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diff --git a/19026.txt b/19026.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f38f1ed --- /dev/null +++ b/19026.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8143 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boss of the Lazy Y, by Charles Alden Seltzer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boss of the Lazy Y + +Author: Charles Alden Seltzer + +Illustrator: J. Allen St. John + +Release Date: August 10, 2006 [EBook #19026] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Calumet remained unshaken.] + + + + + + +THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y + + +BY + +CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER + + + + +AUTHOR OF + +THE COMING OF THE LAW, THE TWO-GUN MAN, ETC. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +J. ALLEN ST. JOHN + + + + + +NEW YORK + +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +Copyright + +A. C. McClurg & Co. + +1915 + + +Published April, 1915 + + + +Copyrighted in Great Britain + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. The Home-Coming of Calumet Marston + II. Betty Meets the Heir + III. Calumet's Guardian + IV. Calumet Plays Betty's Game + V. The First Lesson + VI. "Bob" + VII. A Page from the Past + VIII. The Toltec Idol + IX. Responsibility + X. New Acquaintances + XI. Progress + XII. A Peace Offering + XIII. Suspicion + XIV. Jealousy + XV. A Meeting in the Red Dog + XVI. The Ambush + XVII. More Progress + XVIII. Another Peace Offering + XIX. A Tragedy in the Timber Grove + XX. Betty Talks Frankly + XXI. His Father's Friend + XXII. Neal Taggart Visits + XXIII. For the Altars of His Tribe + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Calumet remained unshaken . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +"Get up, or I will shoot you like a dog!" she said. + +Her appearance was now in the nature of a transformation. + +Calumet stepped in. + + + + +THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HOME-COMING OF CALUMET MARSTON + +Shuffling down the long slope, its tired legs moving automatically, the +drooping pony swerved a little and then came to a halt, trembling with +fright. Startled out of his unpleasant ruminations, his lips tensing +over his teeth in a savage snarl, Calumet Marston swayed uncertainly in +the saddle, caught himself, crouched, and swung a heavy pistol to a +menacing poise. + +For an instant he hesitated, searching the immediate vicinity with +rapid, intolerant glances. When his gaze finally focused on the object +which had frightened his pony, he showed no surprise. Many times +during the past two days had this incident occurred, and at no time had +Calumet allowed the pony to follow its inclination to bolt or swerve +from the trail. He held it steady now, pulling with a vicious hand on +the reins. + +Ten feet in front of the pony and squarely in the center of the trail a +gigantic diamond-back rattler swayed and warned, its venomous, lidless +eyes gleaming with hate. Calumet's snarl deepened, he dug a spur into +the pony's left flank, and pulled sharply on the left rein. The pony +lunged, swerved, and presented its right shoulder to the swaying +reptile, its flesh quivering from excitement. Then the heavy revolver +in Calumet's hand roared spitefully, there was a sudden threshing in +the dust of the trail, and the huge rattler shuddered into a sinuous, +twisting heap. For an instant Calumet watched it, and then, seeing +that the wound he had inflicted was not mortal, he urged the pony +forward and, leaning over a little, sent two more bullets into the body +of the snake, severing its head from its body. + +"Man's size," declared Calumet, his snarl relaxing. He sat erect and +spoke to the pony: + +"Get along, you damned fool! Scared of a side-winder!" + +Relieved, deflating its lungs with a tremulous heave, and unmindful of +Calumet's scorn, the pony gingerly returned to the trail. In thirty +seconds it had resumed its drooping shuffle, in thirty seconds Calumet +had returned to his unpleasant ruminations. + +A mile up in the shimmering white of the desert sky an eagle swam on +slow wing, shaping his winding course toward the timber clump that +fringed a river. Besides the eagle, the pony, and Calumet, no living +thing stirred in the desert or above it. In the shade of a rock, +perhaps, lurked a lizard, in the filmy mesquite that drooped and curled +in the stifling heat slid a rattler, in the shelter of the sagebrush +the sage hen might have nestled her eggs in the hot sand. But these +were fixtures. Calumet, his pony, and the eagle, were not. The eagle +was Mexican; it had swung its mile-wide circles many times to reach the +point above the timber clump; it was migratory and alert with the +hunger lust. + +Calumet watched it with eyes that glowed bitterly and balefully. Half +an hour later, when he reached the river and the pony clattered down +the rocky slope, plunged its head deeply into the stream and drank with +eager, silent draughts, Calumet swung himself crossways in the saddle, +fumbled for a moment at his slicker, and drew out a battered tin cup. +Leaning over, he filled the cup with water, tilted his head back and +drank. The blur in the white sky caught his gaze and held it. His +eyes mocked, his lips snarled. + +"You damned greaser sneak!" he said. "Followed me fifty miles!" A +flash of race hatred glinted his eyes. "I wouldn't let no damned +greaser eagle get me, anyway!" + +The pony had drunk its fill. Calumet returned the tin cup to the +slicker and swung back into the saddle. Refreshed, the pony took the +opposite slope with a rush, emerging from the river upon a high plateau +studded with fir balsam and pine. Bringing the pony to a halt, Calumet +turned in the saddle and looked somberly behind him. + +For two days he had been fighting the desert, and now it lay in his +rear, a mystic, dun-colored land of hot sandy waste and silence; +brooding, menacing, holding out its threat of death--a vast natural +basin breathing and pulsing with mystery, rimmed by remote mountains +that seemed tenuous and thin behind the ever-changing misty films that +spread from horizon to horizon. + +The expression of Calumet's face was as hard and inscrutable as the +desert itself; the latter's filmy haze did not more surely shut out the +mysteries behind it than did Calumet's expression veil the emotions of +his heart. He turned from the desert to face the plateau, from whose +edge dropped a wide, tawny valley, luxuriant with bunch grass--a golden +brown sweep that nestled between some hills, inviting, alluring. So +sharp was the contrast between the desert and the valley, and so potent +was its appeal to him, that the hard calm of his face threatened to +soften. It was as though he had ridden out of a desolate, ages-old +world where death mocked at life, into a new one in which life reigned +supreme. + +There was no change in Calumet's expression, however, though below him, +spreading and dipping away into the interminable distance, slumbering +in the glare of the afternoon sun, lay the land of his youth. He +remembered it well and he sat for a long time looking at it, searching +out familiar spots, reviving incidents with which those spots had been +connected. During the days of his exile he had forgotten, but now it +all came back to him; his brain was illumined and memories moved in it +in orderly array--like a vast army passing in review. And he sat there +on his pony, singling out the more important personages of the +army--the officers, the guiding spirits of the invisible columns. + +Five miles into the distance, at a point where the river doubled +sharply, rose the roofs of several ranch buildings--his father's ranch, +the Lazy Y. Upon the buildings Calumet's army of memories descended +and he forgot the desert, the long ride, the bleak days of his exile, +as he yielded to solemn introspection. + +Yet, even now, the expression of his face did not change. A little +longer he scanned the valley and then the army of memories marched out +of his vision and he took up the reins and sent the pony forward. The +little animal tossed its head impatiently, perhaps scenting food and +companionship, but Calumet's heavy hand on the reins discouraged haste. + +For Calumet was in no hurry. He had not yet worked out an explanation +for the strange whim that had sent him home after an absence of +thirteen years and he wanted time to study over it. His lips took on a +satiric curl as he meditated, riding slowly down into the valley. It +was inexplicable, mysterious, this notion of his to return to a father +who had never taken any interest in him. He could not account for it. +He had not been sent for, he had not sent word; he did not know why he +had come. He had been in the Durango country when the mood had struck +him, and without waiting to debate the wisdom of the move he had ridden +in to headquarters, secured his time, and--well, here he was. He had +pondered much in an effort to account for the whim, carefully +considering all its phases, and he was still uncertain. + +He knew he would receive no welcome; he knew he was not wanted. Had he +felt a longing to revisit the old place? Perhaps it had been that. +And yet, perhaps not, for he was here now, looking at it, living over +the life of his youth, riding again through the long bunch grass, over +the barren alkali flats, roaming again in the timber that fringed the +river--going over it all again and nothing stirred in his heart--no +pleasure, no joy, no satisfaction, no emotion whatever. If he felt any +curiosity he was entirely unconscious of it; it was dormant if it +existed at all. As he was able to consider her dispassionately he knew +that he had not come to look at his mother's grave. She had been +nothing to him, his heart did not beat a bit faster when he thought of +her. + +Then, why had he come? He did not know or care. Had he been a +psychologist he might have attempted to frame reasons, building them +from foundations of high-sounding phrases, but he was a materialist, +and the science of mental phenomena had no place in his brain. +Something had impelled him to come and here he was, and that was reason +enough for him. And because he had no motive in coming he was taking +his time. He figured on reaching the Lazy Y about dusk. He would see +his father, perhaps quarrel with him, and then he would ride away, to +return no more. Strange as it may seem, the prospect of a quarrel with +his father brought him a thrill of joy, the first emotion he had felt +since beginning his homeward journey. + +When he reached the bottom of the valley he urged his pony on a little +way, pulling it to a halt on the flat, rock-strewn top of an isolated +excrescence of earth surrounded by a sea of sagebrush, dried bunch +grass, and sand. Dismounting he stretched his legs to disperse the +saddle weariness. He stifled a yawn, lazily plunged a hand into a +pocket of his trousers, produced tobacco and paper and rolled a +cigarette. Lighting it he puffed slowly and deeply at it, exhaling the +smoke lingeringly through his nostrils. Then he sat down on a rock, +leaned an elbow in the sand, pulled his hat brim well down over his +eyes and with the cigarette held loosely between his lips, gave himself +over to retrospection. + +It all came to him, as he sat there on the rock, his gaze on the +basking valley, his thoughts centered on that youth which had been an +abiding nightmare. The question was: What influence had made him a +hardened, embittered, merciless demon of a man whose passions +threatened always to wash away the dam of his self-control? A man +whose evil nature caused other men to shun him; a man who scoffed at +virtue; who saw no good in anything? + +Not once during his voluntary exile had he applied his mind to the +subject in the hope of stumbling on a solution. To be sure, he had had +a slight glimmering of the truth; he had realized in a sort of vague, +general way that he had not been treated fairly at home, but he had not +been able to provide a definite and final explanation, perhaps because +he had never considered it necessary. But his return home, the review +of the army of memories, had brought him a solution--the solution. And +he saw its ruthless logic. + +He was what his parents had made him. Without being able to think it +out in scientific terms he was able to expound the why of like. It was +one of the inexorable rules of heredity. To his parents he owed +everything and nothing. He reflected on this paradox until it became +perfectly clear to him. They--his parents--had given him life, and +that was all. He owed them thanks for that, or he would have owed them +thanks if he considered his life to be worth anything. But he owed +them nothing because they had spoiled the life they had given him, had +spoiled it by depriving him of everything he had a right to expect from +them--love, sympathy, decent treatment. They had given him instead, +blows, kicks, curses, hatred. Hatred! + +Yes, they had hated him; they had told him that; he was convinced of +it. The reason for their hatred had always been a mystery to him and, +for all he cared, would remain a mystery. + +When he was fifteen his mother died. On the day when the neighbors +laid her away in a quiet spot at the edge of the wood near the far end +of the corral fence, he stood beside her body as it lay in the rough +pine box which some of them had knocked together, looking at her for +the last time. He was neither glad or sorry; he felt no emotion +whatever. When one of the neighbors spoke to him, asking him if he +felt no grief, he cursed and stormed out of the house. Later, after +the neighbors departed, his father came upon him in the stable and beat +him unmercifully. He came, dry-eyed, through the ordeal, raging +inwardly, but silent. And that night, after his father had gone to +bed, he stole stealthily out of the house, threw a saddle and bridle