"Wish you would, Will. You'll get on your feet. There's plenty to do and we're short-handed. Think it over." "Does--Nell--ever say anything?" queried the brother. "She talks about you often. Yesterday we were talking about you. I told her what Sundown said about--" "Sundown?" "Forgot about him. He drifted in a few months ago. I met up with him at the water-hole ranch. He was broke and looking for work. Gave him a job cooking, and he made good. He told me that he used to have a pal named Will Corliss--" "And Sundown's at the Concho! I never told him where I lived." "He came into Antelope on a freight. Got side-tracked and had to stay. He didn't know this used to be your country till I told him." "Well, that beats me, Jack! Say, Sun was just an uncle to me when we were on the road. We made it clear around, freights, cattle-boats, and afoot. I didn't hit the booze then. Funny thing: he used to hit it, and I kind of weaned him. Now it's me. . ." "He's straight, all right," said Corliss. "He 'tends right to business. The boys like him." "Everybody liked him," asserted Will Corliss. "But he is the queerest Hobo that ever hit the grit." "Some queer, at that. It's after nine now, Will. You get to bed. I want to see Banks a minute. I'll be back soon." When John Corliss had left the room, something intangible went with him. Will felt his moral stamina crumbling. He waited until he heard his brother leave the hotel. Then he went downstairs and returned with a bottle of whiskey. He drank, hid the bottle, and went to bed. He knew that without the whiskey he would have been unable to sleep. The brothers had breakfast together next morning. After breakfast Corliss went for the team and returned to the hotel, hoping to induce his brother to come home with him. Will Corliss, however, pleaded weariness, and said that he would stay at the Palace until he felt better. "All right, Will. I'll leave some cash with Banks. He'll give you what you need as you want it." "Banks? The sheriff?" "Yes." "Oh, all right. Suppose you think I'm not to be trusted." "No. But we'll leave it that way till I see you again. Write in if you need me--and take care of yourself. When you get ready to settle down, I'll turn over your share of the Concho to you. So long, Will." Will Corliss watched his brother drive away. When the team had disappeared up the road he walked down the street to the sheriff's office. The sheriff greeted him cordially. "I came for that money, Jim." "Sure! Here you are," and the sheriff handed him a five-dollar gold-piece. "Quit kidding and come across," said Corliss, ignoring the significance of the allowance. "Can't, Will. John said to give you five any time you wanted it, but only five a day." "He did, eh? John's getting mighty close in his old age, ain't he?" "Mebby. I don't know." "How much did he leave for me?" "Five a day, as I said." "Oh, you go to hell!"