"Let me out?"
"Yes, I can let you out or I can drown you in it. You want this woman."
"So do you."
The two men stood eye to eye for a tense moment. Then Ladd shrugged his shoulders and returned to the business in hand.
"Cadger has decided that I cannot afford such a luxury under the circumstances, and perhaps I can't. He thinks, and perhaps he's right, that you and I could do a whole lot better than fight each other. If you think so too, I'll meet you half-way."
"What's your game, Mr. Agent?"
"Well, I can arrest Appah and take these Indians home, and—forget it. Now you call off your crowd in Washington and I'll call off mine here. What do you say?"
"Your offer takes me by surprise. I'll have to submit it to McShay."
As Hal walked to the house it went through his brain that this was a very quick solution of a very dangerous situation. It was obvious that it would meet the worldly views of McShay. That astute politician had just expressed the belief that the war on Ladd was bad policy. It also shot through his brain that it would not coincide with the unworldly views of McCloud. Should he call out McShay alone? It is useless to deny that he was tempted. In fact, he was on the Mount of Temptation and was to miss no phase of that ordeal.
Ladd hesitated. "Why, you're not going to—Can't this be settled between you and me?" he suggested nervously.