on +his favorite pony and rode away. Such had been his youth. + +That had been thirteen years ago. He was twenty-eight now and had +changed a little--for the worse. During the days of his exile he had +made no friends. He had found much experience, he had become +self-reliant, sophisticated. There was about him an atmosphere of cold +preparedness that discouraged encroachment on his privacy. Men did not +trifle with him, because they feared him. Around Durango, where he had +ridden for the Bar S outfit, it was known that he possessed Satanic +cleverness with a six-shooter. + +But if he was rapid with his weapons he made no boast of it. He was +quiet in manner, unobtrusive. He was taciturn also, for he had been +taught the value of silence by his parents, though in his narrowed +glances men had been made to see a suggestion of action that was more +eloquent than speech. He was a slumbering volcano of passion that +might at any time become active and destroying. + +Gazing now from under the brim of his hat at the desolate, silent world +that swept away from the base of the hill on whose crest he sat, his +lips curved with a slow, bitter sneer. During the time he had been on +the hill he had lived over his life and he saw its bleakness, its +emptiness, its mystery. This was his country. He had been born here; +he had passed days, months, years, in this valley. He knew it, and +hated it. He sneered as his gaze went out of the valley and sought the +vast stretches of the flaming desert. He knew the desert, too; it had +not changed. Riding through it yesterday and the day before he had +been impressed with the somber grimness of it all, as he had been +impressed many times before when watching it from this very hill. But +it was no more somber than his own life had been; its brooding silence +was no deeper than that which dwelt in his own heart; he reflected its +spirit, its mystery was his. His life had been like--like the +stretching waste of sky that yawned above the desert, as cold, hard, +and unsympathetic. + +He saw a shadow; looked upward to see the Mexican eagle winging its +slow way overhead, and the sneer on his lips grew. It was a prophecy, +perhaps. At least the sight of the bird gave him an opportunity to +draw a swift and bitter comparison. He was like the eagle. Both he +and the bird he detested were beset with a constitutional +predisposition to rend and destroy. There was this difference between +them: The bird feasted on carrion, while he spent his life stifling +generous impulses and tearing from his heart the noble ideals which his +latent manhood persisted in erecting. + +For two hours he sat on the hill, watching. He saw the sun sink slowly +toward the remote mountains, saw it hang a golden rim on a barren peak; +watched the shadows steal out over the foothills and stretch swiftly +over the valley toward him. Mystery seemed to awaken and fill the +world. The sky blazed with color--orange and gold and violet; a veil +of rose and amethyst descended and stretched to the horizons, +enveloping the mountains in a misty haze; purple shafts shot from +distant canyons, mingling with the brighter colors--gleaming, +shimmering, ever-changing. Over the desert the colors were even more +wonderful, the mystery deeper, the lure more appealing. But Calumet +made a grimace at it all, it seemed to mock him. + +He rose from the rock, mounted his pony, and rode slowly down into the +valley toward the Lazy Y ranch buildings. + +He had been so busy with his thoughts that he had not noticed the +absence of cattle in the valley--the valley had been a grazing ground +for the Lazy Y stock during the days of his youth--and now, with a +start, he noted it and halted his pony after reaching the level to look +about him. + +There was no sign of any cattle. But he reflected that perhaps a new +range had been opened. Thirteen years is a long time, and many changes +could have come during his absence. + +He was about to urge his pony on again, when some impulse moved him to +turn in the saddle and glance at the hill he had just vacated. At +about the spot where he had sat--perhaps two hundred yards distant--he +saw a man on a horse, sitting motionless in the saddle, looking at him. + +Calumet wheeled his own pony and faced the man. The vari-colored glow +from the distant mountains fell full upon the horseman, and with the +instinct for attention to detail which had become habitual with +Calumet, he noted that the rider was a big man; that he wore a +cream-colored Stetson and a scarlet neckerchief. Even at that +distance, so clear was the light, Calumet caught a vague impression of +his features--his nose, especially, which was big, hawk-like. + +Calumet yielded to a sudden wonder over the rider's appearance on the +hill. He had not seen him; had not heard him before. Still, that was +not strange, for he had become so absorbed in his thoughts while on the +hill that he had paid very little attention to his surroundings except +to associate them with his past. + +The man, evidently, was a cowpuncher in the employ of his father; had +probably seen him from the level of the valley and had ridden to the +crest of the hill out of curiosity. + +Another impulse moved Calumet. He decided to have a talk with the man +in order to learn, if possible, something of the life his father had +led during his absence. He kicked his pony in the ribs and rode toward +the man, the animal traveling at a slow chop-trot. + +For a moment the man watched him, still motionless. Then, as Calumet +continued to approach him the man wheeled his horse and sent it +clattering down the opposite side of the hill. + +Calumet sneered, surprised, for the instant, at the man's action. + +"Shy cuss," he said, grinning contemptuously. In the next instant, +however, he yielded to a quick rage and sent his pony scurrying up the +slope toward the crest of the hill. + +When he reached the top the man was on the level, racing across a +barren alkali flat at a speed which indicated that he was afflicted +with something more than shyness. + +Calumet halted on the crest of the hill and waved a hand derisively at +the man, who was looking back over his shoulder as he rode. + +"Slope, you locoed son-of-a-gun!" he yelled; "I didn't want to talk to +you, anyway!" + +The rider's answer was a strange one. He brought his horse to a +dizzying stop, wheeled, drew a rifle from his saddle holster, raised it +to his shoulder and took a snap shot at Calumet. + +The latter, however, had observed the hostile movement, and had thrown +himself out of the saddle. He struck the hard sand of the hill on all +fours and stretched out flat, his face to the ground. He heard the +bullet sing futilely past him; heard the sharp crack of the rifle, and +peered down to see the man again running his horse across the level. + +Calumet drew his pistol, but saw that the distance was too great for +effective shooting, and savagely jammed the weapon back into the +holster. He was in a black rage, but was aware of the absurdity of +attempting to wage a battle in which the advantage lay entirely with +the rifle, and so, with a grim smile on his face, he watched the +progress of the man as he rode through the long grass and across the +barren stretches of the level toward the hills that rimmed the southern +horizon. + +Promising himself that he would make a special effort to return the +shot, Calumet finally wheeled his pony and rode down the hill toward +the Lazy Y. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BETTY MEETS THE HEIR + +An emotion which he did not trouble himself to define impelled Calumet +to wheel his pony when he reached the far end of the corral fence and +ride into the cottonwood where, thirteen years before, he had seen the +last of his mother. No emotion moved him as he rode toward it, but +when he came upon the grave he experienced a savage satisfaction +because it had been sadly neglected. There was no headboard to mark +the spot, no familiar mound of earth; only a sunken stretch, a pitiful +little patch of sand, with a few weeds thrusting up out of it, nodding +to the slight breeze and casting grotesque shadows in the somber +twilight. + +Calumet was not surprised. It was all as he had pictured it during +those brief moments when he had allowed his mind to dwell on his past; +its condition vindicated his previous conviction that his father would +neglect it. Therefore, his satisfaction was not in finding the grave +as it was, but in the knowledge that he had not misjudged his father. +And though he had not loved his mother, the condition of the grave +served to infuse him with a newer and more bitter hatred for the +surviving parent. A deep rage and contempt slumbered within him as he +urged his pony out of the wood toward the ranchhouse. + +He was still in no hurry, and soon after leaving the edge of the wood +he halted his pony and sat loosely in the saddle, gazing about him. +When he observed that he might be seen from the ranchhouse he moved +deep into the cottonwood and there, screened behind some nondescript +brush, continued his examination. + +The place was in a state of dilapidation, of approaching ruin. +Desolation had set a heavy hand over it all. The buildings no more +resembled those he had known than daylight resembles darkness. The +stable, wherein he had received his last thrashing from his father, had +sagged to one side, its roof seeming to bow to him in derision; the +corral fence was down in several places, its rails in a state of decay, +and within, two gaunt ponies drooped, seeming to lack the energy +necessary to move them to take advantage of the opportunity for freedom +so close at hand. They appeared to watch Calumet incuriously, +apathetically. + +Calumet felt strangely jubilant. A vindictive satisfaction and delight +forced the blood through his veins a little faster, for, judging from +the appearance of the buildings, misfortune must have descended upon +his father. The thought brought a great peace to his soul; he even +smiled when he saw that the bunkhouse, which had sheltered the many +cowboys whom he had hated, seemed ready to topple to destruction. The +smile grew when his gaze went to the windmill, to see its long arms +motionless in the breeze, indicating its uselessness. + +When he had concluded his examination he did not ride boldly toward the +ranchhouse, but made a wide circuit through the wood, for he wanted to +come upon his father in his own way and in his own time; wanted to +surprise him. There was no use of turning his pony into the corral, +for the animal had more life in him than the two forlorn beasts that +were already there and would not stay in the corral when a breach in +the fence offered freedom. Therefore, when Calumet reached the edge of +the wood near the front of the house he dismounted and tied his pony to +a tree. + +A moment later he stood at the front door, filled with satisfaction to +find it unbarred. Swinging it slowly open he entered, silently closing +it behind him. He stood, a hand on the fastenings, gazing about him. +He was in the room which his father had always used as an office. As +he peered about in the gray dusk that had fallen, distinguishing +familiar articles of furniture--a roll-top desk, several chairs, a +sofa, some cheap prints on the wall--a nameless emotion smote him and +his face paled a little, his jaws locked, his hands clenched. For +again the army of memories was passing in review. + +For a long time he stood at the door. Then he left it and walked to +the desk, placing a hand on its top and hesitating. Doubtless his +father was in another part of the house, possibly eating supper. He +decided not to bother him at this moment and seated himself in a chair +before the desk. There was plenty of time. His father would be as +disagreeably surprised to meet him five minutes from now as he would +were he to stalk into his presence at this moment. + +Once in the chair, Calumet realized that he was tired, and he leaned +back luxuriously, stretching his legs. The five minutes to which he +had limited himself grew to ten and he still sat motionless, looking +out of the window at the deepening dusk. The shadows in the wood near +the house grew darker, and to Calumet's ears came the long-drawn, +plaintive whine of a coyote, the croaking of frogs from the river, the +hoot of an owl nearby. Other noises of the night reached him, but he +did not hear them, for he had become lost in meditation. + +What a home-coming! + +Bitterness settled into the marrow of his bones. Here was ruin, +desolation, darkness, for the returning prodigal. These were the +things his father had given him. A murderous rage seized him, a lust +to rend and destroy, and he sat erect in his chair, his muscles tensed, +his blood rioting, his brain reeling. Had his father appeared before +him at this minute it would have gone hard with him. He fought down an +impulse to go in search of him and presently the mood passed, his +muscles relaxed, and he stretched out again in the chair. + +Producing tobacco and paper he rolled a cigarette, noting with a +satisfied smile the steadiness of his hand. Once he had overheard a +man telling another man that Calumet Marston had no nerves. He knew +that; had known it. He knew also that this faculty of control made his +passions more dangerous. But he reveled in his passions, the +possession of them filled him with an ironic satisfaction--they were +his heritage. + +While he sat in the chair the blackness of the night enveloped him. He +heard no sound from the other part of the house and he finally decided +to find and confront his father. He stood erect, lit the cigarette and +threw the match from him, accidentally striking his hand against the +back of the chair on which he had been sitting. Yielding to a sudden, +vicious anger, he kicked the chair out of the way, so that it slid +along the rough floor a little distance and overturned with a crash. +Calumet cursed. He