a week or two--"

"Tell your friend something else while you're on the subject. If I drop
him, I go scot free because he is interfering with me in my duty. I'll
put Selfridge on the stand to prove it. But if he should kill me, his
last chance for getting the Macdonald claims patented would be gone.
The public would raise such a howl that the Administration would have to
throw your friend and the Guttenchilds overboard to save itself. I know
that--and Macdonald knows it. So he stands to lose either way."

Paget knew this was true. He knew, too, there was no use in arguing with
this young athlete. That close-gripped jaw and salient chin did not
belong to a slacker. Gordon would stick and see the thing out. But Peter
could not drop the subject without one more appeal.

"He's not sore at you about the claims. You know that. It's because you
brought the squaw up the river to see Sheba."

"I didn't bring her--hadn't a thing to do with that. I don't know who
brought her, though I could give a good guess."

A gleam of hope showed in the eye of the engineer. "You didn't bring
her? Diane said you threatened--"

"Maybe I did say I would. Anyhow, I thought better of it. But I'm glad
some one had the sense to tell Miss O'Neill the truth."

"Who do you think brought her?"

"I'm not thinking on that subject out loud."

"But if we could show Mac--"

"That's up to you. I'll not lift a finger. Your king of Kusiak has to
learn some time that everybody isn't going to sidestep him and pussyfoot
when he's around. I didn't start this war and I'm not making any peace
overtures."

"You're as obstinate as the devil," smiled Peter, but in his heart he
admired the dourness of his friend.

The engineer went to Macdonald and gave a deleted version of his talk
with Elliot. The Scotchman listened, a bitter, incredulous smile on his
face.

"Says he didn't bring her, does he? Tell him from me that he lies. Your
wife let out to me by accident that he threatened to bring her. Meteetse
and he came up on the boat together. He was with her at your house when
she told her story. He's trying to save his hide. No chance."

"Elliot isn't a liar. When he says he didn't bring the woman, that
satisfies me. I know he didn't do it," insisted Paget stiffly.

"Different here. Who else had any interest in bringing her except him?
Nobody. Use your brains, Peter. He takes the first boat down the river.
He comes back on the next one. She comes back, too.