the hills. Halfway back a heavy spur lay in the trail; some one
recognized it as Stanley Mitchell's--a smith-wrought spur, painfully
fashioned from a single piece of drill steel.

They came to Cobre before sunup; they found brown Awguan, dejected and
sweat-streaked, standing in hip-shot weariness on the hill near his
corral. In the corral Stanley's saddle lay in the sand, the blankets
sweat-soaked.

Unwillingly enough, Holland woke Stan from a smiling sleep to arrest him.
They searched the little room, finding the mate to the spur found on the
trail, but nothing else to their purpose. But at last, bringing Stan's
saddle in before locking the house, Bull Pepper noticed a bumpy
appearance in the sheepskin lining, and found, between saddle skirt and
saddle tree, the stolen money in full, and even the checks that Zurich
had sent.

They haled Stan before the justice, who was also proprietor of the
Mountain House. Waiving examination, Stanley Mitchell was held to
meet the action of the Grand Jury; and in default of bond--his guilt
being assured and manifest--he was committed to Tucson Jail.

The morning stage, something delayed on his account, bore him away under
guard, _en route_, most clearly, for the penitentiary.




CHAPTER VII