was minded to take the chair up and hurl it down +again, so vengeful was the temper he was in, but his second sober sense +urged upon him the futility of attacking inanimate things and he +contented himself with snarling at it. He stood silent for a moment, a +hope in his heart that his father, alarmed over the sudden commotion, +would come to investigate, and a wave of sardonic satisfaction swept +over him when he finally heard a faint sound--a footstep in the +distance. + +His father had heard and was coming! + +Calumet stood near the center of the room, undecided whether to make +his presence known at once or to secrete himself and allow his father +to search for him. He finally decided to stand where he was and let +his father come upon him there, and he stood erect, puffing rapidly at +the cigarette, which glowed like a firefly in the darkness. + +The steps came nearer and Calumet heard a slight creak--the sound made +by the dining-room door as it swung slowly open. A faint light filled +the opening thus made in the doorway, and Calumet knew that his father +had come without a light--that the faint glow came from a distance, +possibly from the kitchen, just beyond the dining-room. The lighted +space in the doorway grew wider until it extended to the full width of +the doorway. And a man stood in it, rigid, erect, motionless. + +Calumet stood in silent appreciation of the oddness of the +situation--he had come like a thief in the night--until he remembered +the cigarette in his mouth; that its light was betraying his position. +He reached up, withdrew the cigarette, and held it concealed in the +palm of his hand. + +But he was the fraction of a second too late. His father had seen the +light; was aware of his presence. Calumet saw a pistol glitter in his +hand, heard his voice, a little hoarse, possibly from fear, give the +faltering command: + +"Hands up!" + +Until now, Calumet had been filled with a savage enjoyment of the +possibilities. He had counted on making his presence known at this +juncture, anticipating much pleasure in the revelation of his father's +surprise when he should discover that the intruder was his hated son. +But in his eagerness to conceal the fire from the cigarette he burned +the palm of the hand holding it. Instantly he succumbed to a furious +rage. With a snarl he flung himself forward, grasping the man's pistol +with his left hand and depressing the muzzle, at just the instant that +it was discharged. + +Calumet felt the sting of the powder in his face, and in a fury of +resentment he brought his right hand up and clutched his father's +throat. He had taken much pride in his ability to control his +passions, but at this moment they were unleashed. When his father +showed resistence, Calumet swung him free of the door, dragged him to +the center of the room, where he threw him heavily to the floor, +falling on top of him and jamming a knee savagely into the pit of his +stomach. Perhaps he had desisted then had not the man struggled and +fought back. His resistence made Calumet more furious. He pulled one +hand free and attempted to secure the pistol, forcing the hand holding +it viciously against the floor. The weapon was again discharged and +Calumet became a raging demon. Twice he lifted the man's head and +knocked it furiously against the floor, and each time he spoke, his +voice a hoarse, throaty whisper: + +"So, this is the way you greet your son, you damned maverick!" he said. + +So engrossed was Calumet with his work of subduing the still struggling +parent that he did not hear a slight sound behind him. But a +flickering light came over his shoulder and shone fairly into the face +of the man beneath him, and he saw that the man was not his father but +an entire stranger! + +He was not given time in which to express his surprise, for he heard a +voice behind him and turned to see a young woman standing in the +doorway, a candle in one hand, a forty-five Colt clutched in the other, +its muzzle gaping at him. The young woman's face was white, her eyes +wide and brilliant, she swayed, but there was determination in her +manner that could not be mistaken. + +"Get up, or I will shoot you like a dog!" she said, in a queer, +breathless voice. + +[Illustration: "Get up, or I will shoot you like a dog!" she said.] + +Releasing his grip on the man's throat, Calumet swung around sideways +and glared malevolently at the young woman. His anger was gone; there +was no reason for it, now that he had discovered that the man was not +his father. But the demon in him was not yet subdued, and he got to +his feet, not because the young woman had ordered him to do so, but +because he saw no reason to stay down. A cold, mocking smile replaced +the malevolence on his face when, after reaching an erect position, he +saw that the weapon in the young woman's hand had drooped until its +muzzle was directed toward the floor at his feet. A forty-five caliber +revolver, loaded, weighs about forty ounces, and this one looked so +unwieldy and cumbersome, so entirely harmless in the young woman's +slender hand, that her threat seemed absurd, even farcical. An +ironical humor over the picture she made standing there moved Calumet. + +"I reckon you ought to use two hands if you want to hold that gun +proper, ma'am," he said. + +The muzzle of the weapon wavered uncertainly; the young woman gasped. +Apparently the lack of fear exhibited by the intruder shocked her. But +she did not follow Calumet's suggestion, she merely stood and watched +him warily, as the man whom he had attacked struggled dizzily to his +feet, staggered weakly to a chair and half fell, half slipped into it, +swaying oddly back and forth, gasping for breath, a grotesque figure. + +The demon in Calumet slumbered--this situation was to his liking. He +stepped back a pace, and when the young woman saw that he meditated no +further mischief she lowered the pistol to her side. Then, moving +cautiously, watching Calumet closely, she placed the candle on the +floor in front of her. Again she stood erect, though she did not raise +the pistol. Evidently she was regaining her composure, though Calumet +observed that her free hand came up and grasped the dress over her +bosom so tightly that the fabric was in danger of ripping. Her face, +in the flickering light from the candle on the floor, was slightly in +in the shadow, but Calumet could see that the color was coming back to +her cheeks, and he took note of her, watching her with insolent +intentness. + +Of the expression in Calumet's eyes she apparently took no notice, but +she was watching the man he had attacked, plainly concerned over his +condition. And when at last she saw that he was suffering more from +shock than from real injury she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she +turned to Calumet. + +"What are you doing here?" she demanded. She was breathing more +easily, but her voice still quivered, and the hand over her bosom moved +with a quick, nervous motion. + +"I reckon that's my business," returned Calumet. He had made a +mistake, certainly, he knew that. It was apparent that his father had +left the Lazy Y. At least, if he were anywhere about he was not able +to come to investigate the commotion caused by the arrival of his son. +Either he was sick or had disposed of the ranch, possibly, if the +latter were the case, to the girl and the man. In the event of his +father having sold the ranch it was plain that Calumet had no business +here. He was an intruder--more, his attack on the man must convince +both him and the girl that there had been a deeper significance to his +visit. However, the explanation of the presence of the present +occupants of the house did not bother Calumet, and he did not intend to +set them right, for he was enjoying himself. Strife, danger, were +here. Moreover, he had brought them, and he was in his element. His +blood pulsed swiftly through his veins and he felt a strange +exhilaration as he stepped slightly aside and rested a hand on the desk +top, leering at the girl. + +She returned his gaze and evidently divined something of what was in +his mind, for her chin lifted a little in defiance. The flickering +light from the candle fell on her hair, brown and wavy, and in a tumble +of graceful disorder, and threw into bold relief the firm lines of her +chin and throat. She was not beautiful, but she certainly merited the +term "pretty," which formed on Calumet's lips as he gazed at her, +though it remained unspoken. He gave her this tribute grudgingly, +conscious of the deep impression she was making upon him. He had never +seen a woman like her--for the reason, perhaps, that he had studiously +avoided the good ones. Mere facial beauty would not have made this +impression on him--it was something deeper, something more substantial +and abiding. And, watching her, he suddenly knew what it was. There +was in her eyes, back of the defiance that was in them now, an +expression that told of sturdy honesty and virtue. These gave to her +features a repose and calm that could not be disturbed, an unconscious +dignity of character that excitement could not efface, and her gaze was +unwavering as her eyes met his in a sharp, brief struggle. Brief, for +Calumet's drooped. He felt the dominant personality of the girl and +tried to escape its effect; looked at her with a snarl, writhing under +her steady gaze, a slow red coming into his cheeks. + +The silence between them lasted long. The man on the chair, swaying +back and forth, began to recover his wits and his breath. He struggled +to an erect position and gazed about him with blood-shot eyes, feeling +his throat where Calumet's iron fingers had gripped it. Twice his lips +moved in an effort to speak, but no, sound came from between them. + +Under the girl's uncomfortable scrutiny, Calumet's thoughts became +strangely incoherent, and he shifted uneasily, for he felt that she was +measuring him, appraising him, valuing him. He saw slow-changing +expressions in her eyes--defiance, scorn, and, finally, amused +contempt. With the last expression he knew she had reached a decision, +not flattering to him. He tried to show her by looking at her that he +did not care what her opinion was, but his recreant eyes refused the +issue and he knew that he was being worsted in a spiritual battle with +the first strong feminine character he had met; that her personality +was overpowering his in the first clash. With a last effort he forced +his eyes to steadiness and succeeded in sneering at her, though he felt +that somehow the sneer was ineffectual, puerile. And then she smiled +at him, deliberately, with a disdain that maddened him and brought a +dark flush to his face that reached to his temples. And then her voice +taunted him: + +"What a big, brave man you are?" + +Twice her gaze roved over him from head to foot before her voice came +again, and in the total stoppage of his thoughts he found it impossible +to choose a word suitable to interrupt her. + +"For you _think_ you are a man, I suppose?" she added, her voice filled +with a lashing scorn. "You wear a gun, you ride a horse, and you +_look_ like a man. But there the likeness ends. I suppose I ought to +kill you--a beast like you has no business living. Fortunately, you +haven't hurt grandpa very much. You may go now--go and tell Tom +Taggart that he will have to try again!" + +The sound of her voice broke the spell which her eyes had woven about +Calumet's senses, and he stood erect, hooking his thumbs in his +cartridge belt, unaffected by her tirade, his voice insolent. + +"Why, ma'am," he said, mockingly, his voice an irritating drawl, "you +cert'nly are some on the talk, for sure! Your folks sorta handed you +the tongue for the family when you butted into this here world, didn't +they? An' so that's your grandpa? I come pretty near hurtin' him an' +you're some het up over it? But I reckon that if he has to set around +an' listen to your palaver he'd be right glad to cash in. Shucks. I +beg your pardon, ma'am. If it'll do you any good to know, I thought +your poor grandpap was some one else. I was thinkin' it was a family +affair, an' that I had a right to guzzle him. You see, I thought the +ol' maverick was my father." + +The girl started, the color slowly faded from her cheeks and she drew a +long, tremulous breath. + +"Then you," she said; "you are----" She hesitated and stared at him +intensely, her free hand tightly clenched. + +He bowed, derisively, discerning the sudden confusion that had +overtaken her and making the most of his opportunity to increase it. + +"I'm Calumet Marston," he said, grinning. + +The girl gasped. "Oh!" she said, weakly; "Oh!" + +The huge pistol slipped out of her hand and thudded dully to the floor +and she stood, holding tightly to the door jambs, her eyes fixed on +Calumet with an expression that he could not analyze. