The trail he had just followed had been replete with trouble which had suited the state of his mind and he now felt humorous, having cleaned up a pressing debt with his six-shooter.

Surely there ought to be a mild sort of excitement in the land he faced, something picturesque and out of the ordinary.

This was to be the finishing touch to his trip, and he had left his two companions at Albuquerque in order that he might have to himself all that he could find.
Not many miles to the south of him lay the town which had been the rendezvous of Tamale Jose, whose weakness had been a liking for other people's cattle.

Well he remembered his first man hunt: the discovery of the theft, the trail and pursuit and--the ending.

He was scarcely eighteen years of age when that event took place, and the wisdom he had absorbed then had stood him in good stead many times since.