“They have had business dealings together,” he told her vaguely.  “Maybe they have disagreed about something.  Men out there are a little given to hard words, I think.”

She sat silent, leaning forward, tapping at her boot with her quirt.  Then quickly, just as the banker was opening his lips to speak of the other matter, she demanded: 

“Why did you call him a fool for bringing the money here?  It had to be brought, hadn’t it?”

“Yes!  That’s just it.  It had to be brought and there is not a man in all of the cattle country here who does not know all about the terms of the contract Thornton and Pollard made.  Ten thousand down, five thousand in three days from now, the other five thousand in six months.  Why, right now I wouldn’t attempt to carry five thousand dollars in cash over that wilderness trail if there were ten times the amount to come to me at the end of it!  It’s as mad as this thing you want to do.”

“He did it.”

“Yes,” shortly.  “He did it.”  He gathered up the loose money, pushed a button set in the table, and upon the prompt appearance of the cashier said crisply, “Five thousand to apply on the Pollard-Thornton agreement.  Put it in the big safe immediately.”

“He looks as though he could take care of himself,” the girl said thoughtfully when the money had gone.

Templeton whirled about upon her, his eyes blazing.

“Take care of himself!” he scoffed.  “What chance has a man to take care of himself when another man puts a rifle ball through his back?  What chance had Bill Varney of the Twin Dry Diggings stage only three weeks ago?  Varney is dead and the money he was carrying is gone, that’s the chance he had!  What chance has any man had for the last six months if he carried five hundred dollars on him and any one knew about it?  They chased off a dozen steers from Kemble’s place not three days ago, you yourself know what happened at Drury’s road house last night, and now Buck Thornton rides through the same country with five thousand dollars on him!”

“He did it,” she repeated again very softly, her eyes musing.

“And one of these days he’s going to find out how simple a matter it is for a gang like the gang operating in broad daylight in this country now to separate a fool and his money!  The Lord knows how a simple trick like coming in three days ahead of time fooled them.  It won’t do it again.”

“He is the type of man to succeed,” she went on, still musingly.

Templeton shrugged.

“We have our own business on our hands,” he said abruptly, looking at his watch.  “The stage leaves in half an hour.  Are you going to be reasonable?”

Then she stood up and smiled at him very brightly.

“The stage is going its way, Mr. Templeton.  I am going mine.”

Templeton flung down his pen with an access of irritation which brought a flicker of amusement into the bright grey eyes.  But the banker’s grim mouth did not relax; there was anger in the gesture with which he slammed a blotter down on the big yellow envelope on which his wet pen had fallen.  After his carefully precise fashion he was reaching for a fresh, clean envelope when the girl took the slightly soiled one from him.