oung man not to put himself in the way of any groping arm of the law;
it was so much simpler than arrest and preliminary trial and bail, and
all that. He had sent word to Weary to come and see him, before ever
he received the Old Man's letter, and he had placed at Weary's disposal
what funds would be needed for the immediate plans of the Happy Family.
He had attended in person to the hauling of the fence material to their
boundary line on the day he arrived and discovered by sheer accident
that the stuff was still in the warehouse of the general store.

After he did all that, the Honorable Blake received the Old Man's
letter, read it through slowly and afterwards stroked down his Vandyke
beard and laughed quietly to himself. The letter itself was both
peremptory and profane, and commanded the Honorable Blake to do exactly
what he had already done, and what he intended to do when the time came
for the doing.

CHAPTER 22. LAWFUL IMPROVEMENTS

Florence Grace Hallman must not be counted a woman without principle or
kindness of heart or these qualities which make women beloved of men.
She was a pretty nice young woman, unless one roused her antagonism. Had
Andy Green, for instance, accepted in good faith her offer of a position
with the Syndicate, he would have found her generous and humorous and
loyal and kind. He would probably have fallen in love with her before
the summer was over, and he would never have discovered in her nature
that hardness and that ability for spiteful scheming which came to the
surface and made the whole Happy Family look upon her as an enemy.

Florence Grace Hillman was intensely human, as well as intensely loyal
to her firm. She had liked Andy Green better than anyone--herself
included--realized. It was not altogether her vanity that was hurt when
she discovered how he had worked against her--how little her personality
had counted with him. She felt chagrined and humiliated and as though
nothing save the complete subjugation of Andy Green and the complete
thwarting of his plans could ease her own hurt.

Deep in her heart she hoped that he would eventually want her to forgive
him his treachery. She would give him a good, hard fight--she would
show him that she was mistress of the situation. She would force him to
respect her as a foe; after that--Andy Green was human, certainly. She
trusted to her feminine intuition to say just what should transpire
after the fight; trusted to her feminine