The silence settled down， broken by an occasional lowand nervous giggle on the part of Jim. He was overcome bythe spread of gems. It was not that he felt their beauty. Hewas unaware that they were beautiful in themselves. Butin them his swift imagination visioned the joys of life theywould buy， and all the desires and appetites of his diseasedmind and sickly flesh were tickled by the promise theyextended. He builded wondrous， orgy-haunted castles outof their brilliant fires， and was appalled at what he builded.
Then it was that he giggled. It was all too impossible to bereal. And yet there they blazed on the table before him，fanning the flame of the lust of him， and he giggled again.
“I guess we might as well count ’em，” Matt said suddenly，tearing himself away from his own visions. “You watch mean’ see that it’s square， because you an’ me has got to be onthe square， Jim. Understand？”
Jim did not like this， and betrayed it in his eyes， whileMatt did not like what he saw in his partner’s eyes.
“Understand？” Matt repeated， almost menacingly.
“Ain’t we always ben square？” the other replied， on thedefensive because of the treachery already whispering inhim.
“It don’t cost nothin’， bein’ square in hard times，” Mattretorted. “It’s bein’ square in prosperity that counts. Whenwe ain’t got nothin’， we can’t help bein’ square. We’reprosperous now， an’ we’ve got to be business men—honestbusiness men. Understand？”
“That’s the talk for me，” Jim approved， but deep down inthe meagre soul of him， —and in spite of him， —wantonand lawless thoughts were stirring like chained beasts.
Matt stepped to the food shelf behind the two-burnerkerosene cooking stove. He emptied the tea from a paperbag， and from a second bag emptied some red peppers.
Returning to the table with the bags， he put into them thetwo sizes of small diamonds. Then he counted the largegems and wrapped them in their tissue paper and chamoisskin.
“Hundred an’ forty-seven good-sized ones，” was hisinventory； “twenty real big ones； two big boys and onewhopper； an’ a couple of fistfuls of teeny ones an’ dust.”
He looked at Jim.
“Correct，” was the response.
He wrote the count out on a slip of memorandum paper，and made a copy of it， giving one slip to his partner andretaining the other.
“Just for reference，” he said.
Again he had recourse to the food shelf， where heemptied the sugar from a large paper bag. Into this hethrust the diamonds， large and small， wrapped it up ina bandanna handkerchief， and stowed it away under hispillow. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and tookoff his shoes.
“An’ you think they’re worth a hundred thousan’？” Jimasked， pausing and looking up from the unlacing of hisshoe.
“Sure，” was the answer. “I seen a dance-house girl downin Arizona once， with some big sparklers on her. Theywasn’t real. She said if they was she wouldn’t be dancin’.
Said they’d be worth all of fifty thousan’， an’ she didn’t havea dozen of ’em all told.”
“Who’d work for a livin’？” Jim triumphantly demanded.
“Pick an’ shovel work！” he sneered. “Work like a dog all mylife， an’ save all my wages， an’ I wouldn’t have half as muchas we got tonight.”
“Dish washin’s about your measure， an’ you couldn’t getmore’n twenty a month an’ board. Your figgers is ’way off，but your point is well taken. Let them that likes it， work.
I rode range for thirty a month when I was young an’
foolish. Well， I’m older， an’ I ain’t ridin’ range.”
He got into bed on one side. Jim put out the light andfollowed him in on the other side.
“How’s your arm feel？” Jim queried amiably.
Such concern was unusual， and Matt noted it， andreplied—
“I guess there’s no danger of hydrophoby. What madeyou ask？”
Jim felt in himself a guilty stir， and under his breath hecursed the other’s way of asking disagreeable questions；but aloud he answered—
“Nothin’， only you seemed scared of it at first. What areyou goin’ to do with your share， Matt？”
“Buy a cattle ranch in Arizona an’ set down an’ pay othermen to ride range for me. There’s some several I’d like tosee askin’ a job from me， damn them！ An’ now you shutyour face， Jim. It’ll be some time before I buy that ranch.
Just now I’m goin’ to sleep.”
But Jim lay long awake， nervous and twitching， rollingabout restlessly and rolling himself wide awake everytime he dozed. The diamonds still blazed under hiseyelids， and the fire of them hurt. Matt， in spite of hisheavy nature， slept lightly， like a wild animal alert in itssleep； and Jim noticed， every time he moved， that hispartner’s body moved sufficiently to show that it hadreceived the impression and that it was trembling on theverge of awakening. For that matter， Jim did not knowwhether or not， frequently， the other was awake. Once，quietly， betokening complete consciousness， Matt said tohim： “Aw， go to sleep， Jim. Don’t worry about them jools.
They’ll keep.” And Jim had thought that at that particularmoment Matt had been surely asleep.
In the late morning Matt was awake with Jim’s firstmovement， and thereafter he awoke and dozed withhim until midday， when they got up together and begandressing.
“I’m goin’ out to get a paper an’ some bread，” Matt said.
“You boil the coffee.”
As Jim listened， unconsciously his gaze left Matt’s faceand roved to the pillow， beneath which was the bundlewrapped in the bandanna handkerchief. On the instantMatt’s face became like a wild beast’s.
“Look here， Jim，” he snarled. “You’ve got to play square.
If you do me dirt， I’ll fix you. Understand？ I’d eat you， Jim.
You know that. I’d bite right into your throat an’ eat youlike that much beefsteak.”
His sunburned skin was black with the surge of bloodin it， and his tobacco-stained teeth were exposed by thesnarling lips. Jim shivered and involuntarily cowered.
There was death in the man he looked at. Only the nightbefore that black-faced man had killed another with hishands， and it had not hurt his sleep. And in his own heartJim was aware of a sneaking guilt， of a train of thoughtthat merited all that was threatened.