had seemed to indicate the nester's
guilt.

Doubler's land was especially desirable, he had told Langford, and this
was the truth. It was a quarter section lying adjacent to good water, and
provided the best grass in the vicinity. Duncan had had trouble with
Doubler over the water rights, too, but had been unsuccessful in ousting
him because of the fact that since Doubler controlled the land he also
controlled the water rights of the river adjoining it. The Two Forks was
the only spot which could be used by thirsty cattle in the vicinity, for
the river at other points was bordered with cliffs and hills and was
inaccessible. And Doubler would not allow the Double R cattle to water at
the Two Forks, though he had issued this edict after his trouble with the
Double R owner. Duncan, however, did not explain this to Langford.

The latter looked at him with a smooth smile. "It is plain from what you
have been telling me," he said, "that there is no possibility of you
succeeding in reaching a satisfactory agreement with Doubler, and
therefore I expect that I will have to deal with him personally. I shall
ride over some day and have a talk with him."

The prospect of becoming involved with the nester gave Langford a throb of
joy. All his life he had been engaged in the task of overcoming business
obstacles and he had reached the conclusion that the situation which now
confronted him was nothing more or less than business. Of course it was
not the business to which he had been accustomed, but it offered the
opportunity for cold-blooded, merciless planning for personal gain; there
were the elements of profit and loss; it would give him an opportunity to
apply his peculiar genius, to grapple, to battle, and finally overthrow
the opposing force.

Though he had allowed Duncan to see nothing of the emotions that rioted
within him over the discovery that he had been victimized by the
latter--at least to the extent of misrepresentation in the matter of the
nester--there was in his mind a feeling of deep resentment against the
former owner; he felt that he could no longer trust him, but for the sake
of learning all the details of the new business he felt that he would have
to make the best of a bad bargain. He had already arranged with Duncan to
remain at the Double R throughout the season, but he purposed to leave him
out of any dealings that he might have with Doubler. He smiled as he
looked at Duncan.

"I like this country," he