is. Said Stratton had sold it to
him an' produced the deed, signed, sealed, an' witnessed all right an'
proper."

Match in one hand and cigarette in the other, Buck stared at him, the
picture of arrested motion. For a moment or two his brain whirled. Could
he possibly have done such a thing and not remember? With a ghastly
sinking of his heart he realized that anything might have been possible
during that hateful vanished year. Mechanically he lit his cigarette and
of a sudden he grew calmer. According to the hospital records he had not
left France until well into November of the preceding year. Tossing the
match into the stove, he met Pop Daggett's glance.

"How could that be?" he asked briefly. "Didn't you say this Stratton was
in France for months before he was killed?"

Pop nodded hearty agreement. "That's jest what I said, an' so did Bloss.
But according to Thorne this here transfer was made a couple uh weeks
before Stratton went over to France."

"But that's impossible!" exclaimed Buck hotly. "How could he have----"

He ceased abruptly and bit his lip. Daggett chuckled.

"Gettin' kinda interested, ain't yuh?" he remarked in a satisfied tone. "I
thought you would 'fore I was done. I don't say as it's impossible, but it
shore looked queer to me. As Joe says, why would he go an' sell the outfit
jest after buyin' it without a word to him. Not only that but he kept on
writin' about how Joe was to do this an' that an' the other thing like he
was mighty interested in havin' it run good. Joe, he even got suspicions
uh somethin' crooked an' hired a lawyer to look into it, Stratton not
havin' any folks. But that's all the good it done him. He couldn't pick no
flaw in it at all. Seems Stratton was in Chicago on one of these here
furloughs jest before he took ship. One uh the witnesses had gone to war,
but they hunted out the other one an' he swore he'd seen the deed
signed."

"Did this Thorne-- What did you say his name was?"

"I don't recolleck sayin', but it was Andrew J."

Buck's lids narrowed; a curious gleam flashed for an instant in his gray
eyes and was gone.

"Well, did Thorne explain why he let it go so long before making his
claim?"

"Oh, shore! He was right there when it come to explainin'. Seems he had
some important war business on his hands an' wanted to get shed uh that
before he took up ranchin'. Knowed it was in good hands, 'count uh Bloss
bein' on the job, an' Stratton havin' promised to write