Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net THE DUST OF CONFLICT [Illustration: “I AM, YOU WILL REMEMBER, AN ADVENTURER.”] THE DUST OF CONFLICT By HAROLD BINDLOSS AUTHOR OF “ALTON OF SOMASCO,” “THE CATTLE‐BARON’S DAUGHTER,” ETC. With illustrations in color by W. HERBERT DUNTON NEW YORK · FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY · PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1907, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY Published in January, 1907 All rights reserved THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. CONTENTS — I — VIOLET WAYNE’S CONFIDENCE — II — DAVIDSON MEETS HIS MATCH — III — TONY CANNOT DECIDE — IV — THE VERDICT — V — APPLEBY MAKES A FRIEND — VI — THE SCHOONER “VENTURA” — VII — THE DESCENT OF SANTA MARTA — VIII — APPLEBY’S PRISONER — IX — THE BREAKING OF THE NET — X — AN UNEXPECTED MEETING — XI — THE ALCALDE’S BALL — XII — PANCHO’S WARNING — XIII — THE SECOND ATTEMPT — XIV — APPLEBY PROVES OBDURATE — XV — TONY’S LAST OPPORTUNITY — XVI — DANE COP — XVII — TONY IS PAINFULLY ASTONISHED — XVIII — NETTIE ASKS A QUESTION — XIX — POSITIVE PROOF — XX — FOUND GUILTY — XXI — TONY’S DECISION — XXII — MORALES MAKES A PROPOSAL — XXIII — APPLEBY TAKES A RISK — XXIV — RESPITED — XXV — MORALES SITS STILL — XXVI — THE SEIZING OF SAN CRISTOVAL — XXVII — HARDING’S APPROBATION — XXVIII — TONY MAKES AMENDS — XXIX — TONY PERSISTS — XXX — MORALES PRESERVES HIS FAME — XXXI — STRUCK OFF THE ROLL — XXXII — APPLEBY LEAVES SANTA MARTA — XXXIII — VIOLET REGAINS HER LIBERTY — XXXIV — THE RIGHT MAN THE DUST OF CONFLICT I — VIOLET WAYNE’S CONFIDENCE THE November afternoon was drawing towards its close when Bernard Appleby stood with a gun on his shoulder in an English country lane. It was a costly hammerless gun, but it had been lent to him, and the fact that his right shoulder was sore and there was a raw place on one of his fingers was not without its significance. Appleby, indeed, seldom enjoyed an opportunity of shooting pheasants, and had been stationed at what proved to be a particularly warm corner of the big beech wood. Here he had, however, acquitted himself considerably better than might have been expected, for he had a steady eye and the faculty of making a quick and usually accurate decision, as well as a curious coolness in action, which was otherwise somewhat at variance with an impulsive disposition. These qualities are useful in more serious affairs than game shooting, and it was fortunate for Appleby, who was a poor man, that he possessed them, because they comprised his whole worldly advantages.