n and Woodward, Harlan watched them,
his guns ready for instant action should he catch any sign that would
indicate trickery toward himself.

He saw no such signs. It became plain to him that Woodward had no eyes
for anyone but Haydon, and that Haydon's attention was fixed upon
Woodward with an intentness that meant he had divined that Woodward's
peculiar manner had a definite, personal meaning.

Woodward continued to advance on Haydon. He was waving his left hand as
though giving Harlan a silent order to get out of his way, while his gaze
was centered upon Haydon with an unspoken promise of violence,
fascinating to behold.

It seemed to have fascinated Haydon. Harlan saw him shrink back, the
bluster gone out of him, his face the color of ashes. He kept stepping
back, until he brought up against the rear wall of the ranchhouse; and
there he stood, watching Woodward, his eyes bulging with dread wonder.

Harlan saw his lips move; heard his voice, hoarse and throaty:

"It's a frame-up--a frame-up. Both of you are out to get me!"

"Frame-up!"

This was Woodward. He was a sinister figure, with his black beard seeming
to bristle with passion, his eyes flaming with it; all his muscles tensed
and quivering, and his right hand, with clawlike fingers, poised above
the butt of his pistol.

"Frame-up!" he repeated, laughing hoarsely between his teeth. "Hell's
fire! Do you think it takes two men to 'get' you--you miserable whelp?

"I've been waitin' for this day--waitin' for it, waitin' to get you
alone--waitin' for the boys to go so's I could tell you somethin'.

"You know what it is. You ain't guessin', eh? Listen while I tell you
somethin'. The day 'Drag' Harlan got in Lamo he brought news that Lane
Morgan had been killed out in the desert. I heard the boys sayin' you had
a hand in it. But I thought that was just talk. I didn't believe you was
that kind of a skunk. I waited.

"Then you sent me over to the edge of the level, near the Rancho
Seco--where Harlan found that flattened grass when he rode over here. You
told me to watch Harlan and Barbara Morgan. You said you thought Harlan
would try some sneak game with her.

"You can gamble I watched. I saw Harlan standin' guard over her; I saw
him follow that sneak Lawson. I heard the shot that killed Lawson, an' I
saw Harlan tote him downstairs, an' then set on the door-sill all night,
guardin' Barbara Morgan.

"The sneakin' game was played by you, Haydon. When I saw H