Bransford's signature. I sure was a
boxhead for not tumblin' to that."

He laughed, meeting Mary's gaze and holding it.

"Talkin' of throwin' up the deal," he said. "That couldn't be. Dale
an' Silverthorn an' Maison an' their gang of cutthroats couldn't make
me give it up. There's only one person could make me do that. She'd
only have to say that she don't think as much of me as I think she
ought to. And, then----"

"She'll keep pretty silent about that, I think," interrupted Owen,
grinning at the girl's crimson face.

"I wouldn't be takin' your word for it," grinned Sanderson, "it
wouldn't be reliable."

"Why--" began Mary, and looked at Owen.

"Sure," he laughed, "I'll go and take a walk. There are times when
three can't explain a thing as well as two."

There was a silence following Owen's departure.

Then Mary looked shyly at Sanderson, who was watching her with a smile.

"Does it need any explaining?" she began. "Can't you see that----"

"Shucks, little girl," he said gently, as he leaned toward her, "words
ain't--well, words ain't so awful important, are they?"

Apparently words were not important. For within the next few minutes
there were few spoken. And progress was made without them. And then:

"I believe I never was so happy as when I saw you, that morning, coming
in to Okar with Dale's body, and you said you had not killed him. And
if Barney--Will, had killed him that day--if he had really hanged him,
and Dale had died from it--I should have kept seeing Dale as he was
hanging there all my life."

"It was Dale's day," said Sanderson.

"And Okar's!" declared the girl. "The town has taken on a new spirit
since those men have left. And the whole basin has changed. Men are
more interested and eager. There is an atmosphere of fellowship that
was absent before. And, oh, Deal, how happy I am!"

"You ain't got anything on me!" grinned Sanderson.

And presently, looking toward the rim of the mesa, they saw Williams
and his men coming toward them from Lazette, with many wagons, loaded
with supplies and material for the new dam, forecasting a new day and a
new prosperity for the Double A--and themselves.

"That's for a new deal," said Sanderson, watching the wagons and men.

"Wrong," she laughed, happily, "it is all for a 'Square' Deal!"

"All?" he returned, grinning at her.

"All," she repeated, snuggling close to him.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SQUARE DEAL SAND