Colton nodded.  “Plenty.  He’s a fast man with a gun.  I’ll have to get him when he ain’t lookin’.  You’ll get me clear?”

“No one will know about it,” declared Dale.  “You go out to his ranch an’ lay for him.  He’ll be in on the afternoon train.  When he comes into the door of his house, nail him.  That’s easy.”

CHAPTER XXIV

CONCERNING A WOMAN

Day was breaking when Sanderson rode in to the Double A corral and dismounted.  Several of the men of the outfit were astir, and he called to one of them, and told the man to care for his horse.  He grinned around at them all, and then went into the house.

Mary Bransford was not yet up.  The door that Sanderson had gone out of the night before was still unlocked.  He opened it and entered, passing through the sitting-room and halting in the kitchen.  He had noted that the door to Mary’s room was closed.

Sanderson’s dominant emotion was that of grim satisfaction.  He had compelled Maison to disgorge the money without jeopardizing his own liberty.  Judge Graney’s word would suffice to prove his case should Maison proceed against him.

But Sanderson had little fear that Maison would attempt reprisal.  If he had judged the man correctly, Maison would not talk, even to Silverthorn.

Sanderson cared very little if he did talk.  He had reached the point where the killing of his enemies would come easy to him.  They had chosen lawlessness, and he could wage that kind of warfare as well as they.  He had shown them that he could.

He disclosed the visible proof of his ability.  One by one he drew the packages of currency from various pockets, tossing them at random on the kitchen table.  He was standing at the table, counting the bills in one of the packages, when he heard a sound behind him.  He wheeled, to confront Mary Bransford.

She was dressed, but her face was as yet unwashed, and her hair uncombed.  She stood in the doorway between the dining-room and the kitchen, looking at Sanderson in sleepy-eyed bewilderment.

“I saw you riding in,” she said.  “Where on earth have you been at this hour?  You came from the direction of Okar.”

“Business,” he grinned.

“Business!  Why, what kind of business could take you to Okar during the night?”

“If you could get the sleep out of your eyes,” he suggested, “mebbe you could see.  It’s the kind of business that all the world is interested in—­gettin’ the money.”

And then she saw the packages of bills.  She rubbed her eyes as though in doubt of the accuracy of her vision; they grew wide and bright with astonishment and wonder, and she gave a little, breathless gasp as she ran forward to the table and looked down at the mound of wealth.

And then, convinced that her senses had not played her a trick, her face whitened, she drew a long breath, and turned to Sanderson, grasping the lapels of his coat and holding them tightly.