Do I make myself clear ?" Alan rose to his feet and paced thoughtfully across the room.

At least, Rossland measured his action as one of sudden, intensive reflection as he watched him, smiling complacently at the effect of his knock-out proposition upon the other.

He had not minced matters.

He had come to the point without an effort at bargaining, and he possessed sufficient dramatic sense to appreciate what the offer of half a million dollars meant to an individual who was struggling for existence at the edge of a raw frontier.

Alan stood with his back toward him, facing a window.