m, the crime had been no greater than their own--not so great
from a moral interpretation of the law. Cupidity prompted them; the
desire for a home the other. Still, that would have no weight. If Boyle
wanted to make trouble, said the county attorney, he could make it, and
plenty of it.

Seeing how far the shadow of the Boyles fell over that land, Slavens at
once dismissed the notion that he had carried to Meander with him of
bringing some legal procedure against Boyle and Boyle's accomplices on
account of the assault and attempted murder which they had practiced
upon him. There could be no hope of an indictment if brought before the
grand jury; no chance of obtaining a warrant for the arrest of Shanklin
and Boyle by lodging complaint with the county attorney.

Yet he took up that matter with the little lawyer, whose blond hair
stood out in seven directions when Slavens told him of the felonious
attack and the brutal disposition of what they had doubtless believed to
be his lifeless body. The county attorney shook his head and showed an
immediate disposition to get rid of Slavens when the story was done. It
was plain that he believed the doctor was either insane or the tallest
liar that ever struck that corner of the globe.

"You couldn't make a case stick on that," said he, shifting his feet and
his eyes, busying his hands with some papers on his desk, which he took
up in assumed desire to be about the duties of his office without
further loss of time. "All I can say to you on that is, when you get
ready to leave the country, take a shot at them. That's about the only
thing that's left open for you to do if you want to even it up. This
office can't help you any."

And that was his advice, lightly offered doubtless, with no thought that
it would be accepted and carried out; but strange advice, thought
Slavens, for the protector of the people's peace and dignity to give. In
case he should take it, he would have to be ready to leave, that was
certain.

At his meeting with Boyle in the hotel at Meander on the appointed hour,
Slavens found the Governor's son more arrogant and insistent than
before. Boyle set a limit of noon for Slavens to meet his demand.

"I've got everything greased," he boasted, "and I'll cut the string if
you don't come up to the lick-log then."

He offered to take Slavens to interview the official in charge of the
land-office if the doctor doubted that things had not been set in motion
to cause