"And if she hadn't gone on her own account you would have tried to hire her to do it! It's always a case of what you can buy with your money--that's your style, Craig. Now you're up against something you can't buy. I'm still working alone--understand that? If you want to report me as an outlaw, go ahead! I'm giving you squarer warning than you gave me on the Tomah when you smashed the Latisans. If I smash that dam down there I'll be smashing you! I'll do it if you put as much as a toothpick in the way of the independent drives. I'll blow the bottom out of your canal, in the bargain. And if you think you or your gang can locate me over there"--he pointed in the direction of the hills of the watershed between the rivers basins--"try it! I know every hole in those hills. I'll keep bombing your drives till you can't keep a man on the job. That's the kind of an outlaw I am from now on." "It's between us now, Latisan. I'll own up to it. It has come to that." "Yes, it's between renegades. I'm admitting that I'm one," retorted Ward. Craig stood up. If there was any of the spirit of Three C's bluster left in him he was concealing it successfully. "Latisan, all these men have heard me say that I quit. I lost my head and was pushing the thing too far, considering it from a business standpoint. Can I be any more honest than that?" "It sounds all right, but I take stock in you only to the extent that you'll stay in line if I stay on the job. I shall stay, as I have warned you." "Suppose we talk turkey about the common rights at Skulltree!" "You'll have to talk with Miss Kennard about her grandfather's interests. I'm simply a chance comer here!" Latisan walked away and leaned against a tree. Craig approached Lida. "We have already had some talk about the matter, I believe. I retreat from the position I have taken. Evidently we must make mutual allowances. What have you thought out about the details of a plan to let your logs through?" The girl did not reply; she had no plans; she did not understand such matters. "We'll have to decide on the head of water you'll need, and I take it you'll allow us enough for the canal so that we can save our drive." Craig was trying hard to offer compromise, but he was not able to repress all his sarcastic venom. "There's the matter of sorting and the other details. I'll have to ask for your views, Miss Kennard, because any misunderstanding may be dangerous, so I have been informed." She looked helplessly from Craig to Latisan. The latter's aloofness, which he had displayed ever since he first appeared to her that day, his present peculiar relationship to the affair, his insistence that he must serve alone, made her problem more complex. Her vivid yearning was to give all into Latisan's keeping, but she did not dare to propose it. She looked at Vittum and Felix, seeking advice. The French Canadian smiled and shrugged his shoulders, evading responsibility. He did not understand such matters, either.