come down and talk when he feels like it. That's Pete's way." "Watching us, maybe," growled Joe Pollard, with a shade of uneasiness still. "Damned funny gent, Pete is. Watches a man like a cat; watches a gopher hole all day, maybe. And maybe the gent he watches is a friend he's known for ten years. Well--let Pete go. They ain't no explaining him." Through the last part of his talk, and through the heaviness of his voice, cut another tone, lighter, sharper, venomous: "Phil, you gummed them dice that last time!" Joe Pollard froze in place; the eyes of the girl widened. Terry, looking across the room, saw Phil Marvin scoop up the dice and start to his feet. "You lie, Slim!" Instinctively Terry slipped his hand onto his gun. It was what Phil Marvin had done, as a matter of fact. He stood swelling and glowering, staring down at Slim Dugan. Slim had not risen. His thin, lithe body was coiled, and he reminded Terry in ugly fashion of a snake ready to strike. His hand was not near his gun. It was the calm courage and self- confidence of a man who is sure of himself and of his enemy. Terry had heard of it before, but never seen it. As for Phil, it was plain that he was ill at ease in spite of his bulk and the advantage of his position. He was ready to fight. But he was not at all pleased with the prospect.