CHAPTER XVI 



DR. ASA TURNS UP 



I buckled right down to business in El Paso 

 and soon had things going nicely when, without a 

 word of notice, Dr. Asa dropped in on me one 

 day. 



He said he was on his way to California and 

 his wife and his two children accompanied him. 

 As he seemed somewhat poorly rigged out, I 

 asked him where his wife and the youngsters 

 were staying, upon which he said that they were 

 comfortably fixed in a hotel. He did not know 

 the name of the hotel but said he knew where it 

 was located and could find the place without 

 trouble. He finally admitted that he had only a 

 few dollars left and thought he would stick 

 around a few days and make enough money to 

 pay their way to the coast. 



While I was somewhat short on change 

 myself, I wanted to help him all I could and 

 suggested that he run up to Las Cruses, New 

 Mexico, for a few days. Las Cruses was a fine 

 little town in the Mesilla valley about forty miles 

 from El Paso, and not even a quack there. I 

 knew Asa could clean up a nice little sum of 

 money there in a few days because I had been 

 called there frequently and knew just what the 

 possibilities were for such an attempt as Asa 

 would make. 



He agreed at once that it was exactly the sort 



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