"I think he comes from Montana. His name is Bad Pete."

"Pete?" mused Tom Reade aloud. "That's short for Peter, I suppose;
not a very interesting or romantic name. What's the hind-leg
of his name?"

"Meaning his surnames" drawled the driver.

"Yes; to be sure."

"I don't know that he has any surname, friend," the Colorado boy
rejoined.

"Why do they call him 'Bad'?" asked Harry, with a thrill of pleasurable
expectation.

As the driver was slow in finding an answer, Tom Reade, after
another look at the picturesque stranger, replied quizzically:

"I reckon they call him bad because he's counterfeit."

"There you go again," remonstrated Harry Hazelton. "You'd better
be careful, or Bad Pete will hear you."

"I hope he doesn't," smiled Tom. "I don't want to change Bad
Pete into Worse Pete."

There was little danger, however, that the picturesque-looking
stranger would hear them. The axles and springs of the springboard
wagon were making noise enough to keep their voices from reaching