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CALUMET'S GUARDIAN + +A new silence fell; a silence pregnant with a premonition of renewed +strife. Calumet felt it and the evil in him exulted. He left the desk +and stepped close to the girl, deftly picking up the fallen pistol and +placing it on the desk back of him, out of the girl's reach. She +watched him, both hands pressed over her bosom, apparently still +stunned over the revelation of his identity. There was mystery here, +Calumet felt it and was determined to uncover it. He took up the chair +that he had previously overturned and seated himself on it, facing the +girl. + +"Set down," he said, waving a hand toward another chair. In response +to his invitation she moved toward the chair, hesitated when she +reached it, apparently having nearly recovered her composure, though +her face was pale and she watched him covertly, half fearfully. While +she seated herself Calumet got out of his chair and took up the candle, +placing it on the desk beside the pistol. This done, he busied himself +with the rolling of a cigarette, working deliberately, an alert eye on +the girl and her grandfather. + +The latter had recovered and was sitting rigid in the chair, fear and +wonder in his eyes as he watched Calumet. To him Calumet spoke when he +had completed the rolling of the cigarette and was holding a flaring +match to it. He took a tigerish amusement from the old man's plight. + +"I reckon I come pretty near doin' for you, eh?" he said, grinning. +"Well, there ain't no tellin' when a man will make a mistake." His +gaze left the old man and was directed at the girl. "I reckon we'll +clear things up a bit now, ma'am," he said. "What are you an' your +grand-pap doin' at the Lazy Y?" + +"We live here." + +"Where's the old coyote which has been callin' himself my dad?" + +A sudden change came over the girl; a vindictive satisfaction seemed to +radiate from her. So it appeared to Calumet. In the flashing look she +gave him he thought he could detect a knowledge of advantage, a +consciousness of power, over him. Her voice emphasized this impression. + +"Your father's dead," she returned, and watched him narrowly. + +Calumet's eyelashes flickered once. Shock or emotion, this was all the +evidence he gave of it. He puffed long and deeply at his cigarette and +not for an instant did he remove his gaze from the girl's face, for he +was studying her, watching for a recurrence of the subtle gleam that he +had previously caught. But in the look that she now gave him there was +nothing but amusement. Apparently she was enjoying him. Certainly she +had entirely recovered from the shock he had caused her. + +"Dead, eh?" he said. "When did he cash in?" + +"A week ago today." + +Calumet's eyelashes flickered again. Here was the explanation for that +mysterious impulse which had moved him to return home. It was just a +week ago that he had taken the notion and he had acted upon it +immediately. He had heard of mental telepathy, and here was a working +illustration of it. However, he gave no thought to its bearing on his +presence at the Lazy Y beyond skeptically assuring himself that it was +a mere coincidence. In any event, what did it matter? He was here; +that was the main thing. + +His thoughts had become momentarily introspective, and when his mental +faculties returned to a realization of the present he saw that the girl +was regarding him with an intense and wondering gaze. She had been +studying him and when she saw him looking at her she turned her head. +He experienced an unaccountable elation, though he kept his voice dryly +sarcastic. + +"I reckon the ol' fool asked for me?" + +"Yes." + +This time Calumet could not conceal his surprise; it was revealed in +the skeptical, sneering, boring glance that he threw at the girl's +face, now inscrutable. Her manner angered him. + +"I reckon you're a liar," he said, with cold deliberation. + +The girl reddened quickly; her hands clenched. But she did not look at +him. + +"Thank you," she returned, mockingly. + +"What did he say?" he demanded gruffly, to conceal a slight +embarrassment over her manner of receiving the insult. + +Her chin lifted disdainfully. "You wouldn't believe a liar," she said +coldly. + +Again her spirit battled his. The dark flush spread over his face and +he found that he could not meet her eyes; again the sheer, compelling +strength of her personality routed the evilness in his heart. +Involuntarily, his lips moved. + +"I reckon I didn't mean just that," he said. And then, surprised that +such words should come from him he looked up to see the hard calm of +her face change to triumph. + +The expression was swiftly transient. It baffled him, filling him with +an impotent rage. But he watched her narrowly as she folded her hands +in her lap and looked down at them. + +"Your father expected you to come," she said quietly. "He prayed that +you might return before he died. It seems that he felt he had treated +you meanly and he wanted to tell you that he had repented." + +A cynical wonder filled Calumet, and he laughed--a short, raucous +staccato. + +"How do you know?" he questioned. + +"He told me." + +Calumet considered her for a moment in silence and then his attention +was directed to her grandfather, who had got to his feet and was +walking unsteadily toward the dining-room door. He was a +well-preserved man, appearing to be about sixty. That Calumet's attack +had been a vicious one was apparent, for as the man reached the door he +staggered and leaned weakly against the jambs. He made a grimace at +Calumet and smiled weakly at the girl. + +"I'm pretty well knocked out, Betty," he said. "My neck hurts, sorta. +I'll send Bob in to keep you company." + +The girl cast a sharp, eloquent glance at Calumet and smiled with +straight lips. + +"Don't bother to send Bob," she replied; "I am not afraid." + +The grandfather went out, leaving the door open. While the girl stood +listening to his retreating steps, Calumet considered her. She had +said that she was not afraid of him--he believed her; her actions +showed it. He said nothing until after her grandfather had vanished +and his step was no longer heard, and then when she turned to him he +said shortly: + +"So your name's Betty. Betty what?" + +"Clayton." + +"An' your grandpap?" + +"Malcolm Clayton." + +"Who's Bob?" + +"My brother." + +"Any more Claytons around here?" he sneered. + +"No." + +"Well," he said with truculent insolence; "what in Sam Hill are you-all +doin' at the Lazy Y, anyway?" + +"I am coming to that presently," she returned, unruffled. + +"Goin' to work your jaw again, I reckon?" he taunted. + +The hard calm came again into her face as she looked at him, though +behind it was that subtle quality that hinted of her possession of +advantage. Her manner made plain to him that she held some mysterious +power over him, a power which she valued, even enjoyed, and he was +nettled, baffled, and afflicted with a deep rage against her because of +it. Dealing with a man he would have known what to do, but he felt +strangely impotent in the presence of this girl, for she was not +disturbed over his insults, and her quiet, direct glances affected him +with a queer sensation of guilt, even embarrassed him. + +"Well?" he prompted, after a silence. + +"I am going to tell you about your father," she said. + +"Make it short," he said gruffly. + +"Five years ago," said the girl, ignoring the insolent suggestion; "my +father and mother died. My father had been a big cattle owner," she +added with a flash of pride. "He was very wealthy; he was educated, +refined--a gentleman. We lived in Texas--lived well. I attended a +university in the South. In my second year there I was called home +suddenly. My father was ill from shock and disappointment. He had +invested heavily in some northern enterprise--it will not interest you +to know the nature of it--and had lost his entire fortune. His ranch +property was involved and had to be sold. There was barely enough to +satisfy the creditors. Father died and mother soon followed him. +Grandfather, Bob, and I were left destitute. We left the ranch and +took up a quarter section of land on the Nueces. We became nesters and +were continually harassed by a big cattle owner nearby who wanted our +range. We had to get out. Grandfather thought there might be an +opportunity to take up some land in this territory. Bob was--well, Bob +took mother's death so hard that we didn't want to stay in Texas any +longer. The outlook wasn't bright. Bob was too young to work--" + +"Lazy, I reckon," jeered Calumet. + +The girl's eyes flashed with a swift, contemptuous resentment and her +voice chilled. "Bob's leg was hurt," she said. She waited for an +instant, watching the sneer on Calumet's face, and then went on firmly, +as though she had decided not to let anything he said disturb her. "So +when Grandfather proposed coming here I agreed. We took what few +personal effects that were left us. We traveled for two months--" + +"I ain't carin' to hear your family history," interrupted Calumet. +"You started to tell me about my dad." + +"We were following the river trail near here," the girl went on firmly, +scorning to pay any attention to this insult; "when we heard shooting. +I stayed with the wagon while grandfather went to investigate. We +found two men--Tom Taggart and his son Neal--concealed in the +cottonwood, trying to shoot your father, who was in the house. Your +father had been wounded in the shoulder and it would not have been long +before--" + +"Who are the Taggarts?" questioned Calumet, his lips setting strangely. + +"They own a ranch near here--the Arrow. The motive behind their desire +to kill your father makes another story which you shall hear some time +if you have the patience," she said with jeering emphasis. + +"I ain't particular." + +The girl's lips straightened. "Grandfather helped your father drive +the Taggarts away," she went on. "Your father was living here alone +because several of his men had sought to betray him and he had +discharged them all. Your father was wounded very badly and +grandfather and I took care of him until he recovered. He liked us, +wanted us to stay here, and we did." + +"Pretty soft for a pair of poverty-stricken adventurers," commented +Calumet. + +The girl's voice was cold and distinct despite the insult. + +"Your father liked me particularly well. A year ago he drew up a will +giving me all his property and cutting you off without a cent. He gave +me the will to keep for him." + +"Fine!" was Calumet's dryly sarcastic comment. + +"But I destroyed the will," went on the girl. + +Calumet's expression changed to surprised wonder, then to mockery. + +"You're locoed!" he declared. "Why didn't you take the property?" + +"I didn't want it; it was yours." + +Calumet forgot to sneer; his wonder and astonishment over the girl's +ability to resist such a temptation were so great as to shock him to +silence. She and her grandfather were dependants, abroad without means +of support, and yet the girl had refused a legacy which she and her +relative had undoubtedly earned. Such sturdy honesty surprised him, +mystified him, and he was convinced that there must have been some +other motive behind her refusal to become his father's beneficiary. He +watched her closely for a moment and then, thinking he had discovered +the motive, he said in a voice of dry mockery: + +"I reckon you didn't take it because there was nothin' to take." + +"Besides the land and the buildings, he left about twenty thousand +dollars in cash," she informed him quietly. + +"Where is it?" demanded Calumet quickly. + +Betty smiled. "That," she said dryly, "is what I want to talk to you +about." Again the consciousness of advantage shone in her eyes. +Calumet felt that it would be useless to question her and so he leaned +back in his chair and regarded her saturninely. + +"Soon after your father became afflicted with his last sickness," +continued Betty; "he called me to him and took me into his confidence. +He talked to me about you--about the way he had treated you. Both he +and your mother had been, he said, victims of uncontrollable tempers, +and were beset with elemental passions which he was certain had +descended to you. In fact, because of the hatred your mother bore +you--" She hesitated. + +"Well, that too, belongs to the story which you will hear about Taggart +when you have the patience," she continued. "But your father repented; +he saw the injustice he had done you and wanted to repair it. He was +certain, though, that this curse of temper was deep-seated in you and +he wanted to drive it out. He felt that when you finally came home you +would need reforming, and he did not want you to profit by his money +until you forgave him. He had strange notions regarding your +reformation; he declared he would not take your word for it, but would +insist on a practical demonstration. When he had fully explained his +ideas on the subject he made me swear that I would carry them out." +She paused and looked at Calumet and he saw that the expression of +advantage that had been in her eyes all along was no longer a subtle +expression, but plain and unmistakable. + +Calumet watched her intently, silently, his face a battleground for the +emotions that rioted within him. The girl watched him with covert +vigilance and he felt that she was enjoying him. And when finally she +saw the rage die out of his eyes, saw the color come slowly back into +his cheeks and his face become a hard, inscrutable mask, she knew that +the coming struggle between them was to be a bitter one. + +"So," he said, after a while; "I don't get the coin until I become a +Sunday school scholar?" + +"It is specified that you give a practical demonstration of reform in +character. You must show that you forgive your father." + +"You're goin' to be my guardian?" + +"Your judge," corrected the girl. + +"He's got all this in the will?" + +"Yes, the last one he made." + +"You don't reckon I could break that will?" he sneered. + +"Try it," she mocked. "It has been probated in Las Vegas. The judge +happens to be a friend of your father's and, I understand, sympathized +with him." + +"Clever, eh?" said Calumet, grinning crookedly. + +"I am glad you think so," she taunted. