here's some little business--dam'
little. The Atlantic leased a lot of scattered acreage I know about and
drilled it. Pulled off their crews at the top of the sand and drilled
in with men they could trust. It turned out good, but they capped their
wells, wrecked their rigs, and, of course, that condemned the whole
territory. Then they set about buying it all in, cheap--through
dummies. Double-crossed the farmers, see? Friend of mine took a chance;
put down a well on his own. The usual thing happened; they broke him.
It took a lot of doing, but they broke him. One little trick they did
was to cock a bit and drop it in the hole. That prank cost him sixteen
thousand dollars before he could 'side track' the tool. He quit,
finally, less 'n a hundred feet from big pay. Then, having bought up
solid for near nothing they came back and started business, laughing
merrily. That's the Atlantic."

"A splendid lecture on commercial honesty. I am inspired by it, and I
reverence your scruples, but--I grope for the moral of the story."

"The moral is, mind your own business and--and give a guy a chance."

"Um-m! Suppose we leave it at that for the present."

Mallow, who had remained silent during his friend's argument, greeted
this suggestion with relief. He was glad to change the subject. "Good!"
he cried, heartily. "I'd about as soon face Old Tom Parker, like that
fellow in the restaurant did, as to face Jackson. He'd sink a stillson
in my head, sure, if--"

"Parker? Was that old man Miss Parker's father?"

"Certainly! What d'you think ailed that gunman? D'you think he got the
flu or something, all of a sudden? There ain't anybody left tough
enough to hanker for Tom's scalp. He's pinned a rose on all of those
old-timers, and he's deadly poison to the new crop."

For the first time Calvin Gray understood clearly the reason for the
unexpected outcome of that encounter in the cafe. No wonder the
stranger's trigger finger had been paralyzed. Barbara's father, indeed!
How stupid of him not to guess. On the heels of his first surprise came
another thought; suppose that old Paladin should consider that he,
Gray, had shown weakness in allowing another to assume the burden of
his quarrel? And suppose he should tell his daughter about it! That
would be a situation, indeed.

"I must find him, quickly," Gray declared. "Perhaps he'll ride back to
town with us."

It was not a difficult task to locate the veteran officer, and Tom was
del