"Maybe," said Callender simply; "I can trust ye. I would not sell the place to anybody."
Alton stood up. "You shall have a cheque to-morrow," he said.
They had mounted within another minute, and Alton glanced with a little smile at his comrade as they rode on again.
"That," said Seaforth, "was in a sense a somewhat effective scene, but
I'm not sure which of us should go to the business school."
Alton laughed. "I don't often blunder when I deal with a man," said he. "Callender and I wouldn't have been better pleased, or five dollars richer, if we'd talked all day."
Seaforth nodded, though his eyes twinkled. "You don't seem so confident about the other sex?" he said.
Alton gravely pointed to a towering fir. "That redwood would fetch a good many dollars in Vancouver. I wonder when we'll get those saws through," he said.
While he spoke a thud of hoofs grew louder, and presently a man came riding in haste towards them down the trail. He drew bridle when he recognized them, and Seaforth became curious when he saw that it was Hallam. The latter made them an ironical salutation, and sat regarding Alton covertly with his cunning beady eyes until the rancher smiled.
"If you were going down to see Callender, I fancy you're a little too late," he said.
Seaforth wondered whether his comrade saw the wickedness in the other man's face, and the slight closing of his hands upon the bridle. It was very perceptible for a second, and then he made a gesture of resignation.