“Who told you to get Bransford?” demanded Sanderson.

“A guy named Dale,” whispered Colton.

Sanderson turned swiftly.  He saw Dale still standing in the doorway.  Dale was grinning coldly, and Sanderson knew he suspected what had been whispered by Colton.  But before Sanderson could move, Dale’s voice was raised loudly and authoritatively: 

“Arrest that man—­quick!”

A man behind Sanderson lunged forward, twisting Sanderson around with the impetus of the movement.  Off his balance, Sanderson saw three or four other men dive toward Colton.  He saw Colton reach for the weapon he had previously sheathed; saw the weapon knocked from his hand.

Four men seized Colton, and he struggled helplessly in their grasp as he was dragged away, his face working malignantly as he looked back at Dale.

“Double-crossed!” he yelled; “you damned, grinnin’ coyote!”

A crowd had gathered; Sanderson shouldered his way toward Dale and faced him.  Sanderson’s face was white with rage, but his voice was cold and steady as he stood before Dale.

“So that’s the way you work, is it, Dale?  I’ll give you what you was goin’ to pay Colton, if you’ll pull your gun right now!”

Dale’s smile was maddeningly insolent.

“Bah!” he said, “I’m an officer of the law.  There are a dozen of my men right behind you!  Pull your gun!  I’d like nothing better than to have an excuse to perforate you!  Sanderson, eh?” he laughed.  “Well, I’ve heard of you.  Square Deal, eh?  And here you are, masqueradin’ as Will Bransford!  That’s goin’ to be quite an interestin’ situation at the Double A when things get to goin’, eh?”

He laughed again, raucously, and turned his back to Sanderson, disappearing into the store.

Sanderson glanced behind him.  Several men were watching him, their faces set and determined.  Sanderson grinned at them and continued his interrupted walk down the street.

But something had been added to his hatred of Alva Dale—­the knowledge that Dale would not scruple to murder him on any pretext.  Sanderson’s grin grew wider as he walked, for he knew of several men who had harbored such evil intentions against him, and they——­

But Dale was a stronger antagonist, and he had power and authority behind him.  Still, his spirit undaunted, Sanderson’s grin grew wider, though perhaps more grim.  It was entirely worth while, now, the deceiving of the woman he had hoped to protect; it wasn’t her fight, but his.  And he would make the fight a good one.

CHAPTER XIII

A PLOT THAT WORKED

Sanderson left the board walk and cut through a yard to the railroad.  He followed the rails until he reached the station.  To his question the station agent informed him that Dave Silverthorn might be found in his office on the second floor of the building.