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CALUMET PLAYS BETTY'S GAME + +The silence between Betty and Calumet continued so long that it grew +oppressive. The night noises came to their ears through the closed +door; a straggling moonbeam flittered through the branches of a tree in +the wood near the ranchhouse, penetrated the window and threw a +rapier-like shaft on Calumet's sneering face. Betty's eyes in the +flickering glare of the candle light, were steady and unwavering as she +vainly searched for any sign of emotion in the mask-like features of +the man seated before her. She saw the mask break presently, and a +cold, mirthless smile wreathe his lips. + +"You make me sick," he said slowly. "If you'd had any sense you'd have +told the old fool to go to hell! You're goin' to reform me? You're +goin' to be my judge? You--you--you! Why you poor little sufferin' +innocent, what business have you got here at all? What right have you +got to be settin' there tellin' me that you're goin' to be my judge; +that you're goin' to butt into my game at all? Where's the money?" he +demanded, his voice hard and menacing. + +"The money is hidden," she returned quietly. + +"Where?" + +"That is my business," she returned defiantly. "Where it is hidden no +one but me knows. And I am not going to tell until the time comes. +You are not going to scare me, either," she added confidently. "If you +don't care to abide by your father's wishes you are at liberty to +go--anywhere you please." + +"Who'd get the money then?" + +"You have a year in which to show that you forgive your father. If at +the end of that time you have not forgiven him, or if you leave the +ranch without agreeing to the provisions of the will, the entire +property comes to me." + +"I reckon you'd like to have me leave?" he sneered. + +"That," she returned, unruffled, "is my business. But I don't mind +telling you that I have no interest in the matter one way or another. +You may leave if you like, but if you stay you will yield to your +father's wishes if you are to receive the money and the property." + +There was finality in her voice; he felt it and his face darkened with +passion. A sneer replaced the mirthless grin on his lips, and when he +got up and moved slowly toward Betty she sat motionless, for there was +a repressed savagery in his movements that chilled her blood. He came +and stood in front of her, towering over her; she saw that his hands +were clenched, the fingers working. Twice she tried to look up at him, +but each time her gaze stopped at his hands--they fascinated her. She +tried to scream when she finally saw them come out toward her, but +succeeded in emitting only a breathless gasp, for a broad, rough palm +suddenly enclosed each of her cheeks and her head was forced slowly and +resistlessly back until she found herself looking straight up at him. + +"Why, you," he said, his voice vibrating with some strange passion, +while he shook her head slowly from side to side as though he were +resisting an impulse to throttle her; "why, you--you--" he repeated, +his voice a sudden, tense whisper; "for two bits I'd--" + +He hesitated, for she had recovered from her momentary physical and +mental paralysis, roused by the awful threat in his voice and manner, +and was fighting to free herself, clawing at his hands, kicking, +squirming, but ineffectively, for his hands were like bands of steel. +Finding resistance useless she sat rigid again, her eyes flashing +impotent rage and scorn. + +"Coward!" she said breathlessly. + +For an instant longer he held her and then laughed and dropped his +hands to his sides. + +"Shucks," he said, his voice expressing disgust; "I reckon the old man +knowed what he was doin' when he appointed you my guardian! A man +can't fight a woman--like that!" + +He walked to the chair upon which he had been sitting, turned it around +so that its back was toward Betty, and straddled it, leaning his arms +on its back and resting his chin on them. + +"Well," he said, with a slow grin at her; "if it will do you any good +to know, I've decided to stay here and let you practice on me. What's +the first move?" + +But his action had aroused her; she stood up and confronted him, her +face flushed with shame and indignation. + +"Leave this house!" she commanded, taking a step toward him and +speaking rapidly and hoarsely, her voice quivering as though she had +been running; "leave it instantly!" She stamped a foot to emphasize +the order. + +Calumet did not move. He watched her, a smile on his lips, his eyes +narrowed. When she stamped her foot the smile grew to a short, amused +laugh. + +"Sorta riled, eh?" he jeered. "Well, go as far as you like--you're +sure amusin'. But I don't reckon that I'll be leavin' here in a hurry. +Didn't the old man tell you I could stay here a year? What's the use +of me goin' now, just when you're goin' to start to reform me? Why," +he finished, surveying her with interest; "I reckon the old man would +be plumb tickled to see the way you're carryin' on--obeyin' his last +wishes." He rested his head on his arms and laughed heartily. + +He heard her step across the floor, and raised his head again, to look +into the muzzle of the pistol he had laid on the desk. It was close to +him, steady in her hands, and behind it her eyes were blazing with +wrath and determination. + +"Go!" she ordered sharply; "go now--this minute, or I will shoot you!" + +He laughed recklessly into the muzzle of the weapon and then without +visible excitement turned in his chair, reached out a swift hand, +grasped the weapon by the barrel and depressed the menacing muzzle so +that it pointed straight downward. Holding it thus in spite of her +frantic efforts to wrench it free, he got to his feet and stood in +front of her. + +"Why, Betty," he jeered; "you're sure some excited." Seizing her other +hand, he turned her around so that she faced him fairly, holding her +with a grip so tight that she could not move. + +"It's your game, ain't it?" he said mockingly. "Well, I'm playin' it +with you. Somethin' seems to tell me that we're goin' to have a daisy +time makin' a go of it." + +He suddenly released her hands and stepped back, leaving her in +possession of the pistol. + +"Usin' it?" he questioned, drawling, nodding toward the weapon. Betty +looked down at it, shuddered, and then with an expression of dread and +horror reached out and laid it gingerly on the desk top. + +The next instant Calumet stood alone, grinning widely at the door +through which Betty had vanished. Listening, he heard her retreating +steps, heard a distant door slam. He walked to the desk and looked at +the pistol, then turned and surveyed the room with a speculative eye. + +"She didn't even offer me a place to sleep," he said mockingly. + +He stood for an instant longer, debating the situation. Then he +crossed the floor, closed the dining-room door, fastened it securely +and recrossing to the outside door stepped down from the porch and +sought his pony. Ten minutes later he carried the saddle in, threw it +on the floor, folded the saddle blanket and placed it on the sofa, +closed the outside door, opened the window, snuffed out the candle, +stretched himself out on the sofa and went to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIRST LESSON + +Shortly after daybreak the following morning Calumet turned over on his +back, stretched lazily and opened his eyes. When a recollection of the +events of the previous night forced themselves into his consciousness +he scowled and sat erect, listening. From beyond the closed +dining-room door came sundry sounds which told him that the Claytons +were already astir. He heard the rattle of dishes, and the appetizing +aroma of fried bacon filtered through the crevices in the battered door +and assailed his nostrils. + +He scowled again as he rose and stood looking down at his saddle. When +beginning his homeward journey he had supplied himself with soda +biscuit and jerked beef, but he had consumed the last of his food at +noon the day before and the scent of the frying bacon aroused him to +the realization that he was ravenously hungry. As he meditated upon +the situation the scowl on his face changed to an appreciative grin. +Now that he had decided to stay here he did not purpose to go hungry +when there was food around. + +Shouldering his saddle he left the office and proceeded to the stable, +in which he had placed his pony the night before. He fed the animal +from a pitiful supply of grain in a bin, and after slamming the door of +the stable viciously, sneering at it as it resisted, he stalked to the +ranchhouse. + +There was a tin basin on a bench just outside the kitchen door. He +poured it half full of water from a pail that sat on the porch floor, +and washed his hands and face, noting, while engaged in his task, a +clean towel hanging from a roller on the wall of the ranchhouse. While +drying his face he heard voices from within, subdued, anxious. +Completing his ablutions he stepped to the screen door, threw it open +and stood on the threshold. + +In the center of the kitchen stood a table covered with a white cloth +on which were dishes filled with food from which arose promising odors. +Beside a window in the opposite wall of the kitchen stood Malcolm +Clayton. He was facing Calumet, and apparently had recovered from the +encounter of the night before. But when he looked at Calumet he +cringed as though in fear. Betty stood beside the table, facing +Calumet also. But there was no fear in her attitude. She was erect, +her hands resting on her hips, and when Calumet hesitated on the +threshold she looked at him with a scornful half smile. Yielding to +the satanic humor which had received its birth the night before when he +had made his decision to remain at the Lazy Y, he returned Betty's +smile with a derisive grin, walked to the table, pulled out a chair, +and seated himself. + +It was a deliberate and premeditated infringement of the proprieties, +and Calumet anticipated a storm of protest from Betty. But when he +looked brazenly at her he saw her regarding him with a direct, +disdainful gaze. He understood. She was surprised and indignant over +the action, possibly shocked over his cool assumption, but she was not +going to lose her composure. + +"Well," he said, keenly enjoying the situation and determined to +torment her further, "set down. I reckon we'll grub." + +"Thank you," she mocked, with quick sarcasm; "I was wondering whether +you would ask us. Grandpa," she added, turning to Malcolm, "won't you +join us? Mr. Marston has been so polite and thoughtful that we +certainly ought not to refuse his invitation." + +She drew out a chair for Malcolm and stood beside it while he shuffled +forward and hesitatingly slipped into it, watching Calumet furtively. +Then she moved quietly and gracefully to another chair, directly +opposite Calumet. + +Her sarcasm had no perceptible effect on Calumet. Inwardly he was +intensely satisfied. His action in seating himself at the table +without invitation angered Betty, as he had intended it should. + +"Some shocked, eh?" he said, helping himself to some bacon and fried +potatoes, and passing them to her when he had finished with them. + +"Shocked?" she returned calmly, unconcernedly supplying herself with +food from the dishes she had taken from him, "Oh, my, no. You see, +from what your father told me about you, I rather expected you to be a +brute." + +"Aw, Betty," came Malcolm's voice, raised in mild remonstrance; "you +hadn't ought to--" + +"If you please, grandpa," Betty interrupted him, and he subsided and +glanced anxiously at Calumet, into whose face had come a dash of dark +color. He swallowed a mouthful of bacon before he answered Betty. + +"Then you ain't disappointed," he sneered. + +She rested her hands on the table beside her plate, the knife and fork +poised, and regarded him with a frank gaze. + +"No, I am not disappointed. You quite meet my expectations. In fact," +she went on, "I thought you would be much worse than you are. So far, +if we except your attack on grandfather, you haven't exhibited any +vicious traits. You are vain, though, and conceited, and like to bully +people. But those are faults that can be corrected." + +Calumet had to look twice at her before he could be certain that she +was not mocking him. + +"I reckon you're goin' to correct them?" he said, then. + +She took a sip of coffee and placed the cup delicately down before she +answered. + +"Of course--if you are to stay here." + +"How?" His lips were in an incredulous sneer. + +"By showing you that you can't be conceited around me, and that you +can't bully me. I suppose," she went on, leaning her elbows on the +table and supporting her chin with her hands while she looked straight +at him, "that when you came in here and took a seat without being +invited, you imagined you were impressing some one with your +importance. But you were not; you were merely acting the part of a +vulgar boor. Or perhaps you had a vague idea that you were going to do +as you please." + +He placed his knife and fork down and looked at her. Her manner was +irritating; her quiet, direct glances disconcerted him. He could not +fail to see that he had signally failed in his effort to disturb her. +In fact, it became very plain to him as he watched her that she was +serenely conscious of her power over him, as a teacher is conscious of +her authority over an unruly pupil, and that, like a teacher, she was +quietly determined to be the victor. + +The thought angered Calumet. There was in his mind a desire to humble +her, to crush her, to break her spirit, to drag her down to his own +level where he could fight her with his own weapons. He wanted to +humiliate her, wanted to gloat over her, wanted above all to have her +acknowledge his superiority, his authority, over her. Had he been able +to do this at their first meeting he would have been satisfied; if he +were able to do it now he would be pleased. + +"It's none of your business what I thought," he said, leaning over the +table and leering at her. "I'm goin' to run things to suit myself, an' +if you an' your grandpap an' your brother don't like my style you can +pull your freight, pronto. I'm goin' to boss this ranch. Do you get +me?" + +She seemed amused. "The Lazy Y," she said slowly, her eyes gleaming, +"has need of something besides a boss. You have observed, I suppose, +that it is slightly run down. Your father purposely neglected it. +Considerable money and work will be required to place it in condition +where it can be bossed at all. I haven't any doubt," she added, +surveying him critically, "that you will be able to supply