Maison reflected. "And you want me to supply it," he said. "Yes, that project will require a large sum. H'm! It is--er--do you purpose to try to handle the project yourself, Mr. Bransford?" "Me an' Mary Bransford. I'll hire an engineer." Maison's cheeks reddened a trifle. He seemed to lose interest slightly. "Don't you think it is rather too big a thing for one man to handle--aided by a woman?" He smiled blandly at Sanderson. "I have thought of the water situation in the basin. It is my opinion that it might be worked out successfully. "Why not organize a company--say a company composed of influential and powerful men like Silverthorn and Dale and--er--myself. We could issue stock, you know. Each would take a certain number of shares--paying you for them, of course, and leaving you in possession of a large block of it--say--forty per cent. We could organize, elect officers----" "An' freeze me out," smiled Sanderson. Maison sat erect and gazed haughtily at his visitor. "No one has ever questioned my honesty," he declared. Sanderson smiled at him. "Nor I don't. But I want to play her a lone hand." "I am afraid I wouldn't be interested in that sort of project," said Maison. The thought that Maison _would_ be interested--not publicly, but privately--made Sanderson grin. The grin angered Maison; he arose smiling coldly. "I am sorry to have taken your time, Mr. Bransford," he said, dismissing his visitor. Sanderson did not give up. "My father left some money in your bank," he said; "I'll take it." "Certainly," said the banker. He got a withdrawal blank and laid it before Sanderson. "The amount is three thousand two hundred," he said. "Just fill that out and sign your name and yon can have the money." Sanderson did not sign; he sat, looking at the blank, suddenly afflicted with the knowledge that once more the troublesome "Bransford" signature had placed him in a dilemma. Undoubtedly Maison, Silverthorn, and Dale were confederates in this matter, and Dale's insistence that he sign the register claim was a mere subterfuge to obtain a copy of the Bransford signature in order to make trouble for him. It occurred to Sanderson that the men suspected him, and he grinned coldly as he raised his eyes to Maison. Maison was watching him, keenly; and his flush when he saw Sanderson looking at him convinced the latter that his suspicions were not without foundation. If Sanderson could have known that he had hardly left the hotel when a man whispered to Maison; and that Maison had said to the man: "All right, I'll go down and wait for him," Sanderson could not have more accurately interpreted Maison's flush. Sanderson's grin grew grim. "It's a frame-up," he told himself. His grin grew saturnine. He got up, folded the withdrawal blank and stuck it in a pocket. "I'm leavin' the money here tonight," he said. "For a man that ain't been to town in a long while, there'd be too many temptations yankin' at me."