“I’ve always wanted to test the idea of whether a crook like you thought more of what he was doin’ than he did of his own life.  This gun leather of mine is kind of short at the top—­if you’ll notice.  The stock an’ the hammer of the gun are where they can be touched without interferin’ with the leather.  There ain’t any trigger spring, because I’ve been brought up to fan the hammer.  There ain’t any bottom to the holster, an’ it’s hung by a little piece of leather so’s it’ll turn easy in any direction.

“It can easy be turned on you.  You get goin’.  I’ll have a chance to bore one man before your crowd gets me.  Likely it will be you.  What are you sayin’?”

Dale was saying nothing.  His face changed color, he shifted his feet uneasily, and looked back at his men.  Some of them were grinning, and it was plain to Dale that not one of them would act unless ordered to do so.

And an order, given by him, would mean suicide, nothing less; for from that country in which Sanderson had gained his reputation had come stories of the man’s remarkable ability with the weapon he had described, and Dale had no longing to risk his life so recklessly.

There was a long, tense silence.  Not a man in the group of riders moved a finger.  All were gazing, with a sort of dread fascination, at the holster at Sanderson’s right hip, and at the butt of the gun in it, projecting far, the hammer in plain sight.

The situation could not last.  Sanderson did not expect it to last.  Seemingly calm and unconcerned, he was in reality passionately alert and watchful.

For he had no hope of escaping from this predicament.  He had made a mistake in sending his men away with Williams, and he knew the chances against him were too great.  He had known that all along—­even when talking and comforting Mary Bransford.

He knew that Dale had come to kill him; that Graney had not issued any warrant for him, for Graney knew that Maison had acted of his own volition—­or at least had given the judge that impression.

But whether the warrant was a true one or not, Sanderson had decided that he would not let himself be taken.  He had determined that at the first movement made by any man in the group he would kill Dale and take his chance with the others.

Dale knew it—­he saw the cold resolution in Sanderson’s eyes.  Dale drew a deep breath, and the men in the group behind him watched him narrowly.

But just when it seemed that decisive action in one direction or another must he taken, there came an interruption.

Behind Sanderson—­from one of the windows of the ranchhouse—­came a hoarse curse.

Sanderson saw Dale’s eyes dilate; he saw the faces of the men in the group of riders change color; he saw their hands go slowly upward.  Dale, too, raised his hands.

Glancing swiftly over his shoulder, Sanderson saw Barney Owen at one of the windows.  He was inside the house, his arms were resting on the window-sill.  He was kneeling, and in his hands was a rifle, the muzzle covering Dale and the men who had come with him.