e offered his price
for my stock. He told me if I accepted, it meant there would be no
delay, that they would be shipped immediately. Warden seems to know
where he can get cars."

Simmons' face reddened deeply, the flush suffusing his neck and ears. He
shot one swift glance at Lawler, and then looked down. In that swift
glance, however, Lawler had seen a fleeting gleam of guilt, of
insincerity.

Lawler laughed shortly--a sound that made Simmons shoot another swift
glance at him.

"How is it that Gary Warden figures on getting cars, Simmons?" said
Lawler.

Simmons got up, his face flaming with rage.

"You're accusin' me of holdin' somethin' back, eh? You're callin' me a
liar! You're thinkin' I'm----"

"Easy, there, Simmons."

There was a chill in Lawler's voice that brought Simmons rigid with a
snap--as though he had suddenly been drenched with cold water. The flush
left his face; he drew a deep, quick breath; then stood with open mouth,
watching Lawler.

"Simmons," said the latter; "it has been my experience that whenever a
man is touchy about his veracity, he will bear watching. You and Gary
Warden have both flared up from the same spark. I don't know whether
this thing has been framed up or not. But it looks mighty suspicious. It
is the first time there has been a lack of cars after a round-up.
Curiously, the lack of cars is coincident with Gary Warden's first
season as a buyer of cattle.

"I don't say that you've got anything to do with it, but it's mighty
plain you know something about it. I'm not asking you to tell what you
know, because if there is a frame-up, it's a mighty big thing, and you
are about as important a figure in it as a yellow coyote in a desert. I
reckon that's all, Simmons. You can tell your boss that Kane Lawler says
he can go to hell."

He wheeled, crossed the floor, went out of the room and left the door
open behind him. Simmons could hear his step on the stairs. Then Simmons
sat down again, drew a big red bandanna handkerchief from a hip pocket
and wiped some big beads of perspiration from his forehead. He was
breathing fast, and his face was mottled with purple spots. He got up,
ran to a side window, and watched Lawler until the latter vanished
behind a building opposite Gary Warden's office.

Again Simmons mopped his brow. And now he drew a breath of relief.

"Whew!" he said, aloud; "I'm glad that's over. I've been dreadin' it.
He's the only one in the whole bunch that I was