"I'm no member of the I.W.W.," he went on. "Whatever that organization might have been last year, it's gone wild this year.... There are interests that have used the I.W.W. I'm only an agent, and I'm not high up, either. I see what the government will do to the I.W.W. if the Northwest leaves any of it. But just now there're plots against a few big men like your father. He's to be ruined. His crops and ranches destroyed. And he's to be killed. It's because he's so well known and has so much influence that he was marked. I told you the I.W.W. was being used to make trouble. They are being stirred up by agitators, bribed and driven, all for the purpose of making a great disorder in the Northwest." "Germany!" whispered Lenore. "I can't say. But men are all over, and these men work in secret. There are American citizens in the Northwest--one right in this valley--who have plotted to ruin your father." "Do you know who they are?" "No, I do not." "You are for Germany, of course?" "I have been. My people are German. But I was born in the U.S. And if it suits me I will be for America. If you come with me I'll throw up this dirty job, advise Glidden to shift the plot from your father to some other man--" "So it's Glidden!" exclaimed Lenore. Nash bit his lip, and for the first time looked at Lenore without thinking of himself. And surprise dawned in his eyes. "Yes, Glidden. You saw him speak to me up in the Bend, the first time your father went to see Dorn's wheat. Glidden's playing the I.W.W. against itself. He means to drop out of this deal with big money....Now I'll save your father if you'll stick to me." Lenore could no longer restrain herself. This man was not even big in his wickedness. Lenore divined that his later words held no truth. "Mr. Ruenke, you are a detestable coward," she said, with quivering scorn. "I let you imagine--Oh! I can't speak it!... You--you--" "God! You fooled me!" he ejaculated, his jaw falling in utter amaze. "You were contemptibly easy. You'd better jump out of this car and run. My father will shoot you." "You deceitful--cat!" he cried, haltingly, as anger overcame his astonishment. "I'll--" Anderson's big bulk loomed up behind Nash. Lenore gasped as she saw her father, for his eyes were upon her and he had recognized events. "Say, Mister Ruenke, the postmaster says you get letters here under different names," said Anderson, bluntly. "Yes--I--I--get them--for a friend," stammered the driver, as his face turned white. "You lyin' German pup!... I'll look over them letters!" Anderson's big hand shot out to clutch Nash, holding him powerless, and with the other hand he searched Nash's inside coat pockets, to tear forth a packet of letters. Then Anderson released him and stepped back. "Get out of that car!" he thundered. Nash made a slow movement, as if to comply, then suddenly he threw on the power. The car jerked forward.