t will have to be realized upon the security. I'm sorry, my boy.
I don't know where you can raise a loan. If I had the money I'd lend it
to you myself, but I haven't. Braden will get his judgments and sell."

Angus himself saw nothing else for it. This, then, was the end of his
years of work, of struggle, of self-denial. The land he had promised his
father to hold would be sold and bid in by Braden for a fraction of its
value. For himself, so far as the financial loss went, he did not care
especially. But with it Jean's share would be swallowed up. Without any
fault of his own, so far as he could see, he had failed in his duty to
her. And the thought was bitter.

As he walked down the street his thoughts went back over the years. He
could not attribute his failure to lack of hard work, to lack of
planning, to lack of care. All these he had given, without stint. The
seasons had been against him, but they had been against others. He had
lost cattle mysteriously, but that was merely an incident. There was the
fire which had destroyed his hay, but his own brother was responsible
for that. Finally there was the ruin of his present crop by the
destruction of the ditch. That was the only definite act of hostility on
which he could lay his finger. But apart from that he could not have
paid Braden.

If he was to lose the ranch it did not matter who had wrecked his ditch.
Turkey would be hoist by his own petard. Angus smiled grimly at the
thought that his brother had contributed to his own loss. And just then
he saw Turkey going through the door of Braden's office. To Angus it was
as if a searchlight had been turned upon a dark corner, as if a switch
had been closed establishing a connection.

Up to that moment he had seen no object, other than spite, in the
wrecking of the ditch. But now, as things were turning out anything
which injured him financially would further Braden's carefully laid
plans to obtain the ranch. Might he not be responsible? There, at last,
was motive, the thing he had sought vainly.

The idea was new and amazing. But once formed it grew in probability.
Would Turkey deliberately lend himself to a plan to deprive not only
Angus but Jean and himself of the ranch? Likely he had not thought of
that. The boy had been a catspaw without knowing Braden's ultimate
purpose. There were others besides Braden in the game. Braden himself
did not do the work of destruction; but no doubt he had instigated and
paid for