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[Frontispiece: "Peach of a town," he repeated with added conviction]
I. GENTLEMAN GEOFF'S BILLIE II. A SUPERFLUOUS KNIGHT-ERRANT III. THE COMING OF EL NEGRITO IV. GENTLEMAN GEOFF PASSES THE DEAL V. A GRINGO CINDERELLA VI. TIA JUANA'S CAULDRON COOLS VII. ALIEN KIN VIII. WILLA SITS IN IX. BIRDS OF A FEATHER X. AN ACE IN THE HOLE XI. A CHANGE OF FRONT XII. COALS OF FIRE XIII. THE CHALLENGE XIV. THE KNIGHT-ERRANT ONCE MORE XV. GONE XVI. THE POOL OF THE LOST SOULS XVII. ANGIE SCORES XVIII. MIDNIGHT FOR CINDERELLA XIX. THE VENDER OF TOMALES XX. WINNIE MASON STANDS BY XXI. THE RETURN OF TIA JUANA XXII. WHERE TRAILS MEET XXIII. THE SLIPPER OF CINDERELLA XXIV. THE LOST SOULS' TREASURE XXV. INTO HER OWN
Kearn Thode mounted his pinto and rode out of the courtyard of the Baggott Hotel and down the Calle Rivera under a seething tropic sun. Limasito's principal street was well-nigh deserted in the lethargy of the noon-day siesta, but the flower-market was a riotous blaze of color in the glistening white plaza, from which radiated broad vistas of fantastically painted adobe and soberer concrete, ending in a soft green blur.
The young petroleum engineer had pictured a ten-year-old boom town in the Mexican oil belt as a wilderness of rough shacks and board sidewalks, with possibly a dancehall or two and an open-air movie as the only attractions, and the thriving little city had proved a welcome surprise.
"Limasito," he mused. "That means 'Little Lemon.' Wonder who tacked that name to this burg? Peach of a town, I call it."
A long, low adobe house, tinted a screaming blue which rivaled the skies, faced the southern end of the plaza, covering nearly an entire block. As Thode jogged past, a door in the side wall opened, and a girl appeared. She was tall with a lithe slenderness that betokened well-poised strength rather than fragility. Masses of sloe-black hair waved beneath the broad brim of her sombrero, but her skin was unbelievably fair and the eyes she lifted to his in frank scrutiny were the deep blue of a wood violet.