t the dollars
in your wallet if you made the deal with a land agent in Vancouver."

"Maybe," said Callender simply; "I can trust ye. I would not sell the
place to anybody."

Alton stood up. "You shall have a cheque to-morrow," he said.

They had mounted within another minute, and Alton glanced with a little
smile at his comrade as they rode on again.

"That," said Seaforth, "was in a sense a somewhat effective scene, but
I'm not sure which of us should go to the business school."

Alton laughed. "I don't often blunder when I deal with a man," said
he. "Callender and I wouldn't have been better pleased, or five
dollars richer, if we'd talked all day."

Seaforth nodded, though his eyes twinkled. "You don't seem so
confident about the other sex?" he said.

Alton gravely pointed to a towering fir. "That redwood would fetch a
good many dollars in Vancouver. I wonder when we'll get those saws
through," he said.

While he spoke a thud of hoofs grew louder, and presently a man came
riding in haste towards them down the trail. He drew bridle when he
recognized them, and Seaforth became curious when he saw that it was
Hallam. The latter made them an ironical salutation, and sat regarding
Alton covertly with his cunning beady eyes until the rancher smiled.

"If you were going down to see Callender, I fancy you're a little too
late," he said.

Seaforth wondered whether his comrade saw the wickedness in the other
man's face, and the slight closing of his hands upon the bridle. It
was very perceptible for a second, and then he made a gesture of
resignation.

"I think there was another time you got in ahead of me, and it might be
cheaper to buy you off," he said. "You haven't answered my letter
asking what you wanted for all you're holding up here, as well as the
ranch."

Alton flung his head back a trifle, and Seaforth knew what lay behind
his laugh. "No," he said; "I put it in the stove."

A little grey spot appeared in Hallam's cheeks, and once more his
fingers closed upon the bridle. "Well, you may be sorry by and by, but
as I'm a business man first and last I'll give you another chance," he
said. "There's not room for two of us in this valley, and with what
I'm holding I can call you any time."

Alton's eyes were half closed now, and there was a glint in them.
"I've been figuring on that," he said. "When I'm ready, I'll let you
see my hand."

Now if Hallam had been taught his business, which was