see Mary again that morning. Leaving the dining-room, he
went outside, finding Barney Owen in the bunkhouse in the company of
several other Double A men.

Owen introduced him to the other men--who had ridden in to the
ranchhouse the previous night, and were getting ready to follow the
outfit wagon down the river into the basin to where the Double A herd
was grazing.

Sanderson watched the men ride away, then he turned to Owen.

"I'm ridin' to Las Vegas, to get a look at the will, an' see what the
records have got to say about the title to the Double A. Want to go?"

"Sure," the little man grinned.

CHAPTER VIII

THE PLOTTERS

Riding down the gentle slope of the basin, Alva Dale maintained a
sullen silence. He rode far in advance of the two men who accompanied
him, not listening to their voices, which occasionally reached him, not
seeming to be aware of their presence.

Defeat had always brought bitterness to Dale; his eyes were glowing
with a futile rage as he led his men homeward.

Dale's scheme to dispose of Ben Nyland had been carefully planned and
deftly carried out. He had meant to hang Nyland, take possession of
his property, and force Peggy to accept whatever conditions he cared to
impose upon her.

The unlooked-for appearance of Mary Bransford's brother had disturbed
his plans. As a matter of fact, the coming of Bill Bransford would
make it necessary for Dale to make entirely new plans.

Dale was puzzled. During the elder Bransford's last days, and for a
year or more preceding the day of Bransford's death, Dale had professed
friendship for him. The pretense of friendship had resulted profitably
for Dale, for it had enabled him to establish an intimacy with
Bransford which had made it possible for Dale to learn much of
Bransford's personal affairs.

For instance, Dale had discovered that there was in Las Vegas no record
of Mary Bransford's birth, and though Bransford had assured him that
Mary was his child, the knowledge had served to provide Dale with a
weapon which he might have used to advantage--had not Bill Bransford
returned in time to defeat him.

Dale had heard the story of the trouble between Bransford and his son,
Will; it was the old tale of father and son not agreeing, and of the
son leaving home, aggrieved.

Dale had made it his business to inquire often about the son, and when
one day Bransford told him he had received a letter from his boy, Dale
betrayed such interes