u got here?" the second stranger asked. Angus told him.
"En bloc?"

"Yes."

"What do you hold it at?"

"I don't hold it at anything. It will be sold to-morrow by public sale
under a mortgage."

The two men exchanged glances and eyed Angus with curiosity.

"Who holds the mortgage?" the younger man asked.

"Isaac J. Braden."

"Braden, hey! Isn't that the fellow--" He spoke swiftly in an undertone
to his companion, who nodded. "We've heard of him. Local big bug, isn't
he? What's the amount against the property?" He whistled when Angus told
him. "Why didn't you get a loan somewhere and pay him off?"

"Because I couldn't. Nobody would lend. The loan companies'
appraisers--well, they shied off."

"Braden fixed them, did he?" the other deduced. "Knocked the loan, hey?
Knocked you as a borrower! Shoved you to the wall. Thinks he'll bid the
place in. Anybody else want it? No--or you'd have made some deal."

"That's about the size of it," Angus admitted, surprised at the swift
accuracy of these deductions.

"Will it leave you stranded?"

"Nearly. Not quite."

"Folks depending on you?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you tell me to mind my own darn business?"

"I came near it," Angus admitted; "but you look as if you know enough to
do that without being told."

The stout man chuckled. "I think I do, myself. If I had known of this
place before I'd have made you some sort of an offer for it. As it is,
I'll go to that sale to-morrow. Good day. Drive on, Floyd."

Angus watched them drive away and turned back to the house. It seemed
that Braden might have opposition, and apart from financial reasons he
was glad of it. The strangers did not look like ranchers. Speculators,
likely. Anyway, it had not taken the stout fellow long to size Braden
up. But if he could have overheard the conversation between the two
strangers as they drove away he would have been more surprised at the
accuracy of their mental workings.

"Things like that," the man called Floyd observed jerking his head
backward, "always get my goat. I'll bet that young fellow's got the raw
end of some dirty deal. He's taking a bitter dose of medicine. You can
see it in his face."

"And I can make a pretty fair guess what it is," the other responded.
"This fellow Braden has been trying to get information about our
construction plans. He hinted that he had some sort of a townsite
proposition to make to us, and if that place back there is it I give him
credit for a