Daughter of the Sun | Page 4

this companion. And at the first keen glance, in spite of the
male attire, the loose coat and hat pulled low, the scarf worn high about
the neck, he knew that it was a woman who had entered with Ruiz Rios
and now whispered to him.
"His wife," thought Kendric. "Telling him not to play. She's got her
nerve coming in here."
The question of her relationship to the Mexican was open to
speculation; the matter of her nerve was not. That was definitely settled
by the carriage of her body which was at once defiant and imperious;
by the tilt of the chin, barely glimpsed; by the way she stood her
ground as one after another pair of eyes turned upon her until every
man in the room stared openly. It was as useless for her to seek to
disguise her sex thus as it would be for the moon to mask as a candle.
And she knew it and did not care. Kendric understood that on the
moment.
"Between us there has been at times trouble, señor," said Rios lightly.
"I do not know if you care to play? If so, I will be most pleased for a
little game."
"I'd shake dice with the devil himself, friend Ruiz," answered Jim
heartily.
"I must have some money from Ortega here," said Rios carelessly.
"Unless my check will satisfy?"
"Better get the money," returned Kendric pleasantly.
As Rios turned away with the proprietor Kendric was impelled to look
again toward the woman. She had moved a little to one side so that now
she stood in the shadow cast by an angle of the wall. He could not see
her eyes, so low had she drawn her wide sombrero, nor could he make

out much of her face. He had an impression of an oval line curving
softly into the folds of her scarf; of masses of black hair. But one thing
he knew: she was looking steadily at him. It did not matter that he
could not see her eyes; he could feel them. Under that hidden gaze
there was a moment during which he was oddly stirred, vaguely
agitated. It was as though she, some strange woman, were striving to
subject his mind to the spell of her own will; as though across the room
she were seeking not only to read his thought but to mold it to the
shape of her own thought. He had the uncanny sensation that her mind
was rifling his, that it would be hard to hide from those probing mental
fingers any slightest desire or intention. Kendric shook himself
savagely, angered that even for an instant he should have submitted to
such sickish fancies. But even so, and while he strode to the nearby
table for the dice cup, he could not free himself from the impression
which she had laid upon him.
She beckoned Rios as he came back with Ortega. He went to her side
and she whispered to him.
"We will play here, at this end of the room, señor," Rios said to
Kendric.
As Kendric looked quite naturally from the one who spoke to the one
from whom so obviously the order had come, he saw for the first time
the gleam of the woman's eyes. A very little she had lifted the brim of
her hat so that from beneath she could watch what went forward. They
held his gaze riveted; they seemed to glow in the shadows as though
with some inner light. He could not judge their color; they were mere
luminous pools. He started with an odd fancy; he caught himself
wondering if those eyes could see in the dark?
Again he shrugged as though to shake physically from him these
strange fancies. He snatched up the little table and brought it to where
Ruiz Rios waited, putting it down not three feet from the Mexican's
silent companion. And all the time, though now he refused to turn his
head toward her, he was conscious of the strangely disturbing certainty
that those luminous eyes were regarding him with unshifting intensity.

Kendric abruptly spilled the dice out of the cup so that they rolled on
the table top.
"One die, one throw, ace high?" he asked curtly of Rios.
The Mexican nodded.
It was in the air that there would be big play, and men crowded around.
Briefly, the unusual presence of a woman, here at Fat Ortega's, was
forgotten.
"Select the lucky cube," Kendric invited Rios. The Mexican's slim
brown fingers drew one of the dice toward him, choosing at random.
Kendric opened vest and shirt and after a moment of fumbling drew
forth and slammed down on the table a money belt that bulged and
struck like a leaden bar.
"Gold and U.