d to be. As things stand, you have got to square up or I throw
your place on the market."

Hawtrey's face betrayed his dismay; and Edmonds believed that he would
yield to a little further pressure. Gregory had not said anything about
the mortgage to Sally, and it would be extremely unpleasant to be turned
out upon the prairie within a month or two of his marriage, for he could
not count upon being left in possession of the Range much longer.

"I'm only entitled to handle Wyllard's money on his account," he
objected.

Edmonds appeared to reflect. "So far as I can remember there was nothing
of that kind stated in the draft of the arrangement. It empowered you to
do anything you thought fit with the money, but it's altogether your own
affair. I can, of course, get my money back by selling your homestead,
and I must decide if that must be done or not before I leave."

Edmonds had very little doubt as to what the decision would be. Hawtrey
would yield, and afterwards it would not be difficult to draw him into
some unwise speculation with the object of getting the money back, which
he imagined that Hawtrey would be desperately anxious to do. As the
result of this, he expected to get such a hold upon the Range that he
would be master of the situation when the property fell into the hands
of Wyllard's trustees. That Hawtrey would be disgraced as well as ruined
naturally did not count with him.

Gregory took up one of the papers, and read it through. Then he rose,
and stood leaning on the table while he gazed at the teams toiling amid
the grain. There was wealth enough yonder to release him from his
torturing anxieties, and after all, he felt, something must turn up
before the reckoning was due. It was not in his nature to face a crisis,
and with him a trouble seemed less formidable if it could only be put
off a little. Edmonds, who knew with what kind of man he had to deal,
said nothing further, and quietly reached out for another cigar. He saw
vacillation in his victim's manner.

Meantime, though neither of the men were aware of it, Sally had alighted
from her wagon on the other side of the house, and two other vehicles
were growing larger upon the sweep of whitened prairie. As she entered
the homestead the girl met Mrs. Nansen, who informed her that Hawtrey
was busy with Edmonds in Wyllard's room. Sally's eyes sparkled when she
heard it, and her face grew hard.

"That man!" she exclaimed. "Well, I guess I'll go right i