the +necessary labor. But what about the money? Are you well supplied with +that?" + +"Meaning to hint about the money the old man left, I reckon?" + +"Of course. Understand that I have control of that, and you won't get +a cent unless in my opinion you deserve it." + +He glared savagely at her. + +"Of course," she went on calmly, though there was triumph in her voice, +"you can force us to leave the ranch. But I suspect that you won't try +to do that, because if you did you would never get the money. I should +go directly over to Las Vegas and petition to have your claim annulled. +Then at the end of the year the money would be mine." + +He stiffened with impotent rage as he took up his knife and fork again +and resumed eating. He was disagreeably conscious that she held the +advantage, for assuredly he had no intention of driving her from the +ranch or of leaving it himself until he got his hands on the money. +Besides, he thought he saw back of her unconcern over his probable +course of action a secret desire for him to leave or to drive her away, +and in the perversity of his heart he decided that both must stay. +Something might occur to reveal the whereabouts of the money, or he +could watch her, reasonably certain that one day her woman's curiosity +would lead her to its hiding place. Plainly, in any event, he must +bide his time. Though his decision to defer action was taken, his +resentment did not abate; he could not conquer the deep rage in his +heart against her because of her interference in his affairs, and when +he suddenly looked up to see her watching him with a calm smile he made +a grimace of hatred at her. + +"I'll make you show your hand, you sufferin' fool!" he said. "If you +was a man I'd make you tell me right now where that corn is, or I'd +guzzle you till your tongue stuck out a yard. As it is, I reckon I've +got to wait until you get damn good an' ready; got to wait until a +measly, sneakin' woman--" + +Her laugh interrupted him--low, disdainful, mocking. + +"I think I know what you are going to say. You are going to tell me +how I wormed my way into the good graces of your father and coaxed him +to make me his beneficiary. It is your intention to be mean, to insult +me, to try to bully me." Her eyes flashed as she leaned a little +toward him. "Understand," she said; "your bluster won't have the +slightest effect on me. I am not afraid of you. So swear and curse to +your heart's content. As for bossing the ranch," she went on, her +voice suddenly one of cold mockery, "what is there to boss? Some +dilapidated buildings! Of course you may boss those, because they +can't object. But you can't boss me, nor grandfather, nor Bob--because +we won't let you!" + +She walked away from the table and went to a door that led to another +room, standing in the opening and looking back at Calumet, who still +sat at the table, speechless with surprise. + +"Go out and begin your bossing!" she jeered. "Very likely the +buildings will begin to dance around at your bidding. With your +admirable persuasive powers you ought to be able to do wonders with +them in the matter of repairs. Try it, at least. But if they refuse +to be repaired at your mere word, and you think something more +substantial is needed, then come to me--perhaps I may help you." + +She bowed mockingly and vanished into the other room, closing the door +behind her, leaving Calumet glaring into his plate. + +For a moment there was a painful silence, which Malcolm broke by +clearing his throat, his gaze on the tablecloth. + +"Sometimes I think Betty's a little fresh," he said, apologetically. +"She's sorta sudden-like. She hadn't ought to--" + +He looked up to see a malevolent scowl on Calumet's face, and he ducked +by the narrowest of margins the heavy plate that flew from Calumet's +hand. The plate struck the wall and was shattered to atoms. Malcolm +crouched, in deadly fear of other missiles, but Calumet did not deign +to notice him further, stalking out of the room and slamming the door +behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"BOB" + +Five minutes after leaving the kitchen of the ranchhouse Calumet stood +beside the rotted rails of the corral fence near the stable, frowning, +fully conscious that he had been worsted in the verbal battle just +ended. He was filled with a disagreeable sense of impotence; he felt +small, mean, cheap, and uncomfortable, and was oppressed with +indecision. In short, he felt that he was not the same man who had +ridden up to the Lazy Y ranchhouse at twilight the night before--in +twelve hours a change had come over him. And Betty had wrought it. He +knew that. + +Had he only to do with Malcolm--or any man, for that matter--there +would have been no doubt of his course. He would have hustled out +Malcolm or any other man long before this, and there would have been an +end to it. But Betty had made it quite plain to him that she did not +purpose to leave, and, since he had had little experience with women, +he was decidedly at a loss to discover a way to deal with her. That he +could not rout her by force was certain, for he could not lay hands on +a woman in violence, and he was by no means certain that he wanted her +to leave, because if she did it was highly probable that he would never +get his hands on the money his father had left. Of course he could +search for the money, but there came to his mind now tales of treasure +that had never been recovered, and he was reluctant to take any +chances. On the other hand, he was facing the maddening prospect of +living for a year under the eyes of a determined young woman who was to +be the sole judge of his conduct. He was to become a probationer and +Betty was to watch his every move. + +He wondered, making a wry face at the thought, whether she intended to +record his actions in a book, giving him marks of merit or demerit +according as the whim struck her? In that case she had probably +already placed a black mark against him, perhaps several. + +He stood long beside the fence, considering the situation. It was odd +to the point of unreality, but, no matter how odd, it was a situation +that he must face, because he had already decided to stay and make an +attempt to get the money. He certainly would not go away and leave it +to Betty; he would not give her that satisfaction. Nor did he intend +to be pliable clay in her hands, to become in the end a creature of her +shaping. He would stay, but he would be himself, and he would make the +Claytons rue the day they had interfered in his affairs. + +Leaning on the top rail of the fence, his gaze roved over the sweep of +valley, dull and cheerless in the early dawn, with a misty film rising +up out of it to meet and mingle and evaporate in the far-flung colors +of the slow-rising sun. Once his gaze concentrated on a spot in the +distance. He detected movement, and watched, motionless, until he was +certain. Half a mile it was to the spot--a low hill, crested with +yucca, sagebrush, and octilla--and he saw the desert weeds move, +observed a dark form slink out from them and stand for an instant on +the skyline. Wolf or coyote, it was too far for him to be certain, but +he watched it with a sneer until it slunk down into the tangle of sage, +out of his sight. + +He presently forgot the slinking figure; his thoughts returned to +Betty. He did not like her, she irritated him. For a woman she was +too assertive, too belligerent by half. Though considering her now, he +was reluctantly compelled to admit that she was a forceful figure, and, +reviewing the conversation he had had with her a few minutes before, +the picture she had made standing in the doorway defying him, mocking +him, rebuking him, he could not repress a thrill of grudging admiration. + +For half an hour he stood at the corral fence. He rolled and smoked +three cigarettes, his thoughts wrapped in memories of the past and +revolving the problem of his future. Once Betty stood in the kitchen +door for fully a minute, watching him speculatively, and twice old +Malcolm passed him on the way to do some chore, eyeing him curiously. +Calumet did not see either of them. + +Nor did he observe that the slinking form which he had observed moving +among the weeds on the distant hill in the valley had approached to +within twenty yards of him, was crouching in a corner of the corral +fence, watching him with blazing, blood-shot eyes, its dull gray hair +bristling, its white fangs bared in a snarl. + +It had been a long stalk, and the beast's jaws were slavering from +exertion. It watched, crouching and panting, for a favorable moment to +make the attack which it meditated. + +It had seen Calumet from the hill and had dropped down to the level, +keeping out of sight behind the sagebrush and the clumps of mesquite, +crossing the open places on its belly, stealing upon him silently and +cunningly. So cautious had been its approach that old Malcolm had not +seen it when fifteen minutes before he had passed Calumet and had +paused for a look at him. The beast had been in a far corner of the +fence then, and had slunk close to the ground until Malcolm had passed. +Nor had Malcolm seen it just a moment before when he had crossed the +ranchhouse yard behind Calumet to go to the bunkhouse, where he was +now. The instant Malcolm had disappeared within the bunkhouse, the +beast had stolen to its present position. + +The attack was swift and silent. Calumet was puffing abstractedly at a +cigarette when he became aware of a rush of air as the gray shape +flashed up from the ground. Calumet dodged involuntarily, throwing up +an arm to fend off the shape, which catapulted past him, shoulder-high. +The beast had aimed for his throat; his long fangs met the upthrust arm +and sank into it, crunching it to the bone. + +The force of the attack threw Calumet against the corral fence. The +beast struck the ground beyond him noiselessly, its legs asprawl, its +hair bristling from rage. Ten feet beyond Calumet the force of its +attack carried it, and it whirled swiftly, to leap again. + +But Calumet was not to be surprised the second time. Standing at the +fence, his eyes ablaze with hatred and pain, he crouched. As the beast +leaped Calumet's hand moved at his hip, his heavy six-shooter crashed +spitefully, its roar reverberating among the buildings and startling +the two gaunt horses in the corral to movement. The gray beast +snarled, crumpled midway in its leap, and dropped at Calumet's feet. A +dark patch on its chest just below the throat showed where the bullet +had gone. But apparently the bullet had missed a vital spot, for the +beast struggled to its feet, dragging itself toward Calumet, its fangs +slashing impotently. + +Calumet stepped back a pace, his face malignant with rage and hate, his +eyes gleaming vengefully. He heard a scream from somewhere--a shrill +protest in a voice which he did not recognize, but he paid no attention +to it until he had deliberately emptied his six-shooter into the beast, +putting the bullets where they would do the most good. When the weapon +was emptied and the beast lay prone in the dust at his feet, its great +jaws agape and dripping with blood-flecked foam, Calumet turned and +looked up. + +He saw Malcolm Clayton come out of the bunkhouse door, and noticed +Betty running toward him from the ranchhouse. Betty's sleeves were +rolled to the elbows, her apron fluttering the wind, and the thought +struck Calumet that she must have been washing dishes when interrupted +by the shooting. But it was not she who had screamed--he would have +recognized her voice. Then he saw a huddled figure leaning against the +corner of the stable nearest the ranchhouse; the figure of a boy of +twelve or thirteen. He had a withered, mis-shapen leg--the right one; +and under his right arm, partly supporting him, was a crude crutch. +The boy was facing Calumet, and at the instant the latter saw him he +looked up, his pale, thin face drawn and set, his eyes filled with an +expression of reproach and horror. + +He was not over fifteen feet distant from Calumet, and the latter +watched him with a growing curiosity until Betty ran to him and folded +him into her arms. Then Calumet began to reload his six-shooter, +ignoring Malcolm, who had come close to him and was standing beside the +corral fence, breathing heavily and trembling from excitement. + +"It's Lonesome!" gasped Malcolm, his lips quivering as he looked at the +beast; "Bob's Lonesome!" + +Calumet flashed around at him, cursing savagely. + +"What you gettin' at, you damned old gopher?" he sneered. + +"It's Lonesome!" repeated Malcolm, his weather-lined face red with +resentment and anger. He showed no fear of Calumet now, but came close +to him and stood rigid, his hands clenched. "It's Lonesome!" he +repeated shrilly; "Bob's Lonesome!" And then, seeing from the +expression of Calumet's face that he did not comprehend, he added: +"It's Bob's dog, Lonesome! Bob loved him so, an' now you've gone an' +killed him--you--you hellhound! You--" + +His quavering voice was cut short; once more his throat felt the +terrible pressure of Calumet's iron fingers. For an instant he was +held at arm's length, shaken savagely, and in the next he was flung +with furious force against the corral fence, from whence he staggered +and fell into a corner. + +Calumet turned from him to confront Betty. Her eyes were ablaze, and +one hand rested with unconscious affection on Bob's head as the boy +stood looking down at the body of the dog, sobbing quietly. Betty was +trying to keep her composure, but at her first words her voice trembled. + +"So you've killed Lonesome," she said. Calumet had finished reloading +his pistol, and he folded his arms over his chest, deliberately +shielding the left, which Lonesome had bitten, thus hiding the red +patches that showed on the shirt sleeve over the wound. He would not +give Betty the satisfaction of seeing that he had been hurt. + +"Lonesome," explained