"I'm talking sense," said Riley. "By the Lord," growled Dunbar, "you're a plain bad one, Riley. You like deviltry for the sake of the deviltry itself. You want me to get--" "How much do you want the black hoss, chief?" Dunbar sighed. "You can't touch him, after him saving your life, and I can't touch him, because everybody knows that I'm your man. But suppose you get the girl and Hunter planted? Then when Jack Hood rides in this afternoon, I'll take him where he can see 'em together. Leave the rest to me. Will you? I'll have Jack Hood scared she's going to elope before morning, and Jack will do the rest. You know his way." "Suppose Hood gets killed?" "Killed--by that? Jack Hood? Why, you know he's near as good as you with his gat!" Dunbar nodded slowly. After all, the scheme was a simple one. "Well?" whispered Riley. "You and the devil win," said Hal. "After all, what's this Hunter amount to? Nothing. And I need the horse!" He executed the first step of the scheme instantly. He went downstairs and found the girl still on the veranda. She began to mock him at once. "You'll go to heaven, Hal, giving a home to the man who beats you." He managed to smile, although the words were poison to him. He had loved her as long as he could remember, and sooner or later she would be his wife, but the period remained indefinitely in the future as the whims of the girl changed. It was for that reason, as Hal very well knew, that her father became furious when she smiled at another man. The rich marriage was his goal; and when a second man stepped onto the stage, old Jack Hood was ready to fight. Hal saw a way of stopping her gibes and proving his good intentions toward Hunter all in a breath. "He saved my life, Mary. I lost a stirrup, and the devil of a horse threw me." Briefly he sketched in the story of the rescue, and how Bull Hunter afterward had ridden the horse without spurs, without a bridle. Before he ended her eyes were shining. "That's what he meant when he said he hadn't beaten Diablo. I understand now. At the time I thought he was a little simple, Hal." "He's not exceptionally clever, Mary," said Hal, "and that's where the point comes in of what I want you to do. Hunter is apt to take a fancy that he isn't wanted here--that he's being kept out of charity because he saved my life. Nothing I can say will convince him. I want you to give him a better reason for staying around. Will you do it--as a great favor?" She dropped her chin into her hand and studied him. "Just what are you driving at, Hal?" "You know what I mean well enough. I want you to waste a smile or two on him, Mary. Will you do that? Make him think you like him a good deal, that you're glad to have him around. Will you? Take him out for a walk this afternoon and get him to tell you the story of his life. You can always make a man talk and generally you turn them into fools. You've done it with me, often enough," he added gloomily.