The sheriff returned presently with a loaf of canned bread and a tin of beans. If I had been alone, I should have kicked at the food and got permission for my darkies to send me up something from 97; but I thought I'd see how Lord Ralles would like genuine Western fare, so I said nothing. That, I have to state, is more--or rather less--than the Britisher did, after he had sampled the stuff; and really I don't blame him, much as I enjoyed his rage and disgust. It didn't take long to finish our supper, and then Fred, who hadn't slept much the night before, stretched out on the floor and went to sleep. Lord Ralles and I sat on boxes--the only furniture the room contained--about as far apart as we could get, he in the sulks, and I whistling cheerfully. I should have liked to be with Madge, but he wasn't; so there was some compensation, and I knew that time was playing the cards in our favor: so long as they hadn't found the letters we had only to sit still to win. About an hour after supper, the sheriff came back and told me Camp and Baldwin wanted to see me. I saw no reason to object, so in they came, accompanied by the judge. Baldwin opened the ball by saying genially,-- "Well, Mr. Gordon, you've played a pretty cute gamble, and I suppose you think you stand to win the pot." "I'm not complaining," I said. "Still," snarled Camp, angrily, as if my contented manner fretted him, "our time will come presently, and we can make it pretty uncomfortable for you. Illegal proceedings put a man in jail in the long run." "I hope you take your lesson to heart," I remarked cheerfully, which made Camp scowl worse than ever. "Now," said Baldwin, who kept cool, "we know you are not risking loss of position and the State's prison for nothing, and we want to know what there is in it for you?" "I wouldn't stake my chance of State's prison against yours, gentlemen. And, while I may lose my position, I'll be a long way from starvation." "That doesn't tell us what Cullen gives you to take the risk." "Mr. Cullen hasn't given, or even hinted that he'll give, anything." "And Mr. Gordon hasn't asked, and, if I know him, wouldn't take a cent for what he has done," said Fred, rising from the floor. "You mean to say you are doing it for nothing?" exclaimed Camp, incredulously. "That's about the truth of it," I said; though I thought of Madge as I said it, and felt guilty in suggesting that she was nothing. "Then what is your motive?" cried Baldwin. If there had been any use, I should have replied, "The right;" but I knew that they would only think I was posing if I said it. Instead I replied: "Mr. Cullen's party has the stock majority in their favor, and would have won a fair fight if you had played fair. Since you didn't, I'm doing my best to put things to rights." Camp cried, "All the more fool--" but Baldwin interrupted him by saying,-- "That only shows what a mean cuss Cullen is. He ought to give you ten thousand, if he gives you a cent."