Betty, frigidly, "was a dog--he was Bob's dog. +Bob loved him. I suppose you didn't know that--you couldn't have +known. We believed him to be part wolf. Bob found him on the Lazette +trail, where he had evidently been left behind, probably forgotten, by +some traveler who had camped there. Bob brought him home and raised +him. He has never been known to exhibit any vicious traits. You were +born in the West," she went on, "and ought to be able to tell the +difference between a dog and a wolf. Did you take Lonesome for a wolf?" + +"I reckon," sneered Calumet, determined not to be lectured by her, +"that I've got to give a reason for everything I do around here. Even +to killin' a damn dog!" + +"Then," she said with cold contempt, "you killed him in pure +wantonness?" + +It was plain to Calumet that she was badly hurt over the dog's death. +Certainly, despite her cold composure, she must be filled with rage +against him for killing the animal. He might now have exhibited his +arm, to confound her with the evidence of his innocence of wantonness, +and very probably she would have been instantly remorseful. But he had +no such intention; he was keenly alive to his opportunity to show her +that he was answerable to no one for his conduct. He enjoyed her +chagrin; he was moved to internal mirth over her impotent wrath; he +took a savage delight in seeing her cringe from the evidence of his +apparent brutality. He grinned at her. + +"He's dead, ain't he?" he said. "An' I ain't makin' no excuses to you!" + +She gave him a scornful glance and went over to Malcolm, who had +clambered to his feet and was crouching, his face working with passion. +At the instant Betty reached him he was clawing at his six-shooter, +trying to drag it from the holster. But Betty's hand closed over his +and he desisted. + +"Not that, grandpa," she said quietly. "Shooting won't bring Lonesome +back. Besides"--she turned toward Calumet and saw the cold grin on his +face as his right hand dropped to his hip in silent preparation for +Malcolm's menacing movement--"don't you see that he would shoot you as +he shot Lonesome? He just can't help being a brute!" + +She turned her back to Calumet and spoke in a low voice to her +grandfather, smoothing his hair, patting his shoulders--calming him +with all a woman's gentle artifices. And Calumet stood watching her, +marveling at her self-control, feeling again that queer, thrilling +sensation of reluctant admiration. + +He had forgotten Bob. Betty had left the boy standing alone when she +had gone over to Malcolm, and Bob had hobbled forward when Calumet had +turned to follow the girl's movements, so that now he stood just behind +Calumet. The latter became aware of the boy's presence when the latter +seized his left hand from behind, and he turned with a snarl, his +six-shooter half drawn, to confront the boy, whose grip on the hand had +not been loosened. Calumet drew the hand fiercely away, overturning +Bob so that he fell sprawling into the dust at his feet. The youngster +was up again before Betty and Malcolm could reach him, hobbling toward +Calumet, his thin face working from excitement, his big eyes alight +over the discovery he had made. + +"He didn't kill Lonesome because he is mean, Betty!" he shrilled; "I +knew he didn't! Look at his arm, Betty! It's all bloody! Lonesome +bit him!" + +In spite of Calumet's efforts to avoid him, the boy again seized the +arm, holding it out so that Betty and Malcolm could see the patches on +the sleeve and the thin red streak that had crawled down over the back +of his hand and was dripping from the finger tips. + +Malcolm halted in his advance on Calumet and stealthily sheathed his +weapon. Betty, too, had stopped, a sudden wave of color overspreading +her face, the picture of embarrassment and astonishment. + +"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked accusingly; "it would have saved--" + +"Saved you from makin' a fool of yourself," interrupted Calumet. "You +certainly did prove that I'm a mighty mean man," he added, mockingly. +"I didn't tell you because it's none of your business. It's only a +scratch, but I ain't lettin' no damned animal chaw me up an' get away +with it." He drew the hand away from the boy and placed it behind him +so that Betty could not look at it, which she had been doing until now, +with wide, frightened eyes. She came forward when he placed the hand +behind him, and stood close to him, determination in her manner. + +"I want to see how badly you have been bitten," she said. + +"Go finish washin' your dishes," he advised, with a sneer. "That's +where you belong. Until you an' your bunch butted in with your palaver +I was enjoyin' myself. You drive me plumb weary." + +Betty faced him resolutely, though now there was contrition in her +manner, in her voice. She spoke firmly. + +"I am sorry for what I said to you before--about Lonesome. I thought +you had killed him just to be mean, to hurt me. I will try to make +amends. If you will come into the house I will dress your arm--it must +be badly injured." + +Calumet's lips curled, then straightened, and he looked down at her +with steady hostility. + +"I ain't got no truck with you at all," he said. "When I'm figgerin' +on lettin' you paw over me I'll let you know." He turned shortly and +walked over to the door of the stable, where he fumbled at the +fastenings, presently swinging the door open and vanishing inside. +Five minutes later, when he came out with the pony saddled and bridled, +he found that Betty and Malcolm had gone. But Bob stood over the dead +body of Lonesome, silently weeping. + +For a moment, standing beside his pony, Calumet watched the boy, and as +he stood a queer pallor overspread his face and his lips tightened +oddly. For something in the boy's appearance, in the idea of his +exhibition of grief over his dog, which Malcolm had said he loved, +smote Calumet's heart. As he continued to watch, his set lips moved +strangely, and his eyes glittered with a light that they had not yet +known. Twice he started toward the boy, and twice he changed his mind +and returned to his pony to continue his vigil. The boy was unaware of +his presence. + +The third time Calumet reached his side, and the big rough palm of his +right hand was laid gently on the boy's head. + +"I reckon I'm sorry, you damned little cuss," he said huskily as the +youngster looked up into his face. "If I'd have knowed that he was +your dog I'd have let him chaw my arm off before I'd have shot him." + +The boy's eyes glowed with gratitude. Then they sought the body of +Lonesome. When he looked up again Calumet was on his pony, riding +slowly past the bunkhouse. The boy watched him until he rode far out +into the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A PAGE FROM THE PAST + +Darkness had fallen when Calumet returned to the Lazy Y. He had passed +the day riding over the familiar ranges, returning to almost forgotten +spots, reviving the life of his youth and finding the memories irksome. +He was in no pleasant frame of mind when he rode in, and he disdained +the use of the corral or the stable, staking his horse out in the +pasture, remembering the scant supply of grain in the bin in the +stable, and telling himself that "them two skates"--referring to the +horses he had seen in the corral--"need it worse than Blackleg," his +own pony. + +After staking Blackleg out, he took the saddle and bridle from the +animal and stalked toward the ranchhouse. A light burned on the +kitchen table. He saw it from a distance and resisted an impulse to +enter the house from the kitchen, walking, instead, around to the +front, where he found the door to the office unbarred. He threw the +saddle into a corner, lighted the candle that still stood on the desk +where he had placed it the night before, and stood for a long time in +its glare, examining the ragged gashes on his arm. Twice during the +day he had washed the wounds with water secured from the river, binding +the arm with a handkerchief; but he noted with a scowl that the arm was +swollen and the wound inflamed. He finally rewound the bandage, tieing +the ends securely. Then he stood erect beside the desk, listening and +undecided. + +No sound reached his ears. The Claytons, he assured himself, must have +retired. + +He walked over to the sofa and sat upon it, frowning. He was hungry, +having been without food since morning, and he found himself wondering +if he might not find food in the kitchen. Obeying an impulse, he got +up from the sofa and went to the door through which Betty had entered +the night before, noting that it was still barred as he had left it +that morning. He carefully removed the fastenings and swung the door +open, intending to go into the kitchen. He halted on the threshold, +however, for beside a table in the dining room, in the feeble glare of +a light that stood at her elbow, sat Betty, reading a book. + +She looked up as the door opened, betraying no surprise, smiling +mildly, and speaking as she might have spoken had she been addressing a +friend. + +"Won't you come in?" + +She placed the book down, sticking a piece of paper between the leaves +to mark her place, and stood up. + +"I have been waiting for you. I heard you come in. I expected you for +supper, and when you didn't come I saved yours. If you will come out +into the kitchen I will get it for you." + +Calumet did not move. Had Betty shown the slightest dismay or +perturbation at sight of him he would not have hesitated an instant in +walking past her to get the food which she had said was in the kitchen. +But her easy unconcern, her cool assumption of proprietorship, aroused +in him that obstinacy which the revelation of her power over him had +brought into being. He did not purpose to allow her to lead him to +anything. + +"I don't reckon I'll grub," he said. + +"Then of course you have been to Lazette," she returned. "You had +dinner there." + +"Look here," he said truculently; "does it make any difference to you +where I've been or what I've done?" + +"Perhaps it really doesn't make any difference," she answered calmly; +"but of course I am interested. I don't want you to starve." + +His face expressed disgust. "Holy smoke!" he said; "I reckon I ain't +man enough to take care of myself!" + +"I don't think that is the question. Can't we get at it in the proper +spirit? You belong here; you have a right to be here. And I am here +because your father wanted me to stay. I want you to feel that you are +at home, and I don't want to be continually quarreling with you. Be +mean and stubborn if you want to--I suppose you can't help that. But +so long as conditions are as they are, let us try to make the best of +them. Even if you don't like me, even if you resent my presence here, +you can at least act more like a human being and less like a wild man. +Why," she continued, with a dry laugh, "just now you spoke of being a +man, and this morning after you killed Lonesome you acted like a big, +over-grown boy. You had your arm hurt and refused to allow me to dress +it. Did you think I wanted to poison you?" + +"What I thought this morning is my business," returned Calumet gruffly. +Betty's voice had been quietly conversational, but it had carried a +subtle sting with its direct mockery, and Calumet felt again as he had +felt the night before, like an unruly scholar being rebuked by his +teacher. Last night, though, the situation had been a novel one; now +the thought that she was laughing at him, taunting him, filled him with +rage. + +"Mebbe you'll be interested in knowin' what I think right now," he +said. "It's this: you've got a bad case of swelled head. You're one +of them kind of female critters which want to run things their own way. +You're--" + +Her laugh interrupted him. "We won't argue that again, if you please. +If you remember, you had something to say on that subject last night, +and I want you to know that I haven't the slightest desire to hear your +opinion of me. Won't you sit down?" She invited again, motioning to a +chair beside the table, opposite hers. "If you absolutely refuse to +eat, I presume there is no help for it, though even if you had dinner +in Lazette you must be hungry now, for a ride of twenty miles is a +strict guarantee of appetite. Please sit down. There is something I +want to give you, something your father left for you. He told me to +have you read it as soon as you came." + +She stood motionless until Calumet left the door and seated himself in +the chair beside the table, and then she went out of the room; he could +hear her steps on the stairs. She returned quickly and laid a bulky +envelope on the table beside him. + +"Here it is," she said. + +As Calumet took up the envelope and tore it open she dropped into the +other chair, took up her book, opened it, and settled herself to read. +Calumet watched her covertly for a moment, and then gave his attention +to the contents of the envelope. + +There were a number of sheets of paper on which Calumet recognized his +father's handwriting. + + +"MY SON:--Feeling that I am about to die, it is my desire to do what I +can toward setting things right between us. Betty Clayton will tell +you that I have repented of my treatment of you, but she cannot tell +you how deep is the realization of the injury I have done you through +my inhuman attitude toward you. I fear that I have ruined your +character and that it may be too late to save you from those passions +which, if not checked, will spoil your life. + +"I know that children sometimes inherit the evil that has abided with +their parents, and I am certain that you have inherited mine, because +while you stayed at home I saw many evidences of it, aye, I used to +delight in its manifestation. Toward the end of your stay at home I +grew to hate you. But it was because of that woman. If ever there was +an evil spirit in the guise of a human being, it was she. She--well, +you will learn