Yet Langford knew that he had heard; was certain that he grasped the full meaning of the question; probably felt some emotion over it, and was masking it by appearing to busy himself with the saddle. Langford's respect for him grew and he wisely kept silent, knowing that in time Dakota would answer. But when the answer did come it was not the one that Langford expected. Dakota's eyes met his in a level gaze. "Why don't you shoot him yourself?" he said, drawling his words a little. "Not taking any chances?" Dakota's voice was filled with a cold sarcasm as he continued, after an interval during which Langford kept a discreetly still tongue. "Your business principles don't take you quite that far, eh? And so you've come over to get me to shoot him? Why didn't you say so in the beginning--it would have saved all this time." He laughed coldly. "What makes you think that you could hire me to put Doubler out of business?" "I saw you shoot Blanca," said Langford. "And I sounded Duncan." It did not disturb him to discover that Dakota had all along been aware of the object of his visit. It rather pleased him, in fact, to be given proof of the man's discernment--it showed that he was deep and clever. "You saw me shoot Blanca," said Dakota with a strange smile, "and Duncan told you I was the man to put Doubler away. Those are my recommendations." His voice was slightly ironical, almost concealing a slight harshness. "Did Duncan mention that he was a friend of mine?" he asked. "No?" His smile grew mocking. "Just merely mentioned that I was uncommonly clever in the art of getting people--undesirable people--out of the way. Don't get the idea, though, because Duncan told you, that I make a business of shooting folks. I put Blanca out of the way because it was a question of him or me--I shot him to save my own hide. Shooting Doubler would be quite another proposition. Still----" He looked at Langford, his eyes narrowing and smoldering with a mysterious fire. It seemed that he was inviting Langford to make a proposal, and the latter smiled evilly. "Still," he said, repeating Dakota's word with a significant inflection, "you don't refuse to listen to me. It would be worth a thousand dollars to me to have Doubler out of the way," he added. It was out now, and Langford sat silent while Dakota gazed into the distance that reached toward the nester's cabin. Langford watched Dakota closely, but there was an absolute lack of expression in the latter's face. "How are you offering to pay the thousand?" questioned Dakota. "And when?" "In cash, when Doubler isn't here any more." Dakota looked up at him, his face a mask of immobility. "That _sounds_ all right," he said, with slow emphasis. "I reckon you'll put it in writing?"