In the clear light of the blossoming dawn the whole panorama of the lower mountain country was spread out before them. To the left, under the towering peaks of the divide, the rounded crest of the hogback was discernible, and a black spot marked the location of Mannix's automobile. "There's a car over there," said Rathburn, noting the direction of Sautee's gaze. Almost directly below them a number of mounted men filed over a ridge and again disappeared in the timber. Off to the right more horsemen were to be seen. "Looks like there was a posse or two out this morning," said Rathburn in a forbidding voice. "I reckon I ain't such a fool as not to know who they're lookin' for, Sautee. Now maybe you can figure out why I ain't as scared of that powder house as you are." "I can stop them!" cried Sautee in a shaking voice. "Sure," Rathburn agreed. "You can say you lied about me takin' the money----" "I'll tell 'em you gave it back!" said Sautee hoarsely. "I'll tell 'em you brought it on up to the mine and that it's in the safe. I'll square it----" "But you can't square the rewards that are out for The Coyote," said Rathburn sternly. "You've stepped into a bigger game than you thought, Sautee, an' it's got plumb out of your hands." He turned on the mine manager fiercely. "Whatever happens, remember this: Once a man gets a bad reputation in a country like this or the country I come from, he's got it for keeps. He can't get away from it no matter how he acts or what he does. Mine has drove me away from the place where I belong; it's followed me here; I can't lose it; an' the way things has been going, by glory, I don't know if I _want_ to lose it!" Sautee cowered back under the fierceness in Rathburn's manner. "An' you can tell 'em, if you ever have a chance to talk again, that I earned my reputation square! I ain't involved nobody else, an' I ain't stole from any poor people, an' I never threw my gun down on a man who didn't start for his first." The deadly earnestness and the note of regret in Rathburn's tone caused Sautee to forget his uneasiness temporarily and stare at the man in wonder. Rathburn's eyes were narrowed, his gaze was steel blue, and his face was drawn into hard, grim lines as he looked out upon the far-flung, glorious vista below them, broken here and there by the movement of mounted men. "Maybe I--I----" Sautee faltered in his speech. His words seemed impotent in the face of Rathburn's deadly seriousness. Rathburn turned abruptly to the powder house door. "Wait!" cried Sautee. The mines manager dug frantically into his pockets and drew out a bunch of keys. "There are some locks on this property to which there are only two keys," he explained nervously. "This is one of them, and I carry the second key. Here!" He held out the key ring with one key extended.