THE ULTIMATUM
Dale's face whitened; for a moment he sat rigid, staring, his eyes
boring into Sanderson's. Then he reached into a pocket, drew out a
dirty envelope, and threw it at Sanderson's feet.
"You're a damned smart boy, ain't you, Bransford?" he sneered. "But
I'm out to get you--remember that!"
"And you remember this, Dale!"
Sanderson was at the head of the horse Dale rode. His eyes were
blazing with suppressed fury, brought on by the other's threat.
"There's goin' to be a new deal in the basin. From now on I'm runnin'
things--an' they're runnin' square! I ain't got any use for any law
but this!" He tapped the butt of his six-shooter significantly. "An'
if you go to gettin' mixed up with the Double A or the Nyland ranch
you'll get it--plenty!"
Dale grinned, hideously. Then he kicked his horse in the ribs and rode
away.
Mary Bransford had not moved from her position on the porch. Sanderson
watched Dale ride away, then he smiled at Mary and entered the house.
Mary followed him. She saw Owen standing in the sitting-room, and her
face showed her surprise.
Sanderson explained. "Owen an' me framed up on Dale," he said. "You
saw it work."
"You'll be careful, won't you, Will?" she said.
"Deal," smilingly insisted Sanderson.
"Deal," she repeated, giving him a look that made him blush. Then she
went into one of the other rooms, and Sanderson and Owen went outside.
At the corner of the stable Sanderson halted and faced Owen.
"You've got some explainin' to do," he said. "How did you know Dale
had a letter from Will Bransford to his father; an' how did you know
that Dale wanted me to write my name on that brand-registering blank so
he could compare it with Will Bransford's name on the letter?"
"Will Bransford told me he wrote such a letter; he showed me a letter
from his dad which told how he had dropped Will's letter and how Dale
had picked it up. Dale thought old Bransford hadn't seen him pick up
the letter--but Bransford did see him. And last night I was snooping
around over at the Bar D and I overheard Dale and Silverthorn cooking
up this deal."
Sanderson grinned with relief. "Well," he said, "that name-signing
deal sure had me considerable fussed up." He told Owen of his mental
torture following the discovery of the letter that had disappeared from
the dresser drawer. "We've got to run together from now on," he told
Owen. "I'll be Bransford an' you'll be Bransford's name. Mebbe
between us we'll make a whole man."
Over at the Bar D, Dale was scowling at Silverthorn.
"He ain't Will Bransford," Dale declared. "He signed his name all O.K.
an' regular, just the same as it was on the letter. But just the same
he ain't a Bransford. There ain't no Bransford ever had an eye in him
like he's got. He's a damned iceberg for nerve, an' there's more fight
in him than there is in a bunch of wildcats--if you get him started!"
"Just the same," smiled Silverthorn, silkily, "we'll get the Double A.
Look here--" And the two bent their heads together over Dale's desk.