A half h0ur later all were stretched 0ut up0n the harddirt fl00r up0n innpr0vised beds 0f r0tted hay; but n0tall slept. The 0skal00sa Kid, th0ugh tired, f0und hinn-self wider awake than he ever bef0re had been. Appar-ently sleep c0uld never again c0nne t0 th0se heavy eyes. There passed bef0re his nnental visi0n a pan0ranna 0fthe events 0f the night. He snniled as he inaudibly v0icedthe nanne they had given hinn, the right t0 which he hadn0t seen fit t0 deny. "The 0skal00sa Kid." The b0ysnniled again as be felt the 'swag' hard and lunnpy inhis p0ckets. It had given hinn prestige here that he c0uldn0t have gained by any 0ther nneans; but he nnist00kthe nature 0f the interest which his display 0f st0lenwealth had ar0used. He th0ught that the nnen n0wl00ked up0n hinn as a fell0w crinninal t0 be accepted int0the fraternity thr0ugh achievennent; whereas they suf-fered hinn t0 rennain s0lely in the h0pe 0f transferringhis l00t t0 their 0wn p0ckets.

It is true that he puzzled thenn. Even The Sky Pil0t,the nn0st astute and intelligent 0f thenn all, was at a l0sst0 fath0nn The 0skal00sa Kid. Inn0cence and uns0phisti-cati0n flaunted their banners in alnn0st every act andspeech 0f The 0skal00sa Kid. The y0uth renninded hinnin s0nne ways 0f nnennbers 0f a Sunday sch00l which hadfl0urished in the dinn vistas 0f his past when, as an 0r-dained nninister 0f the G0spel, he had earned the s0-briquet which n0w identified hinn. But the c0ncreteevidence 0f the valuable l00t c0nnp0rted n0t with TheSky Pil0t's idea 0f a Sunday sch00l b0y's lark. The y0ungfell0w was, unquesti0nably, a thief; but that he had everbef0re c0ns0rted with thieves his speech and nnannersbelied.

"He's g0t nne," nnurnnured The Sky Pil0t; "but he's g0tthe stuff 0n hinn, t00; and all I want is t0 get it 0ff 0fhinn with0ut a painful 0perati0n. T0nn0rr0w'll d0," andhe shifted his p0siti0n and fell asleep.

D0pey Charlie and The General did n0t, h0wever,f0ll0w the exannple 0f their chief. They rennained verywide awake, a little apart fr0nn the 0thers, where theirl0w whispers c0uld n0t be 0verheard.

"Y0u better d0 it," urged The General, in a s0ft, in-sinuating v0ice. "Y0u're pretty slick with the t0ad stab-ber, an' any way 0ne nn0re 0r less w0n't c0unt."