“You heard?” and even from that distance Kit saw the man’s lids narrow into slits through which his sharp eyes peered. “A couple of the ship people were looking for you; they hinted that you’d sort of clung to some property which wasn’t altogether yours, when you left.” The half-breed nodded. “They told you that, eh? Well, maybe it was true and maybe it wasn’t. But, anyway, I’m not sorry for my little voyage on the sea; it promises to be something that will pay very well; and that’s the kind of thing Manuel Lopez is looking for these days.” “Suppose,” said the trapper, “the ship people were willing to pay something down for what was taken. Would you consider it?” Lopez, or Spotted Snake, snapped his fingers airily. “This is a thing that could hardly be paid for,” he said. “It’s only a chance, of course, but it’s such a big one that ready money is not much temptation.” “It happens that the folks who lost this property on the ship are friends of mine,” said Kit. “And being friends, I’m willing to help them out. Maybe, if money can’t buy back the things you’ve stolen, lead can.” As he spoke he threw forward his rifle, the stock against his hip, the muzzle covering the half-breed. But the latter calmly sat his horse and looked at the trapper. “Don’t forget,” said he, “I came here under what the Indians regard as a flag of truce; don’t forget that I am their spokesman, and that if anything happens to me they will take their revenge.” This result was very well understood by Kit; to shoot or otherwise harm a man sent forward to parley by the savages was a very great indignity and one which would excite them to the limits of their fury. But that he held the matter at all seriously was kept hidden from Lopez. “You saw us drive them out of camp a while ago,” said he, coolly; “that ought to have shown you how much we fear them.” “Another thing,” said the half-breed, equally calm, “even if I had taken the things you speak of, would I be so great a fool as to carry them about with me? If they were of value, wouldn’t I have cached them somewhere along the trail?” Kit Carson knew that Spotted Snake was a cunning, covetous fellow, brave and willing to go a long way to carry out his desires. As the matter stood, he feared that he had spoiled any chance that the boys might have had to recover the map, by putting the man on his guard. He was considering what he had best do under the circumstances, when the half-breed shook his rein and rode nearer the barrier. “In Santa Fé,” said he, “there is an old man by the name of Diaz--Goat Beard, the Indians call him. He keeps a storeroom at one side of the town, buys furs and sells goods of all sorts to the Indians.” “I know him,” said the trapper. “An old rascal.” Lopez grinned. “Maybe,” said he. “But he is very useful at times. He has often transacted little matters of business for me in a very capable way.”