Sanderson felt he must be close to the Double A

at time should bring him within easy riding distance of the place he had set out to seek. There

areful inquiry in the latter town had brought forth the intelligence

needin' work, an' forty a month looks good to you, why, I'd admire t

ned Sanderson; and he rode on, me

he past. Except for the few brief holidays that are the inevitable portion of the average puncher who is human enough to year

terms that, in the lexicon of the cow-country, were descriptive of virtues not at all common.

; and partly because one day while in "town" he had listened attentively to a desert nomad, or "drifter," who had told a

there-the Double A-which is right in the middle of things. A guy named Bransford owns her-an' Bransford's on his last legs. He's due to pass out pro

ight on her hands too, with Alva Dale-a big rough devil of a man with a greedy eye on the whole country-an' the girl, too, I recko

e story. And Sanderson had assimilated it with

eceived a reply, did he acquaint Burroughs with his decision to leave. As a matter of fact, Sanderson had delayed his leave-taking for more than a month after

oul-if he's got one. They ain't no fightin' it. I'm sure appreciatin' what you've done for me, an' if you decide to come back any time, you'll find me a-welcomin' you with

civilization frowns upon, Sanderson was grimly confident of his accomplishments-which were to draw a gun as quickly as any other man had ever drawn one, to shoot as fast and as acc

him feared and respected throughout Arizona; it had ear

ng the trouble that was soon to assail Mary Bransford had had its effect, but he preferred to think he had merely grown tired of life at the Pi

hen, staring down at the man's face, he had realized that he had been deluding himself, and, that he was jour

come with Alva Dale. He had felt his blood surge hotly at the prospect of a fight, with Mary Bransford as t

ous of a mighty satisfaction. The two men who had trailed Bransford had been cold-blooded murderers, and he had av

ld want to know about her brother-and he must tell her. And now, too, he was convinced that his journey to

edge that he was deliberately and unwarrantedly going to the Double A to interfere, to throw himself into a fight with pe

ntirely serious as he rode. The

ere wouldn't be a heap of fun in the world-for butters-in. An' folks which scheme an' plot, tryin' to get things that belong to ot

r, and Sanderson rod

ge. And in the early light of the morning he found his judgment vindicated, for stretching before him, still in a northeasterly direction, he s

orning, and he was in no hurry. He leisurely prepared his brea

istas than this mammoth basin. And yet his eyes glowed as he looked out and

ther, but Sanderson was not misled, and he knew that they were separated by miles of virgin soil-of sageb

ours to descend the slope leading down into the basin, and when once horse

in' us about the rest of it, are they? The Drifter said to head toward the Big Peak. The Double A would be right near there-i

n mounted and rode forward, toward the peak of