It was hardly a place to be looked for in the West, and as Bud led the way across the echoing lobby to a pair of stuffed chairs he had a vague feeling of being in church. Stained-glass windows above the winding stairways let in a soft light, and on the towering pillars of marble were emblazoned prickly-pears as an emblem of the West. From the darkened balconies above half-seen women looked down curiously as they entered, and in the broad lobby below were gathered the prosperous citizens of the land. There were cattlemen, still wearing their boots and overalls, the better to attend to their shipping; mining men, just as they had come from the hills; and others more elegantly dressed--but they all had a nod for Henry Kruger. He was a man of mark, as Bud could see in a minute; but if he had other business with those who hailed him he let it pass and took out a rank brier pipe, which he puffed while Bud smoked a cigarette. They were sitting together in a friendly silence when Phil came out of the dining-room, but as he drew near the old man nodded to Bud and went over to speak to the clerk. "Who was that oldtimer you were talking to?" inquired Phil, as he sank down in the vacant chair. "Looks like the-morning-after with him, don't it?" "Um," grunted Bud; "reckon it is. Name's Kruger." "What--the mining man?" "That's right." "Well," exclaimed Phil, "what in the world was he talking to you about?" "Oh, some kind of a mining deal," grumbled Bud. "Wanted me to go down into Mexico!" "What'd you tell him?" challenged the little man, sitting up suddenly in his chair. "Say, that old boy's got rocks!" "He can keep 'em for all of me," observed Bud comfortably. "You know what I think about Mexico." "Sure; but what was his proposition? What did he want you to do?" "Search me! He was mighty mysterious about it. Said he wanted a man he could trust." "Well, holy Moses, Bud!" cried Phil, "wake up! Didn't you get his proposition?" "No, he wasn't talking about it. Said it was a good thing and he'd pay me well, or let me in on the deal; but when he hollered Mexico I quit. I've got a plenty." "Yes, but--" the little man choked and could say no more. "Well, you're one jim dandy business man, Bud Hooker!" he burst out at last. "You'd let--" "Well, what's the matter?" demanded Hooker defiantly. "Do _you_ want to go back into Mexico? Nor me, neither! What you kicking about?" "You might have led him on and got the scheme, anyway. Maybe there's a million in it. Come on, let's go over and talk to him. I'd take a chance, if it was good enough." "Aw, don't be a fool, Phil," urged the cowboy plaintively. "We've got no call to hear his scheme unless we want to go in on it. Leave him alone and he'll do something for us on this side. Oh, cripes! what's the matter with you?" He heaved himself reluctantly up out of his chair and moved over to where Kruger was sitting.