gnantly, "he's got full trust in Mr.
Brent an' so hev I." She dismissed him with a glance under which his
own bravado wilted and he made no further effort to walk at her side.
But in the gathering dusk, the wet desolation about her seemed to creep
into Alexander's heart. With so many charges of foul play floating
about, of whom could she feel certain? Then the answer came. There
was, perhaps, only one. So long as he remained sober, Bud Sellers
would remain dependable. From the bank overlooking the boom she called
his name and when he had leaped to respond, she led him out of hearing.

"Bud," she said tensely. "Ye knows how heavy-hearted with dread I be
about my paw. Ye knows thet when I left him I wasn't no ways sure I'd
ever lay eyes on his livin' face ergin. I ain't sure now." Her voice
threatened to break and to control it she pitched it into a harder
tone. "Ye knows, too, who's fault thet air."

He answered very low and very miserably. "Yes, I knows full well--an'
I've done been in torment--ever since."

"Ef he's still alive an' gits well----" she went on, "thar won't be no
grudge atween us. Ye says ye seeks ter make amends. Ye knows what hit
means ter him whether I gits thet money back safe or not."

"Yes, I knows thet too."

Alexander laughed a little bitterly. "I've jest been forewarned thet I
kain't trust nuther Brent ner Halloway. I hain't sayin' I believes
hit; I reckon hit's sheer slander--but----" All unconsciously a note
of pathos crept into her voice, the pathos of one who must fight alone
against unseen forces. "But, how am I goin' ter tell, fer dead sure,
who I kin trust?"

Sellers remembered that all he knew of the robbery plot was
hearsay--that his informants had excluded him from a part of their
consultations. An ugly possibility took vague shape in his mind, but
his answer was brief.

"Ye kin trust me 'twell hell freezes."

Alexander nodded. "Ye're ther one man I ought ter hev a blood-hatred
erginst--an' yit, so long es ye stays sober, I knows what ye says air
true."

Suddenly she laid both her hands on his shoulders and under her touch a
tremor raced through his arteries. The mountains seemed to grow
unsteady. "Ye're ther only man hyar I kin plum, teetotally depend on.
When the bank opens termorrer, I wants ye ter be thar. I don't want ye
ter go with me on ther trip back home. I hain't goin' ter suffer
nobody ter do that--but thar's a thing I may need ye ter do."