which his bare ankles and slippered feet protruded, sat on the edge of
his bed, impatiently chewing an unlighted cigar while he listened to
Moran's account of the fracas.

"You went too far, Race,--you went too far," he burst out angrily at
last. "You had no orders to jump the ranch. I told you...."

"We've been fooling around long enough, Senator," Moran interrupted
sullenly, nursing his throbbing wrist. "It was high time somebody
started something, and when I saw my chance I seized it. You seem to
think"--his voice trailed into scorn--"that we are playing marbles with
boys, but, I tell you, it's men we're up against. My experience has
shown me that it's the first blow that counts in any fight."

"Well, who got in the hardest lick, eh?" Rexhill snorted sarcastically.
"The first blow's all right, provided the second isn't a knockout from
the other side. Why, confound it, Race, here we had Wade at our mercy.
He'd broken into jail and set free a suspected murderer--a clear case of
criminality. Then you had to spoil it all."

Moran smothered an imprecation.

"You seem to forget, Senator, that we had him at our mercy before, and
you wouldn't hear of it. If you'd taken my advice in the first place,
we'd have had Wade in jail instead of Santry and things might have been
different."

"Your advice was worthless under the circumstances; that's why I didn't
take it." Rexhill deliberately paused and lighted his cigar, from which
he took several soothing puffs. To have been aroused from his bed with
such news had flustered him somewhat; but he had never known anything
worth while to come out of a heated discussion, and he sought now to
calm himself. Finally, he spoke slowly. "What you proposed to me then
was a frame-up, and all frame-ups are dangerous, particularly when they
have little to rest upon. For that reason I refused to fall in with your
ideas, Race. This release of Santry from jail is--or was--an entirely
different thing, an overt criminal act, with Sheriff Thomas on our side
as an unimpeachable witness."

Moran was suffering too keenly from his wound and smarting under his
defeat too much to be altogether reasonable. His manner was fast losing
the appearance of respect which he had previously shown his employer.
His expression was becoming heated and contemptuous.

"You didn't base your refusal on logic at the time, Senator," he said.
"It was sentiment, if I remember right. Wade had broken bread with you,
and al