MAJOR STOVER LAND OFFICE
Kid Wolf was curious. Strange to say, he had been thinking of the major before he had observed the sign, and wondering about the man's offer to buy the S Bar Ranch. The Texan whistled softly as he dismounted. He left Blizzard waiting at the hitch rack, and sauntered to the office door.
He opened the door, let himself in, and found himself in a dusty, paper-littered room. A few maps hung on the walls. Kid Wolf's first impression was the disagreeable smell of cigar stumps.
His eyes fell upon the man at the desk by the dirty window, and he experienced a sudden start—an uncomfortable feeling. The Texan did not often dislike a man at first sight, but he was a keen reader of character.
"Do yuh have business with me?" demanded the man at the desk.
Major Stover, if this were he, was a paunchy, disgustingly fat man. His face was moonlike, sensually thick of lip. His eyes, as they fell upon his visitor, were hoglike, nearly buried in sallow folds of skin.
The thick brows above them had grown close together.
"Well," The Kid drawled, "I don't exactly know. Yo' deal in lands, I believe?"
"I have some holdings," said the fat man complacently. "Are yo' interested in the San Felipe district?"
"Very much," said The Kid, nodding. "I am quite attracted by
Rattlesnake County, and——"