was sitting near them, on the porch edge, his elbows
resting on his knees.

There had been a silence between the three for some time, but at last
Sanderson broke it. He smiled at Mary.

"We'll build that dam--an' the irrigation plant now, mebbe," he said.
"But it's goin' to be a big job. Williams says it will take a year, or
more."

"There will be difficulties, too, I suppose," said Mary.

"Sure."

"But difficulties do not worry you," she went on, giving him a glowing
look.

He blushed. "We promised each other not to refer to that again," he
protested. "You are breaking your promise."

"I just can't help it!" she declared. "I feel so good over your
victory. Why, it really wasn't your affair at all, and yet you came
here, fought our fight for us; and then, when it is all over, you wish
us to say nothing about it! That isn't fair!"

He grinned. "Was you fair?" he charged.

"You told me the other day that you knew, the day after I ordered Dale
away from the Double A--after tellin' you that I wasn't what I claimed
to be--that Barney Owen wasn't Barney Owen at all, but your brother.

"An' you let me go on, not tellin' me. An' he didn't do a heap of
talkin'. I ain't mentioned it until now, but I've wondered why?
Barney knew from the first day that I wasn't what I pretended to be.
Why didn't you tell me, Barney?"

Mary was blushing, and Barney's face was red. His eyes met Mary's and
both pairs were lowered, guiltily.

Barney turned to Sanderson.

"Look at me!" he said. "Do I look like a man who could fight Dale,
Silverthorn, and Maison--and the gang they had--with any hope of
victory? When I got here--after escaping Gary Miller and the others--I
was all in--sick and weak. It didn't take me long to see how things
were. But I knew I couldn't do anything.

"I was waiting, though, for Gary Miller and his friends to come, to
claim the Double A. I would have killed them. But they didn't come.
You came.

"At first I was not sure what to think of you. But I saw sympathy in
your eyes when you looked at Mary, and when you told Dale that you were
Will Bransford, I decided to keep silent. You looked capable, and when
I saw that you were willing to fight for Mary, why--why--I just let you
go. I--I was afraid that if I'd tell you who I was you'd throw up the
whole deal. And so I didn't say anything."

Sanderson grinned. "That's the reason you was so willin' to sign all
the papers that wanted Will