esy.

"Delighted to see you, ma'am--an' your friend, Deal Sanderson. Mr.
Sanderson paid my friend Maison a visit last night, takin' away with
him ninety thousand dollars of the bank's money. Me an' my men has
come over to get the money--an' Mr. Sanderson. The Okar court allows
that it needs him. I've got a warrant for him."

Dale's grin was huge. He felt secure with his men behind him.

But if he expected Sanderson to be impressed he was disappointed. The
latter's face did not change color, nor did he shift his position in
the slightest manner. And his cold, amused grin disconcerted Dale.
His voice, when he spoke, was gentle and drawling:

"Was you thinkin' Miss Bransford is interested in warrants, Dale? Oh,
don't! There's an honest judge in Okar, an' he ain't helpin' Maison's
gang. Get back to Okar an' tell Maison that Sanderson ain't visitin'
Okar today."

"You ain't, eh!" Dale's voice snapped with rage. "Well, we ain't
carin' a damn whether you do or not! We've got you, right where we
want you. I've got a warrant, an' you'll come peaceable or we'll plant
you! There ain't only two horses in the corral--showing that your men
has gone. An' there ain't anything between you an' the coyotes!"

"Only you, Dale," said Sanderson. His voice was still gentle, still
drawling. But into it had come a note that made Dale's face turn pale
and caused the bodies of the men in the group to stiffen.

"Only you, Dale," Sanderson repeated. His right hand was at his hip,
resting lightly on the butt of the six-shooter that reposed in its
holster.

"I've always wanted to test the idea of whether a crook like you
thought more of what he was doin' than he did of his own life. This
gun leather of mine is kind of short at the top--if you'll notice. The
stock an' the hammer of the gun are where they can be touched without
interferin' with the leather. There ain't any trigger spring, because
I've been brought up to fan the hammer. There ain't any bottom to the
holster, an' it's hung by a little piece of leather so's it'll turn
easy in any direction.

"It can easy be turned on you. You get goin'. I'll have a chance to
bore one man before your crowd gets me. Likely it will be you. What
are you sayin'?"

Dale was saying nothing. His face changed color, he shifted his feet
uneasily, and looked back at his men. Some of them were grinning, and
it was plain to Dale that not one of them would act unless ordered to