shooting and
your fishing?"

"Because Mr. Armstrong was to be my guide, and he, I regret to say, has
not yet returned home. As he is tramping from Chicago to the ranch, no
one knows when he will put in an appearance."

"Well, Mr. Stranleigh, we are plain, ordinary backwoods folks, that have
no reason for loving or trusting people who come from the city, as you
do. You say that shooting is your game. Now, we can do a bit of shooting
ourselves, and I tell you plainly that if any stranger was found
prowling around here, he'd have got a bullet in a more vital spot than
you did. Do you understand me?"

"Your meaning, sir, is perfectly plain. What do you want me to do? Go
away from here before Mr. Armstrong returns?"

"No; we don't say that, but we draw an imaginary line, such as they tell
me the equator is, past this end of the farm house, and we ask you not
to cross it westward. There's all the fishing you want down stream, but
there's none up here by the waterfall, neither is there any game to
shoot, so you see we're proposing no hardship if your intentions are
what you say they are."

"Sir, you speak so beautifully that I must address you less familiarly
than I am doing. My own name is Ned, but few take the liberty of calling
me by that title. I don't know that I should like it if they did. You
are already aware, perhaps, that I answer to the name of Stranleigh. May
I enquire what your name is?"

"I'm James Dean."

"Ah, the Dean of the Faculty? You are leader of this band of brothers?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Are they unanimous in restricting my liberty on this ranch?"

"You bet!"

"You've no right to do such a thing, and besides, it is inhospitable. I
came to this ranch properly accredited, with a letter of introduction to
Mr. Armstrong. He happens to be away; if he had been here, and I had
seen that my visit was unwelcome to him, I should instantly have taken
my leave, but I refuse to have my liberty restricted by Mr. Armstrong's
hired men."

"That's exactly where you're wrong, Mr. Stranleigh. In the first place,
we're not hired men; we're Mr. Armstrong's partners, and we don't
restrict your liberty on the ranch."

"A partner contributes his share to the expenses of the combination. I
understand Mr. Armstrong bears the burden alone."

"We contribute our labour, which is cash in another form, therefore
whether Mr. Armstrong is here, or whether he is away, we mean to defend
our property. So