table.

He turned his head toward her and literally collided
with a pair of lubric eyes under a narrow forehead and
thick, straight hair, parted in the middle.

The door opened wide. Anastasio, Pancracio, Quail,
and Meco filed in, dazed.

Anastasio uttered a cry of surprise and stepped for-
ward to shake hands with the little fat man wearing a
charro suit and a lavender bandanna. A pair of old
friends, met again. So warm was their embrace, so tightly
they clutched each other that the blood rushed to their
heads, they turned purple.

"Look here, Demetrio, I want the honor of introducing
you to Blondie. He's a real friend, you know. I love him
like a brother. You must get to know him, Chief, he's
a man! Do you remember that damn jail at Escobedo,
where we stayed together for over a year?"

Without removing his cigar from his lips, Demetrio,
buried in a sullen silence amid the bustle and uproar,
offered his hand and said:

"I'm delighted to meet you!"

"So your name is Demetrio Macias?" the girl asked
suddenly. Seated on the bar, she swung her legs; at