"I seek a mine that my father found--a gold mine that will make us rich. And I seek also the name of the man that shot my father down like a dog. I wish to kill that man!" CHAPTER IV HEADS! I WIN! De Launay turned and called the waiter, ordering cognac for himself and light wine for mademoiselle. "You have rendered it necessary, mademoiselle," he explained. Mademoiselle's astounding revelation and the metallic earnestness of murder in her voice alike took him aback. He saw that her sweet mouth was set in a cruel line and her cameo chin was firm as a rock. But her homicidal intentions had not affected him as sharply as the rest of it. Mademoiselle took her wine and sipped it, but her mouth again relaxed to scornful contempt as she saw him toss off the fiery liquor. She was somewhat astonished at the effect her words had had on the man, but she gathered that he was now considering her bizarre proposal with real interest. The alcohol temporarily enlivened De Launay. "So," he said, "Avalon is at Twin Forks and I am to marry you in order that you may seek out an enemy and kill him. There was also word of a gold mine. And your father--d'Albret! I do not recall the name." "My father," explained Solange, "went to America when I was a babe in arms. He was very poor--few of the Basques are rich--and he was in danger because of the smuggling. He worked for this Monsieur Brandon as a herder of sheep. He found a mine of gold--and he was killed when he was coming to tell about it." "His Christian name?" "Pedro--Pierre." "H'm-m! That must have been French Pete. I remember him. He was more than a cut above the ordinary Basco." He spoke in English, again forgetting that mademoiselle spoke the language. She reminded him of it. "You knew my father? But that is incredible!" "The whole affair is incredible. No wonder you have the name of being a fairy! But I knew your father--slightly. I knew Ike Brandon. I know Twin Forks. If I had made up my mind to return to America, it is to that place that I would go." It was mademoiselle's turn to be astonished. "To Twin Forks?" "To Ike Brandon's ranch, where your father worked. It must have been after my time that he was killed. I left there in nineteen hundred, and came to France shortly afterward. I was a cow hand--a cowboy--and we did not hold friendship with sheepmen. But I knew Ike Brandon and his granddaughter. Now, tell me about this mine and your father's death." Mademoiselle d'Albret again had recourse to her hand bag, drawing from it a small fragment of rock, a crumpled and smashed piece of metal about the size of one's thumb nail and two pieces of paper. The latter seemed to be quite old, barely holding together along the lines where they had been creased. These she spread on the table. De Launay first picked up the rock and the bit of metal.