r accepting my price, Caldwell?" interrupted Warden, quietly;
"I saw a Circle L trail herd headed toward town this evening."

"Hell!" declared Caldwell; "Lawler ain't so weak-kneed as the rest of us
critters. He just got through tellin' me that he wouldn't sell a hoof
to you at fifty! He's drivin' to Red Rock--eight thousand head!"

When Caldwell went out, breathing fast, Warden smiled broadly at
Simmons.

"Wire for cars tonight, Simmons," he said. "But don't get them to coming
too fast. We'll make them hold their cattle here, we'll keep them
guessing as to whether you were telling them the truth about cars. Cars
and fools are plentiful, eh, Simmons?"

He got up, donned coat and hat and put out the light. At the foot of the
stairs he parted from Simmons, walked down the street to the Wolf and
entered.

He found Singleton in the barroom and drew him into a corner.

"He's driving his cattle to Red Rock, Singleton. And he's the only one.
The others are selling to me. We've got him now, damn him! We've got
him!" he said, his eyes glowing with malignant triumph.

CHAPTER X

THE SECOND OBSTACLE

Lawler went outside with Caldwell and the others--after Caldwell
returned from his visit to Gary Warden--and, standing in the flickering
glare of light from inside the hotel, he watched the men ride away.

There was a smile on his lips as he saw them fade into the yawning gulf
of moonlit distance,--going in different directions toward their
ranches--an ironic smile, softened by understanding and friendship.

For he bore the men no ill will because their decision had not agreed
with his. He had not expected them to do as he was determined to do. And
he had not asked them.

Had it not been for the agreement he had made with Jim Lefingwell the
previous spring, Lawler might also have accepted Gary Warden's price
rather than face the hazards of the long drive to Red Rock.

Warden's attitude, however, his arrogance, and the hostile dislike in
his eyes, had aroused in Lawler a cold contempt for the man. Added to
that was disgust over the knowledge that Warden, and not Jim Lefingwell,
was a liar--that Warden had no respect for the sacredness of his word,
given to Lefingwell. The man's honor must be wrapped in a bond or a
written contract.

The incident in the Hamlin cabin had contributed hatred to the other
passions that contact with Warden had aroused in Lawler; but it had been
his visit to Simmons and his talks with