more intense.

"You know what Sidwell is--what the result will be if Florence marries
him?"

Scotty's head dropped into his hands. He knew what was coming.

"Yes, I know," he admitted.

Ben paused, and had the other been looking he would have seen that his
ordinarily passive face was working in a way which no one would have
thought possible.

"In heaven's name, then," he said, slowly, "why do you allow it? Have
you forgotten that it is only three days until the date set? God! man,
you must be sleeping! It is ghastly--even the thought of it!"

Surprised out of himself, Scotty looked up. The intensity of the appeal
was a thing to put life into a figure of clay. For an instant he felt
the stimulant, felt his blood quicken at the suggestion of action; then
his impotence returned.

"I have tried, Ben," he explained weakly, "but I can do nothing. If I
attempted to interfere it would only make matters worse. Florence is as
completely out of my control as--" he paused for a simile--"as the
sunshine. I missed my opportunity with her when she was young. She has
always had her own way, and she will have it now. It is the same as when
she decided to come to town. She controls me, not I her."

Blair settled back in his chair. The mask of impassivity dropped back
over his face, not again to lift. He was again in command of himself.

"You expect to do nothing more, then?" he asked finally.

Scotty did not look up. "No," he responded. "I can do nothing more. She
will have to find out her mistake for herself."

Ben regarded the older man steadily. It would have been difficult to
express that look in words.

"You'd be willing to help, would you," he suggested, "if you saw a way?"

The Englishman's eyes lifted. Even the incredible took on an air of
possibility in the hands of this strong-willed ranchman.

"Yes," he repeated. "I will gladly do anything I can."

For half a minute Ben Blair did not speak. Not a nerve twitched or a
muscle stirred in his long body; then he stood up, the broad sinewy
shoulders squared, the masterful chin lifted.

"Very well," he said. "Call a carriage, and be ready to leave town in
half an hour."

Scotty blinked helplessly. The necessity of sudden action always threw
him into confusion. His mind needed not minutes but days to adjust
itself to the unpremeditated.

"Why?" he queried. "What do you intend doing?"

But Ben did not stop to explain. Already he was at the door of the
vestibule.