Without thinking, Drew moved forward, was about to reach for the volume when he heard the click of a cocked Colt. A hand swept down on the book.
"You, hombre--what do you want with this?" Herrera, with no friendliness in either voice or eyes, was holding a gun on him.
"That book--it looks like the ones I bought in town." Drew was startled by the vaquero's enmity.
For a moment Herrera seemed on the point of open dispute, then he obeyed. But for some reason his weapon remained unholstered. Drew took up the volume.
"_History of the Conquest of Peru_," he read out. The binding was a match for that of the other three. But--there _was_ something different. He weighed the volume in his hand. That was it! This book was heavier....
"Well, hombre, you have seen such a one before?"
"Yes, this is bound to match those I bought from Stein. And one of those was _History of the Conquest of Mexico_. This is surely a part of the same library."
Rennie appeared content to let Chino ask the questions, but he continued to watch Drew and the book.
"Have in them?" Drew repeated. "Why pages. They were books to read--_The Three Musketeers_, _The Count of Monte Cristo_, and _History of the Conquest of Mexico_. That's all, just books."
The Kentuckian had trouble obeying. And for the first time he saw he did not hold a book composed of pages but a type of box. The cover resisted his tugging. Then, as if some catch had been mastered, it opened so suddenly he almost lost his grip on the book. The core of those once separate pages had been hollowed out to contain a nest of raw cotton on which lay ... The Kentuckian gasped.
Even in this subdued light those stones glittered, and their settings were gold and silver. Drew saw elaborate pieces, the like of which he had never seen before.
"There was a mule shot back in the pass," Rennie explained. "His pack was opened. Three books were in it--one of them fell out and burst open."
"No, it held gold coin. _Hard Times_ by Charles Dickens--the contents hardly indicative of the subject, were they? Upon investigation a _Wonders of the World_ produced more coin. And, as you see, _History of the Conquest of Peru_ was even more fruitful. You are sure this binding matches that of the books you bought?"