"Steady, girlie!" he muttered. "No need to hurry, just yet."
He unbuttoned his military coat and under its cover dexterously struck a match on the milled edge of his watch. The tiny flame gleamed only for a moment upon his scarlet tunic, but in that moment he had seen the dial of his watch, with the fingers pointing to a quarter to eleven.
"Good!" he decided, as he seized the bridle rein. "We can take it easy, and yet get to Rattlesnake Ranch before sunrise."
CHAPTER X
THE OUTSIDE PASSENGERS
"Stage comin' along, boys. Fifteen minutes inside of scheduled time."
The hotel at Soldier's Knee was thronged with ranchers and cowboys who had come into the little settlement to attend the stock market.
Some of the men were gambling at the card-tables, some were drinking at the bar, others stood in groups discussing the prospects of their crops of fruit and corn or the work of the lumber camps, and the air of the saloon was dense with pungent tobacco smoke and strong language. It was one seated on the sill of the open window who reported the coming of the mail.