d. "Your orders! An' who in hell are you?"

"I'm Bill Bransford," said Sanderson quietly, and he grinned
mirthlessly at Dale over the two or three feet of space that separated
them.

CHAPTER V

WATER AND KISSES

For several seconds Dale did not speak. A crimson stain appeared above
the collar of his shirt and spread until it covered his face and neck,
leaving his cheeks poisonously bloated and his eyes glaring.

But the steady eyes and the cold, deliberate demeanor of Sanderson did
much to help Dale regain his self-control--which he did, while Mary
Bransford, running forward, tried to throw her arms around Sanderson's
neck. She was prevented from accomplishing this design by Sanderson
who, while facing Dale, shoved the girl away from him, almost roughly.

"There's time for that after we've settled with Dale," he told the girl
gruffly.

Dale had recovered; he sneered. "It's easy enough to make a claim like
that, but it's another thing to prove it. How in hell do we know
you're Bill Bransford?"

Sanderson's smile was maddening. "I ain't aimin' to prove nothin'--to
you!" he said. But he reached into a pocket, drew out the two letters
he had taken from the real Bransford's pocket, and passed them back to
Mary Bransford, still facing Dale.

He grinned at Dale's face as the latter watched Mary while she read the
letters, gathering from the scowl that swept over the other's lips that
Mary had accepted them as proof of his identity.

"You'll find the most of that thousand you sent me in my slicker," he
told the girl. And while Mary ran to Streak, unstrapped the slicker,
tore it open, and secured the money, Sanderson watched Dale's face,
grinning mockingly.

"O Will--Will!" cried the girl joyously behind Sanderson.

Sanderson's smile grew. "Seems to prove a heap, don't it?" he said to
Dale. "I know a little about law myself. I won't be pressin' no
charge against Nyland. Take your rope off him an' turn him free. An'
then mebbe you'll be accommodatin' enough to hit the breeze while the
hittin's good--for me an' Miss--my sister's sort of figurin' on a
reunion--bein' disunited for so long."

He looked at Dale with cold, unwavering eyes until the latter,
sneering, turned and ordered his men to remove the rope from Nyland.
With his hands resting idly on his hips he watched Dale and the men
ride away. Then he shook hands mechanically with Nyland, permitted
Peggy to kiss him--which she did fervently