"Thank you," said Dean calmly, as he went forward and seated himself on the settee beside Peter Kirby. "What brought you so far West as Colorado?" proceeded Kirby, giving vent to his curiosity. "I kept coming West. Besides I heard there were mines in Colorado, and I thought I might find profitable work." "So you gave up playing on that harmonica of yours?" "Yes." "Couldn't you make it pay?" "I needed a partner like the one I started with—Mr. Montgomery. I couldn't give an entertainment alone." "Then you haven't been making any money lately?" "No." "Where did you get that watch?" "From Dr. Thorp." "When did he give it to you?" "Just before I left town." "It was a present to you for informing on me, I suppose?" said Kirby, his face again assuming an ugly frown. "I believe it was for saving him from being robbed." "Then he had considerable money and bonds in the house?" "Yes." "Were they in the cabinet?" "He removed them." "After I went to bed?" "I believe so." "It seems then that I am indebted to you for foiling my little scheme." Kirby looked dangerous, and Dean was alive to the peril incurred, but he was obliged in the interests of truth to answer in the affirmative. Here Dan appeared at the door. "Come in, Kirby," he said. "Supper's ready." "I am ready for it. I am about famished. Come in, boy." "Thank you; I have supped already." "All the same you must come in, for I don't propose to lose sight of you. Hand over that watch, please." "Why do you want it?" asked Dean apprehensively. "I have more claim to it than you. It was the price of treachery." "I hope, Mr. Kirby, you will let me keep it." "Hand it over without any more words!" said Kirby, roughly, "unless you want me to take it from you." It would have been idle to resist, but Dean was not willing to hand it over, since that would have indicated his consent to the surrender. "You can take it if you choose," he said. "It will do after supper. Come in!" Dean preceded Kirby into the cabin, and sat down on a stool while the two men were eating. Gradually they dropped into conversation, and Dean listened with curious interest. "So you saw the captain, Kirby?" asked Dan. "Yes." "Where?" "He lives in an obscure country place, buried alive, as I call it. It is for the sake of his family, he says." "What family has he?" "A wife and son—the last as like his father as two peas—the same ugly tusks, and long, oval face. Between the two I prefer the captain. The boy puts on no end of airs." "Does he know----" "Not a word. He thinks his father a gentleman of wealth and high birth, and holds his head high, I can tell you." "Does that boy know him?" asked Dan, with a jerk of the head towards Dean. "You know Brandon Bates, don't you, Dean?" said Kirby. "Yes, sir." "Do you like him?" "I don't think any one in the village likes him." "How about his father? is he popular?" "He is better liked than his son."