He kept a bar, too, and dealt out villainous “tanglefoot” and windowed, too, by the unwilling contributions wrung from Uncle Sam. For three years he had furnished bacon, _frijoles_ and fried eggs, the unvarying fiery mescal to such stomachs as could stand the onslaught and the tax of two bits a thimbleful. He ran a “brace game” of monte whenever the packers were drunk or strangers fool enough to play. He was a thorough-paced rascal in the opinion of every “gringo” who passed that way, and a man of unimpeachable character according to all records in the case. He was a “greaser” of whom everything had been said and nothing proved; that is, to the satisfaction of an old-time Arizona jury. But Mr. Whitlock, the new United States District Attorney, was said to be “laying” for Pedro, and between those who knew them both and were aware of the possibilities of finding twelve better men and truer outside of Maricopa County, bets were even as to the result. [Illustration: 0021] “Just let me get that thieving greaser across the line into Yavapai,” said a local luminary, “and I'll find a jury that will hang him on sight or lynch him on general principles.” But Pedro knew better than to venture northward along the tempting shores of the Hassayampa. Even the chance of collecting a bad debt from a fellow countryman, known to be lurking in Wickenburg, failed to lure Pedro thither. He smiled suggestively, showing his white teeth and waving aside the blue smoke of his cigarrito with sinewy brown hand. “A--Wickenburg is too damn close to Yavapai, and Yavapai to 'ell,” he remarked. And it had more than once been said of Pedro that he spoke English like a native. “Rancho Ruiz” was the sonorous and pretentious title he had bestowed upon the establishment to which the winding Arizona roadway led. “Cutthroat Crossing” was what the soldiers and placer miners had called this half ferry, half ford of Pedro's ever since the body of young Sergeant Dinsmore had been found stranded on a sand bar of the Gila two miles below,' his neck and his money belt slashed by the same knife. Going into Yuma with well-lined pockets, Dinsmore had been warned to make no stay among the gang of monte players always hovering about Pedro's. But he had been a bold and successful gambler at Tucson. He had nothing but contempt for Mexican bravos and confidence in his own prowess as a shot. The card table had attractions he could not well resist, but the ranch had still another--Pedro's daughter.