Bell Nelson raised a stricken face. "Control?" he repeated, faintly. "_Control_?" He strode to the end of the table, and with shaking hands he ran through the sheaf of neatly folded certificates. "Sold out, by God!" He fell to cursing certain men, the names of whom caused Swope and Murphy and Gage to prick up their ears. Gray was still staring at the junior Nelson; it was to him more than to the father that he spoke: "Sold out is right! It came high, but I think it was worth the price. We intend to vote our stock." "By that I infer that you're going to take the bank over--take its management away from Bell and Henry?" Bennett Swope ventured. "Naturally." The elder Nelson voiced an unintelligible exclamation. "That's a pretty rough deal. Bell has put his life into it. It is an--an institution, a credit to the community. It would be a misfortune if it fell into the hands of--into the control of somebody who--" The ranchman hesitated, then blurted forth, angrily: "Well, I don't like the look of this thing. I want to know what it means." "I'll tell you," Henry cried, unevenly. "I'll tell you what it means. Persecution! Revenge! Hatred! I quarreled with this man, in France. He's vindictive; he followed me here--tried every way to ruin me--cost me thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars. Father and I were--we were pinched. We had to realize some quick money to protect our oil holdings--offsets and the like--and we sold a lot of our stock with the understanding that we could--that we would buy it back at a higher figure. We only borrowed on it, you might say--hypothecated it. We thought we were dealing with friends, but--_Friends_! My God!" The speaker seized his head. "The stock was not hypothecated. You sold it," Gray said, quietly, "and we bought it in." "It is all a personal matter, a grudge." "Is that true, Mr. Gray?" Swope inquired. "Substantially. But I'm waiting for Colonel Nelson to tell you more; to tell you the whole story of our antagonism." Martin Murphy, who had been a silent onlooker up to this point, made himself heard. "Mr. Gray, I don't like the look of this any better than Swope does. Your quarrel with Henry is wholly your and his affair, but the welfare of the Security National is partly ours. Banks are not toys, to be juggled and played with in mischief or in spite. You say you paid high for your stock; do you intend to wreck the institution, lose a fortune--?" "By no means." "That's precisely what you will succeed in doing." "I had ventured to hope that you three gentlemen would remain on the board." "Am I dreaming?" Bell Nelson's collar appeared to be choking him, and with clumsy fingers he tugged at it. "Going to kick Henry and me off the board, eh? Rob us? Well, I'm damned if you do! You'll not kick us off--" "He doesn't want the bank," the son exclaimed, hoarsely. "That's all a bluff. He wants blackmail. That's the kind of man he is. He wants his price. I know him. How much, Gray? What'll it cost us?"