yself safe from you!" he
exclaimed.

"You were wrong," Blake replied quietly. "If it had been needful, I'd
have gone after you to Clarke's. But I'm hungry, and I'll cook my
supper at your fire." He glanced at the provisions scattered about.
"You haven't had much of a meal."

"It's a long drink I want," Benson growled.

Blake let this pass. He prepared his supper, and offered Benson a
portion.

"Try some of that," he urged, indicating the light flapjacks fizzling
among the pork in the frying-pan. "It strikes me as a good deal more
tempting than the stuff you have been eating."

Benson thrust the food aside, and Blake ate in silence. Then he took
out his pipe.

"Now," he said, "you can go to sleep when you wish. You're probably
tired, and it's a long ride back to camp."

"You seem to count upon my going back with you," Benson replied
mockingly.

"Of course!"

"Do you suppose it's likely, after I've ridden all this way?"

Blake laid down his pipe and leaned forward, where the firelight
flickered on his face.

"Benson, you force me to take a strong line with you. Think a moment.
You have land and stock worth a good deal of money which my partner
believes can be saved from the rogue who's stealing it from you. You
are a young man, and if you pull yourself together and pay off his
claims, you can sell out and look for another opening wherever you
like; but you know what will happen if you go on as you are doing a
year or two longer. Have you no friends or relatives in England to
whom you owe something? Is your life worth nothing, that you're
willing to throw it away?"

"Oh, that's all true," Benson admitted irritably. "Do you think I
can't see where I'm drifting? The trouble is that I've gone too far to
stop."

"Try!" persisted Blake. "It's very well worth while."

Benson was silent for a few moments, and then he looked up with a
curious expression.

"You're wasting time, Dick," he said. "I've sunk too far. Go back in
the morning, and leave me to my fate."

"When I go back, you are coming with me."

Benson's nerves were on edge, and his self-control broke down.

"Confound you!" he cried. "Let me alone! You have reached the limit;
once for all, I'll stand no more meddling!"

"Very well," Blake answered quietly. "You have left me only one
recourse, and you can't blame me for taking it."

"What's that?"

"Superior strength. You're a heavier man than I am, and ought to be a
match