The two men with the big man were noncommittal. The pale, undersized man was a mere onlooker whose sympathies were with the accused. Miss Bransford would have been quite willing to have this young man escape punishment, but she could not deny that the cattle in question belonged to her. Sanderson was in doubt about the other young woman, though obviously she was closely related to him--a wife, or sister--perhaps a sweetheart. Sanderson studied the young man's face, comparing it with the big man's, and his lips stiffened. He backed Streak slightly and swung crosswise in the saddle, intense interest seizing him. The big man grinned, first at Miss Bransford, and then at the other girl. "I reckon that settles it," he said. "There don't seem to be nothin' more to it. Miss Bransford says the cattle is hers, an' we found them in Ben Nyland's corral. There ain't-----" "Alva Dale, you are a sneak and a liar!" This was the girl. She had stepped forward until she was within a short pace from the big man. She stood erect, rigid, her hands clenched at her sides; her chin lifted, her eyes flashing with defiant passion. Dale smirked at her. "Peggy Nyland," he said, "you're handin' it to me pretty strong, ain't you? You'd fight for your brother's life, of course. But I represent the law here, an' I've got to do my duty. You won't deny that we found them steers in your brother's corral?" "No, I can't deny that!" declared the girl passionately. "You found them there. They were there. But Ben did not put them there. Shall I tell you who did? It was you! I heard a noise in the corral during the night--last night! But I--thought it was just our own cattle. And I did not go out to see. "Oh, how I wish I had! But Ben didn't put the Double A cattle in the corral, for Ben was in the house all the time. He went to bed when I did, and I saw him, sleeping in his bunk, when the noise awakened me!" The girl stepped closer to Dale, her voice vibrating with scorn and loathing. "If you didn't put the steers in our corral, you know who did, Alva Dale," she went on. "And you know why they were put there! You didn't do it because you wanted Ben's land--as I've heard you have said; you did it to get Ben out of the way so that you could punish me! "If I had told Ben how you have hounded me--how you have insulted me, Ben would have killed you long ago. Oh, I ought to have told him, but I was afraid--afraid to bring more trouble to Ben!" Dale laughed sneeringly as he watched the young man writhe futilely in the hands of his captors. "Sounds reasonable--an' dramatic," he said. "It'd do some good, mebbe, if they was any soft-headed ninnies around that would believe it. But the law ain't soft-headed. We found them steers in Ben Nyland's corral--some of them marked with Ben's brand--the Star--blottin' out the Double A. An' Miss Bransford admits the steers are hers. They ain't nothin' more to be said."