fter getting supplies and machinery and to arrange for a wagon train of
oil teams, but he dropped or delegated this work for the more important
call that had just come.

His contact with Graham uncovered a new side of the state builder, one
that was to impress him in all the big business men he met. They might be
pleasant socially and bear him a friendly good-will, but when they met to
arrange details of a financial plan they always wanted their pound of
flesh. Graham drove a hard bargain with him. He tied the company fast by
legal control of its affairs until his debt was satisfied. He exacted a
bonus in the form of stock that fairly took the breath of the young man
with whom he was negotiating. Dave fought him round by round and found
the great man smooth and impervious as polished agate.

Yet Dave liked him. When they met at lunch, as they did more than once,
the grizzled Westerner who had driven a line of steel across almost
impassable mountain passes was simple and frank in talk. He had taken
a fancy to this young fellow, and he let him know it. Perhaps he found
something of his own engaging, dogged youth in the strong-jawed
range-rider.

"Does a financier always hogtie a proposition before he backs it?" Dave
asked him once with a sardonic gleam in his eye.

"Always."

"No matter how much he trusts the people he's doing business with?"

"He binds them hard and fast just the same. It's the only way to do. Give
away as much money as you want to, but when you loan money look after
your security like a hawk."

"Even when you're dealing with friends?"

"Especially when you're dealing with friends," corrected the older man.
"Otherwise you're likely not to have your friends long."

"Don't believe I want to be a financier," decided Sanders.

"It takes the hot blood out of you," admitted Graham. "I'm not sure, if I
had my life to live over again, knowing what I know now, that I wouldn't
choose the outdoors like West and Crawford."

Sanders was very sure which choice he would like to make. He was at
present embarked on the business of making money through oil, but some
day he meant to go back to the serenity of a ranch. There were times
when he left the conferences with Graham or his lieutenants sick at heart
because of the uphill battle he must fight to protect his associates.

From Denver he went East to negotiate for some oil tanks and material
with which to construct reservoirs. His trip was a flying one. He