is"--he swept his arms out, "is
the most beautiful place in the world in which to have her returned to
him. I've been figuring from your books. Your property isn't worth over
a hundred thousand dollars as it stands on hoof today. I'm here to offer
you five times that for it. In other words, Graham is willing to forfeit
all action he might have personally against you for stealing his wife,
and in place of that will pay you five hundred thousand dollars for the
privilege of having his honeymoon here, and making of this place a
country estate where his wife may reside indefinitely, subject to her
husband's visits when he is so inclined. There will be a stipulation, of
course, requiring that the personal details of the deal be kept strictly
confidential, and that you leave the country. Do I make myself clear?"

Alan rose to his feet and paced thoughtfully across the room. At least,
Rossland measured his action as one of sudden, intensive reflection as
he watched him, smiling complacently at the effect of his knock-out
proposition upon the other. He had not minced matters. He had come to
the point without an effort at bargaining, and he possessed sufficient
dramatic sense to appreciate what the offer of half a million dollars
meant to an individual who was struggling for existence at the edge of a
raw frontier. Alan stood with his back toward him, facing a window. His
voice was oddly strained when he answered. But that was quite natural,
too, Rossland thought.

"I am wondering if I understand you," he said. "Do you mean that if I
sell Graham the range, leave it bag and baggage, and agree to keep my
mouth shut thereafter, he will give me half a million dollars?"

"That is the price. You are to take your people with you. Graham has his
own."

Alan tried to laugh. "I think I see the point--now. He isn't paying five
hundred thousand for Miss Standish--I mean Mrs. Graham. He's paying it
for the _isolation_."

"Exactly. It was a last-minute hunch with him--to settle the matter
peaceably. We started up here to get his wife. You understand, to _get_
her, and settle the matter with you in a different way from the one
we're using now. You hit the word when you said 'isolation.' What a damn
fool a man can make of himself over a pretty face! Think of it--half a
million dollars!"

"It sounds unreal," mused Alan, keeping his face to the window. "Why
should he offer so much?"

"You must keep the stipulation in mind, Holt. That is a