r his inability to interrupt her flow of talk, conscious
of the falseness of his position, squirming under her caresses, and
cursing himself heartily for yielding to the absurd impulse that had
placed him in so ridiculous a predicament, Sanderson opened his month a
dozen times to make his confession, but each time closed it again,
unsuccessful.

At last, nerved to the ordeal by the knowledge that each succeeding
moment was making his position more difficult, and his ultimate pardon
less certain, he wrenched himself free and stood up, his face crimson.

"Look here, ma'am----"

"Mary!" she corrected, shaking a finger at him.

"Mary," he repeated tonelessly, "now look here," he went on hoarsely.
"I want to tell you that I ain't the man you take me to be. I'm----"

"Yes, you are," she insisted, smiling and placing her hands on his
shoulders. "You are a real man. I'll wager Dale thinks so; and Peggy
Nyland, and Ben. Now, wait!" she added as he tried to speak. "I want
to tell you something. Do you know what would have happened if you had
not got here today?

"I'll tell you," she went on again, giving him no opportunity to inject
a word. "Dale would have taken the Double A away from me! He told me
so! He was over here yesterday, gloating over me. Do you know what he
claims? That I am not a Bransford; that I am merely an adopted
daughter--not even a legally adopted one; that father just took me,
when I was a year old, without going through any legal formalities.

"Dale claims to have proof of that. He won't tell me where he got it.
He has some sort of trumped-up evidence, I suppose, or he would not
have talked so confidently. And he is all-powerful in the basin. He
is friendly with all the big politicians in the territory, and is
ruthless and merciless. I feel that he would have succeeded, if you
had not come.

"I know what he wants; he wants the Double A on account of the water.
He is prepared to go any length to get it--to commit murder, if
necessary. He could take it away from me, for I wouldn't know how to
fight him. But he can't take it away from you, Will. And he can't say
you have no claim to the Double A, for father willed it to you, and the
will has been recorded in the Probate Court in Las Vegas!

"O Will; I am _so_ glad you came," she went on, stroking and patting
his arms. "When I spoke to you the first time, out there by the
stable, I was certain of you, though I dreaded to have you spe