ut him gettin' wise that I'm forcin' you.
You'll have to do some actin', an' if you fall down on this job you'll
never have to act again! Get goin'!"

Maison was careful not to make any noise as he went down the stairs; he
was equally careful when he reached the street.

In a short time, Sanderson walking close behind him, he halted at a
door of a private dwelling. He knocked on the door, and a short, squat
man appeared in the opening, holding a kerosene lamp in one hand and a
six-shooter in the other.

He recognized Maison instantly and politely asked him and his visitor
inside. There Maison stated his business, and the judge, though
revealing some surprise that so big a transaction should be concluded
at so uncommon an hour, attested the paper made out by Maison, and
signed the receipt for ninety thousand dollars written by Sanderson and
given to the banker. Then, still followed by Sanderson, the banker
went out.

There was no word spoken by either of the men until they again reached
the bank building. Then it was Sanderson who spoke.

"That's all, Maison," he said. "Talk, if you must--mebbe it'll keep
you from explodin'. But if there's any more meddlin' with my
affairs--by you--I'm comin' for you again. An' the next time it'll be
to make you pay for my men!"

He slipped behind the bank building and was gone. A little later,
still standing where Sanderson had left him, he saw the Double A man
riding swiftly across country toward the neck of the basin.

Maison went slowly upstairs, lighted a lamp, and looked at his
reflection in a glass. He sighed, blew out the light, got into bed and
stretched out in relief, feeling that he had got out of the affair
cheaply enough, considering all things.

And remembering what Sanderson had told him about returning, he
determined that if Judge Graney said nothing of the occurrence he would
never mention it. For he did not want Sanderson to pay him another
visit.

CHAPTER XXII

A MAN FROM THE ABYSS

At about the time Sanderson was entering Okar, Alva Dale was letting
himself into the door of his office at the Bar D ranchhouse. Dale's
thoughts, because of the sensuous longing with which he had always
looked upon Peggy Nyland, had become abysmal. Silverthorn had warned
him that the dragging of a woman into the plot would be fatal to their
aims, but Dale had paid no heed to Silverthorn. During the day he had
kept thinking of the girl until now he could n