u want it!" And he
turned on his heel and walked away. "I reckon they would like me to
compromise," he said to himself. "It would be lots of money in their
pockets, and holes in mine. It's a pity that a man with Wellesly's
grit should be such a hog!"

Wellesly shrugged his shoulders and climbed into the carriage that was
to take him to Las Plumas. "I can't help it," he thought, "if he
chooses to look at it that way. I told him the truth, and I put it in
the kindest way. The little fellows are sure to go down before the big
ones. That is the law that governs all commerce nowadays. He is bound
to be eaten up, and he ought to have sense enough to see it. He'd save
himself trouble and money if he would take my advice, compromise, and
get out now with what he can. He can't stop things from taking their
natural course, and the more he fights the sooner he'll go under. Of
course, I don't like to do anything against him, after he has saved my
life, but my private sentiments can't interfere with the company's
interests, and measures will have to be taken before next fall's
round-up to put a stop to this whole thing. I offered the olive
branch, and he refused it, and now he can have all the war he wants.
He is the head and backbone of all the opposition to us, and if we
were rid of him the Fillmore Company could double its profits. I don't
doubt for a minute that he killed Will Whittaker, and if we could
prove it that would solve the whole matter. He said he would submit to
arrest and trial if we could prove that Will died a violent death.
That means, of course, that nobody saw him commit the murder and that
he has hid the body where he thinks it can't be found.

"Then it must be very much out of the way, where he is sure nobody
would think of looking for it. Probably it isn't any where near the
traveled road, the cattle ranges, nor the ranches in the foothills. It
must be in some out of the way corner of the Fernandez plain.
Whittaker says the searching parties have been all over this part of
the country, so it must be farther up toward the north. The White
Sands are up that way, I remember, and if a body were buried there,
deep enough, it might as well be at the bottom of the sea. Yes, I
think that's a pretty good idea. Whittaker must send a searching party
up to the White Sands as soon as he can get one together. If we can
find that body--there's _adios_ to Emerson Mead and the fight against
us. He'll have to hang or go to t