"Hard luck?" queried the tall man.
"I'm rollin' in wealth," stated the stranger, with an ironic sneer.
The tall man's eyes glittered. "Where you from?" he questioned.
"You c'n have three guesses," returned the stranger, his eyes narrowing with the mockery that the tall man had seen in them before.
The tall man adopted a placative tone. "I ain't wantin' to butt into your business," he said. "I was wantin' to find out if any one around here knowed you."
"This town didn't send any reception committee to meet me, did they?" smiled the stranger.
"Correct," said the tall man. He leaned closer. "You willin' to work your guns for me for a hundred a month?"
The stranger looked steadily into the tall man's eyes.
"You've been right handy askin' questions," he said. "Mebbe you'll answer some. What's your name?"
"Stafford," returned the tall man. "I'm managin' the Two Diamond, over on the Ute."