CHAPTER XXXV
A DEAL IN LOVE
A few days later Mary Bransford, Sanderson, and Barney Owen weresitting on the porch of the Double A ranchhouse, near where they hadsat on the day Mary and Owen and the Dale men had seen Sanderson ridingalong the edge of the mesa in his pursuit of Williams and the others.
Mary and Sanderson were sitting rather close together at one end of theporch; Barney Owen was sitting near them, on the porch edge, his elbowsresting on his knees.
There had been a silence between the three for some time, but at lastSanderson broke it. He smiled at Mary.
"We'll build that dam--an' the irrigation plant now, mebbe," he said."But it's goin' to be a big job. Williams says it will take a year, ormore."
"There will be difficulties, too, I suppose," said Mary.
"Sure."
"But difficulties do not worry you," she went on, giving him a glowinglook.
He blushed. "We promised each other not to refer to that again," heprotested. "You are breaking your promise."
"I just can't help it!" she declared. "I feel so good over yourvictory. Why, it really wasn't your affair at all, and yet you camehere, fought our fight for us; and then, when it is all over, you wishus to say nothing about it! That isn't fair!"
He grinned. "Was you fair?" he charged.
"You told me the other day that you knew, the day after I ordered Daleaway from the Double A--after tellin' you that I wasn't what I claimedto be--that Barney Owen wasn't Barney Owen at all, but your brother.
"An' you let me go on, not tellin' me. An' he didn't do a heap oftalkin'. I ain't mentioned it until now, but I've wondered why?Barney knew from the first day that I wasn't what I pretended to be.Why didn't you tell me, Barney?"
Mary was blushing, and Barney's face was red. His eyes met Mary's andboth pairs were lowered, guiltily.
Barney turned to Sanderson.
"Look at me!" he said. "Do I look like a man who could fight Dale,Silverthorn, and Maison--and the gang they had--with any hope ofvictory? When I got here--after escaping Gary Miller and the others--Iwas all in--sick and weak. It didn't take me long to see how thingswere. But I knew I couldn't do anything.
"I was waiting, though, for Gary Miller and his friends to come, toclaim the Double A. I would have killed them. But they didn't come.You came.
"At first I was not sure what to think of you. But I saw sympathy inyour eyes when you looked at Mary, and when you told Dale that you wereWill Bransford, I decided to keep silent. You looked capable, and whenI saw that you were willing to fight for Mary, why--why--I just let yougo. I--I was afraid that if I'd tell you who I was you'd throw up thewhole deal. And so I didn't say anything."
Sanderson grinned. "That's the reason you was so willin' to sign allthe papers that wanted Will Bransford's signature. I sure was aboxhead for not tumblin' to that."
He laughed, meeting Mary's gaze and holding it.
"Talkin' of throwin' up the deal," he said. "That couldn't be. Dalean' Silverthorn an' Maison an' their gang of cutthroats couldn't makeme give it up. There's only one person could make me do that. She'donly have to say that she don't think as much of me as I think sheought to. And, then----"
"She'll keep pretty silent about that, I think," interrupted Owen,grinning at the girl's crimson face.
"I wouldn't be takin' your word for it," grinned Sanderson, "itwouldn't be reliable."
"Why--" began Mary, and looked at Owen.
"Sure," he laughed, "I'll go and take a walk. There are times whenthree can't explain a thing as well as two."
There was a silence following Owen's departure.
Then Mary looked shyly at Sanderson, who was watching her with a smile.
"Does it need any explaining?" she began. "Can't you see that----"
"Shucks, little girl," he said gently, as he leaned toward her, "wordsain't--well, words ain't so awful important, are they?"
Apparently words were not important. For within the next few minutesthere were few spoken. And progress was made without them. And then:
"I believe I never was so happy as when I saw you, that morning, comingin to Okar with Dale's body, and you said you had not killed him. Andif Barney--Will, had killed him that day--if he had really hanged him,and Dale had died from it--I should have kept seeing Dale as he washanging there all my life."
"It was Dale's day," said Sanderson.
"And Okar's!" declared the girl. "The town has taken on a new spiritsince those men have left. And the whole basin has changed. Men aremore interested and eager. There is an atmosphere of fellowship thatwas absent before. And, oh, Deal, how happy I am!"
"You ain't got anything on me!" grinned Sanderson.
And presently, looking toward the rim of the mesa, they saw Williamsand his men coming toward them from Lazette, with many wagons, loadedwith supplies and material for the new dam, forecasting a new day and anew prosperity for the Double A--and themselves.
"That's for a new deal," said Sanderson, watching the wagons and men.
"Wrong," she laughed, happily, "it is all for a 'Square' Deal!"
"All?" he returned, grinning at her.
"All," she repeated, snuggling close to him.
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