meal, was a pathetic endeavor of the South-
ern-bred Peyton to emulate the soft, luxu-
rious, and open-air indolence of his native
South, in a climate that was not only not
tropical, but even austere in its most fervid
moments. Yet, although cold draughts in-
vaded it from the rear that morning, Judge
Peyton sat alone, between the open doors
and windows, awaiting the slow coming of
his wife and the young ladies. He was not
in an entirely comfortable mood that morn-
ing. Things were not going on well at
Robles. That truculent vagabond, Pedro,
had, the night before, taken himself off with
a curse that had frightened even the vac-
queros, who most hated him as a companion,
but who now seemed inclined to regard his
absence as an injury done to their race.
Peyton, uneasily conscious that his own
anger had been excited by an exaggerated.
conception of the accident, was now, like
most obstinate men, inclined to exaggerate
the importance of Pedro's insolence. He
was well out of it to get rid of this quarrel-
some hanger-on, whose presumption and ill-
humor threatened the discipline of the
rancho, yet he could not entirely forget that
he had employed him on account of his fam-

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