CHAPTER III.
TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
One day, about six weeks before the commencement of our story, Frank and Archie were sent to San Diego on business for Uncle James.

When they returned, they found a new face among the Rancheros--that of Pierre Costello, a man for whom Frank at once conceived a violent dislike.
Pierre was a full-blooded Mexican, dark-browed, morose, and sinister-looking, and he had a pair of small, black eyes that were never still, but constantly roving about, as if on the lookout for something.
His appearance was certainly forbidding; but that was not the reason why Frank disliked him.

It was because Marmion regarded him with suspicion, and seemed to think he had no business on the rancho.

When the Ranchero came about the house, Marmion would follow him wherever he went, as if he feared that the man was about to attempt some mischief; and, when Pierre returned to his quarters, the dog always seemed to be immensely relieved.

Frank invariably made common cause with his favorites, whether they belonged to the human or brute creation, and without taking the trouble to inquire into the merits of the case; and, when he found how matters stood between Pierre and Marmion, he at once espoused the cause of his dog, and hated the Ranchero as cordially as though the latter had done him some terrible injury, although the man had never spoken to him, except to salute him very respectfully every time they met.
That Pierre hated and feared the dog, quite as much as the animal disliked him, was evident.