The burro looked at his master with the gaze of a wise old dog and, relieved of his pack, moved slowly to the shade of the living tent. Roger, looking his guest over, from faded overalls and blue flannel shirt to battered sombrero, led the way into the cook tent. "Whew!" said the stranger. "Sun's getting higher. Noons are hot. When did you reach these parts?" "A couple of weeks ago. My name's Moore,--Roger Moore." The man nodded. "Mine's Otto von Minden. I'm an engineer. Been in the desert country ten years." Roger was moving about, making coffee and slicing bacon. "What are you doing, prospecting?" he asked. Von Minden jerked a quick look at Roger from a pair of small brown eyes. "Yes, I'm prospecting. What are you doing?" "Experimenting with solar heat. This is the place to get it if this noon is a promise of more to come." "Heat!" cried the stranger with sudden excitement. "Heat! God! What I have known of heat. Blistering, burning, blinding! Nights when the very star rays scorch and the moon's a caldron of white lava. Ten years of it, Moore, ten years!" Roger looked at his guest with interest. "You aren't an American? There's just a little accent in your speech." "Me? No. I'm German born and bred. What are you going to do with your solar heat?" "Harness it," replied Roger, "and see if I can make it work for me." "There's a fool born every minute," said Von Minden. "You're quite right," returned Roger, cheerfully. There was no further conversation until Roger had put the coffee, bacon and cold biscuits with a can of pie-fruit on the table. Von Minden fell to voraciously. His table manners were very bad, his hands were dirty but there was something about him that interested Roger. "I've had great trouble getting water," he said. "Just struck it, this noon. 'Twill be enough for drinking and my condenser, I guess, but nothing for irrigation." "Can't do anything with a dug well, here," grunted the guest. "Better drive one." "Is the sand really fertile in this region?" asked Roger. "Fertile? Friend, there's an empire waiting to be born, right here, if only they can get water and fuel." "If we can get the fuel we can pump the water," said Roger. "You're right! There is an empire here. Mineral resources beyond the dreams of avarice, four or five crops a year of food-stuffs. Why, man, millions of people could come in here and be self-sustaining." "What do you mean by 'in here'?" Von Minden spoke sharply.