use Wade tells me no man can be forced to incriminate himself," he
replied.

Clyde glanced at him swiftly, flushing in the dusk. But she did not
press for an explanation. She was satisfied. She was no longer jealous
of Sheila McCrae.

When they arrived at the ranch Dunne took the horses to the stables.
Clyde, entering the house, found Wade alone, deep in newspapers, the
accumulation of a week which he had just received. There was a package
of letters for Clyde.

"Look here, Clyde," said the lawyer. "Here's a funny thing." He held a
newspaper open at the market page. "This Western Airline stock is as
jumpy as a fever chart. For a while it went down and down and down,
away below what I should think to be its intrinsic value. There was a
rumour of a passed dividend. Nothing definite--merely a rumour. Then
came another rumour of an application for a charter for a competing
line. Both these stories seem to have brought out considerable stock.
There was heavy selling. Likely the traders went short. I'll bet some
of them were nipped, too, for the market went up without warning--yes,
by George! bounced like a rubber ball."

Clyde looked up from a letter which enclosed a formal-looking
statement. "What would send it up?"

"Buyers in excess of sellers--in other words, demand in excess of
supply," Wade responded. "That's on the face of it. Probably not half a
dozen men know the inside. Orders may have been issued to support the
stock--that is, to buy all offered in order to keep the price from
declining farther. It's hard to say, at this distance. It's possible
that the depressing rumours may have originated with the very men who
are now supporting the stock."

"Why should they do that?"

"To buy more cheaply shares which would be offered in consequence. It's
funny, though," he continued, opening another paper. "Now, here's a
later date--let's see--yes, here we are. The market opened five points
higher than it closed on the preceding day, and it closed ten points
above that opening. Holy Moses! do you know what that means?"

"Demand in excess of supply."

"Demand! Supply!" Wade echoed contemptuously. "Economics be hanged! It
means a fight for Western Air. It means that somebody is willing to pay
a fancy price for shares. Why? Because a few shares one way or the
other mean the ownership of the road, the dictation of its policy.
There's no other explanation. I wonder who----"

"Look at this," said Clyde. She handed him