For a little Buck Thornton was silent, thinking swiftly.  For the life of him he could not but look for some trickery in any proposition which might come from “Rattlesnake” Pollard.  And when Pollard coolly offered to give away eight hundred dollars, five hundred of it principal, three hundred interest, Thornton had an uneasy sense that there was something crooked in the deal.  But at the same time he knew that a year ago Pollard had been short of funds and for this reason had been driven to sell the Poison Hole.  Hence it might be that now Pollard was telling the truth when he said that he needed money.

“You mean,” he said presently, speaking slowly, trying to see Pollard’s face in the shadows, “that if I come across with four thousand five hundred dollars in thirty days you will give me the deed to the Poison Hole?”

“That’s what I mean,” agreed Pollard bluntly.  “It’s a proposition you can take or leave alone.  Only you have got to take it right now if you want it.  What do you say?”

“I’ve got out the habit of carrying forty-five hundred around in my vest pocket....”

“You’ve got an equity of fifteen thousand in a range that is worth a whole lot more than you are paying for it, young man!  The bank in Dry Town would advance you the money and never bat an eye.”

Again Thornton asked himself swiftly if there were some trap here Pollard was setting for him to blunder into.  But he could see none, and he could understand that matters might stand so that the smaller sum now would be worth more to him than the larger amount in five months.

“This is the fifteenth,” replied the cowboy.  “On the twenty-fifth I’ll have the money ready at the Dry Town bank.”

“I don’t want it in the bank,” Pollard told him shortly.  “I want it in my fist!  It’s just about time for the stage to get held up again, and I’m taking no chances on this bet.  You bring the money to me or the bet’s off.”

“An’ I take the chances of gettin’ held up!” grunted Thornton.

“You take all the chances there are.  You stand to make eight hundred dollars, and you can take it or leave it!  If you take it you can have the papers made out in town, deed and receipt and all, and I’ll sign them.  You can bring them to me at the Corners, or,” with a little sneer creeping into his cool voice, “if you don’t like the Corners, anywhere you say.  And you can have half a dozen witnesses if you like.”

“Why don’t you ride with me into Dry Town?”

“Because I don’t want to!  Because, if you agree to put this thing over, I’m going to be mighty busy getting my deal in shape here and on the other side of the line.”

“All right.  I’ll take the chance,” Thornton said crisply, his voice as cool as Pollard’s had been.  “I’ll raise the money and I’ll get the papers made out.  I’ll bring them to you at Hill’s Corners on the morning of the twenty-fifth.”