ler?"

Langford's shifting eyes rested for the fraction of a second on the face
of his manager, and then the old, bland smile came into his own and he
answered smoothly: "Nothing."

"I have been thinking," said Duncan carelessly, but with a sharp side
glance at his employer, "that it wouldn't be a half bad idea to set a
gunman on Doubler--a man like Dakota, for instance."

The manager saw Langford's lips straighten a little, and his eyes flashed
with a sudden fire. The expression on Langford's face strengthened the
conviction already in Duncan's mind concerning the motive of his
employer's visit to Dakota.

"I don't think I care to have any dealings with Dakota," said Langford
shortly.

Duncan's eyes blazed again. "I reckon if you'd go talk to him," he
persisted, turning his head so that Langford could not see the suppressed
rage in his eyes, "you might be able to make a deal with him."

"I don't wish to deal with him. I have decided not to bother Doubler at
present. And I have no desire to talk with Dakota. Frankly, my dear
Duncan, I don't like the man."

"You been in the habit of forming opinions of men you've never talked to?"
said Duncan. He could not keep the sneer out of his voice.

Langford noticed it and laughed softly.

"It is my recollection that a certain man of my acquaintance advised me at
length of Dakota's shortcomings," he said significantly. "For me to talk
to Dakota after that would be to consider this man's words valueless. I
will have nothing to do with Dakota. That is," he added, "unless you have
altered your opinion of him."

Duncan did not reply, and he said nothing more to Langford on the subject,
but he had discovered that for some reason Langford had chosen to keep the
knowledge of his visit to Dakota secret, and Duncan's suspicions that the
visit concerned Doubler became a conviction. Filled with resentment over
Langford's attitude toward him, and with his mind definitely fixed upon
the working out of his problem, Duncan decided to visit Doubler.

He chose a day when Langford had ridden away to a distant cow camp, and as
when he was following the Double R owner, he did not ride the beaten trail
but kept behind the ridges and in the depressions, and when he came within
sight of Doubler's cabin he halted to reconnoiter. A swift survey of the
corral showed him a rangy, piebald pony, which he knew to belong to
Dakota. As the animal had on a bridle and a saddle he surmised that
Dakota'