"I should, huh!" retorted Penny. "I'd have to be gagged and hog-tied to go with that crazy wrangler, and even then I'd fight every inch of the way." She turned abruptly and pushed through the door into the living quarters of the house. Gimlet blinked when the door slammed, almost in his face. He fingered his mustache reflectively and _h'mmm'd_ through his knobby nose. "Gagged an' hawg-tied, eh," he muttered. "Keeee-ripes, but mebbe that's a good idee." He hurried across the kitchen in a busybody sort of stride and followed Yuma into the darkness. Penny hoped to get upstairs and to her bedroom without having to talk any further. Her mental state was in the lowest depth of despondency she'd ever known. It seemed that the more she learned the more futile it became to look ahead to happiness in Bryant's Basin. Her nerves felt drawn to a tension that threatened to snap them like catgut drawn too tightly on a violin. It seemed as if nothing that could happen now made a great deal of difference. She turned a corner of the hall and stopped. At the foot of the stairs stood Vince Cavendish. At the sight of his cousin, Vince's shoulders seemed to droop, and his eyes assumed a woebegone expression that was something new. He advanced to the girl and said, "God knows what's goin' tuh happen to us, Cousin." Penny had never heard Vince speak in that sort of tone. She looked at him suspiciously, wondering what was behind the beaten manner that was like a plea for sympathy. She moved her hand behind her as Vince sought to take it in his own. "What's the matter with you?" she demanded. "You act like a sick calf." "Double-crossed," Vince said hollowly. "Double-crossed by Uncle Bryant. He's sold the lot of us out." Penny recalled some of the things Gimlet had told her. "How?" she asked. "I already signed," said Vince. "The men 're upstairs now, gettin' Jeb's name on the paper, an' they'll get yours when they come down." "My name to what paper?" "One that Bryant had drawed up," went on Vince in a melancholy voice. "We gotta sign away any claim we might have on the ranch as his heirs. He wants tuh leave it all tuh someone else." "Who?" Vince shook his head. "Dunno." "Why didn't Uncle Bryant tell us to sign the agreement, or whatever it is?" "Left it tuh some o' the men tuh handle. He's gone in tuh Red Oak with Mort. Reckon they're waitin' there fer the boys tuh git the paper signed an' bring it tuh them there." "I'll not sign a thing until I talk to him," said Penny flatly, "and in the meantime, I'm going to bed." Vince shook his head slowly. "Yuh can't." "Who's going to stop me?" "Sawtell an' Lombard an' Lonergan will be done with Jeb in a few minutes. They'll see that you sign somehow." Penny turned to go upstairs, but Sawtell's stocky figure appeared at the top of the flight. His voice was soft and smooth to match the bland expression of his wide face.