more of her later. + +"I am going to try at this late day to repair the damage I did you. I +have come to the conclusion that the surest way to do this is to force +you to give me in death that respect and veneration which you refused +me while I lived. You see that, in spite of my boasted repentance, I +still have left a spark of satanic irony, and I do not expect you to +believe me when I tell you that I have planned this for your own good. +But it seems to me that if you can exhibit respect for the one who is +directly responsible for your cursed passions you will be able to +govern them on all occasions. That is my conviction, and if you do not +agree with me there is no hope for you. + +"Betty Clayton will tell you the conditions, and she will be your +judge. I believe in Betty, and if you do not see that she is a +true-blue girl you are more of a fool than I think you are." + + +At this point Calumet glanced sidelong at Betty, but she seemed +engrossed in her book, and he resumed reading. + + +"That is all I have to say on that subject. You will have to look to +Betty for additions. By this time, if she has carried out my wishes, +she has told you what you may expect. I have told her the story which +I am going to tell you, and I am certain that when you have finished it +you will see that I am not entirely to blame. You will see, too, what +havoc Tom Taggart has wrought in my life; why he has tried many times +to kill me. Calumet, beware of the Taggarts! For the last five years +they have been a constant menace to me; I have been forced to be on my +guard against them day and night. They have hounded me, induced my men +to betray me. In five years I have not slept soundly because of them. +But I have foiled them. I am dying now, and that which they seek will +be hidden until you fulfill the conditions which I impose on you. I +know you are coming home--I can feel it--and I know that when you read +what is to follow you will be eager to square my account with Tom +Taggart. + +"Before going any further, before you read my story, I want you to know +that the cursed virago whom you saw buried in the cottonwood was not +your real mother. Your mother died giving you birth, and her body lies +in a quiet spot beside the Rio Pecos, at Twin Pine crossing, about ten +miles north of the Texas border. God rest her." + + +Again Calumet glanced at Betty. She was reading, apparently +unconscious of him, and without disturbing her Calumet laid down the +finished page and took up another. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE TOLTEC IDOL + +"I was twenty-five when your mother died," this page began. "I had a +little ranch in the Pecos valley near Twin Pine crossing, and I had +just begun to taste prosperity. After your mother died things began to +go wrong. It didn't take me long to conclude that she had been +responsible for what success I had had, and that without her I couldn't +hope to keep things together. I didn't try very hard; I'll admit that. +I just gradually let go all holds and began to slip--began to drift +back into the sort of company I'd kept before I met your mother. They +were not bad fellows, you understand--just the rakehelly, reckless sort +that keep hanging on to the edge of things and making a living by their +wits. I'd come West without any definite idea of what I wanted to do, +and I fell in with these men naturally and easily, because they were of +my type. + +"I had three intimates among them--a tall, clean-limbed fellow with the +bluest and steadiest eyes I ever saw in a man, who called himself +'Nebraska'; a rangy Texan named Quint Taylor, who maintained that +manual labor was a curse and quoted the Scriptures to prove it; and Tom +Taggart. Tom and I were thick. I liked him, and he'd done things for +me that seemed to prove that he thought a lot of me. He didn't like it +a little bit when I married your mother--her name was Mary Lannon, and +I'd got acquainted with her while riding for a few months for her +father, who owned a ranch near Eagle Pass, close to the Rio Grande. +She was white, boy, and so were her folks, and you can be proud of her. +And if she had lived you could be proud of me--she'd have kept on +making me a man. + +"Taggart didn't like the idea of me getting hooked up. He didn't want +to break up the old associations. He and the others hung around for a +year, waiting for something to turn up, and when your mother died it +wasn't long before I was back with them. I left you in care of Jane +Connor--her husband, Dave, owned the Diamond Dot ranch, which adjoined +mine. + +"During the year the boys had been knocking around without me they'd +fallen in with an Indian from Yucatan, from the tribe called the +Toltecs. This Indian called himself Queza--he'd been exiled because he +was too lazy to work. The boys got him drunk one night, and he blabbed +everything he knew about his tribe--how rich it was; how they'd +discovered a diamond mine, and that gold was so common that they used +it to make household ornaments. His story got the boys excited and +they pumped him dry. They found out where his tribe lived, how to get +there, and all that. + +"Queza told them that the diamonds wouldn't be hard to get, that there +were altar idols and ornaments in a big cave which was hollowed out of +the face of a rock cliff, and that there was a bridge over to it, and +that the cave wasn't guarded because the tribe had a superstitious fear +of the priests who had charge of the idols and things, and that the +people didn't care for gold and diamonds, anyway, because they were so +common. + +"The boys had got all this out of Queza about a month before I sold out +and joined them, and they'd rustled some money somewhere, and had +everything fixed up to go to Yucatan to bring home some of that gold +and diamonds. They wanted me to go along. I was in that frame of mind +in which I didn't care much about what happened to me, and they didn't +have to argue long. We dropped down the Rio Grande to a little place +on the Gulf coast near where Brownsville is now. We bought a little +boat from a fisherman--she wasn't more than thirty feet long and didn't +look like she could stand much weather; but Nebraska, who'd told us +that he'd done a little sailing on the California coast when he was a +lot younger than he was then, said she'd stand anything we was likely +to get in the Gulf. So we stocked her with provisions and water to +last a month or so, and Nebraska pointed her nose toward Yucatan. + +"I didn't think then what a rank job it was that we were going to do, +but it won't do me any harm in your eyes to say that after we'd got +started and I began to realize what it all meant, I was ashamed. I +felt like a sneak and a coward all through the deal, but I couldn't +back out after I'd started, and so I went through with it. + +"We run into a spell of bad weather and had to hug the coast mighty +close, and it was two weeks before we pulled into Campeche Bay, on the +northwest coast of Yucatan. We worked the boat about half a mile up a +little creek four or five miles south of Campeche, and worked half a +day hiding her, so that she'd be there when we got back. Then, taking +what grub was left, we struck out for the interior. It won't be any +use telling you about that journey--you couldn't imagine, and I +couldn't begin to tell you, what a miserable, slow, tortuous affair it +was. It gets hot in New Mexico, but we got a taste of hell in that +Yucatan jungle. That country wasn't built for a white man. + +"So I'm not going to try to tell you about the trip. We were tough and +eager, and we stuck it out, traveling mostly by night, setting our +course by the stars, about which I knew something. But we were a week +going a hundred miles, and we were beginning to get into that frame of +mind where we were noticing one another's faults and getting not a bit +backward in talking about them, when one night at dusk we got a glimpse +of the place we were looking for. + +"Queza had called the place a town, and maybe that name fits it as well +as another. It made me dizzy to look at it. We'd been climbing the +slope of a mountain all afternoon--traveling in the daytime now, +because we were getting near the end of our journey--Nebraska in the +lead, the rest trailing him. We saw Nebraska stop and duck back into +some brush. Then we all sneaked up to him and got our first look at +the town. + +"It looked to me as though the place had been made to hide in. The +mountain dropped away below us, straight down about a hundred feet, a +smooth rock wall. Another wall of rock joined it on the right, making +a big L. There was a level that began at the two walls and extended +both ways for probably half a mile, until it met the slope of the other +side of the mountain. It was nothing but two shoulders, joined, on the +top of the mountain. + +"Just below us there was a break in the level--a wide gash about fifty +feet across, so deep that we couldn't see the bottom. There was a +ledge on our side about three or four feet wide, and a bridge stretched +from it across the canyon. We decided that the bridge was the one +Queza had told the boys about--it led to the cave where the treasure +was kept. We laid there for an hour, watching. The buildings were all +huddled together--a lot of flat, brown adobe houses. We could see the +natives moving down among them, but none of us noticed anything unusual +going on until Taggart calls our attention. + +"'Did you notice?' he said. + +"'Notice what?' we all answered. + +"'That they're all women down there--I ain't seen a man!' + +"That was a fact. There didn't seem to be a man anywhere about. We +talked it over and concluded that we'd got there at a most advantageous +time. We decided that the men were away, on a hunt, most probably, and +after we'd watched a while longer we decided that we'd sneak down some +way and go after the treasure about midnight. We figured they'd all be +sleeping about that time. After dark they lit fires and sat around +them. + +"We watched until about eleven--until we saw that nearly all the fires +had gone out--and then we sneaked down the slope of the mountain. We +didn't make any noise; we were silent and slippery as ghosts as we made +our way through the timber on the slope. It was slow work, though; the +woods were full of tangled vines and prickly bushes, and we got clawed +up considerable and had all we could do to keep from cussing out loud +when a thorn or something would rip a cheek open. It was blacker than +any night I've ever seen before or since; we couldn't see a foot ahead, +and the sounds we heard in the woods didn't make us feel any too +comfortable, for all we'd got used to living in the open. We knew, of +course, that the sounds came from birds and bats and moths and such, +but when a man is out on a job like that his nerves are not what they +are at other times--every sound seems unusual and magnified. I didn't +like so much silence from the village down below us--it seemed too +quiet; and it appeared to me that the noises we heard in the woods were +most too continuous to be caused by only us four. We went in single +file, one man almost touching the other, to be sure we'd all stay +together. I'd hear a bird go whizzing away at a distance, and it +appeared to me that there was no call for it to light out with us two +or three hundred feet away from it; and then there were queer noises +which I couldn't just place as coming from birds. I don't know why I +noticed these things, but I did, just the same, though I didn't say +anything to the other boys, because they'd probably thought I was +losing my nerve. And, besides, there wasn't time to talk. + +"It took us more than an hour to reach the level where the village was, +and it was long after midnight when we, keeping in the shadow of the +cliff, started toward the bridge over the canyon, which led to the cave +where we thought we'd find the treasure. + +"We'd got pretty near the bridge, Taggart and me in the lead, Nebraska +and Taylor stringing along behind, when I heard a sudden scuffling and +looked around. It wasn't so dark on the level as it had been in the +woods, and I saw a dozen dark figures grouped around Nebraska and +Taylor. The dark figures were all about us, and more were coming from +the huts, all yelling like devils. And they were men, too; they'd been +hiding in the huts; they'd discovered us the day before and suspected +what we came for. I found that out later. + +"Well, for a few minutes there was plenty of excitement. Taylor and +Nebraska had got pretty well behind us, and the Toltecs had cut them +off. Taggart showed yellow. I started back to help Nebraska and +Taylor, who had their knives out--I could see them shining--when +Taggart grabbed me. + +"'Let's run for the bridge, you fool!' he said. 'It's every man for +himself now!' + +"While I was scuffling with Taggart, trying to get away from him and +get back to the boys, a figure detached itself from the bunch around +them and came flying toward us. It was a woman, I could see that in an +instant. Taggart saw her coming, too; he must have known it was a +woman, but he pulled out his knife, and when she came close enough to +us he drove at her with it. He missed her because I shoved him away. +He fell, and, while he was on the ground, the woman--or girl, because +she wasn't more than eighteen or nineteen--grabbed me by the arm and +jabbered to me in Spanish, of which I'd learned a little. + +"'They're going to kill all of you!' she said. 'They've been watching +you for two days. They left me to watch you yesterday. I don't want +them to kill you--I like you! Come!' + +"She pulled at me, trying to drag me toward the bridge. I didn't have +any objections to her liking me as much as she pleased, for she was a +beauty--I found that out afterward, of course; but though I couldn't +see her face very well just them, I liked her voice and knew she must +be good to look at. But I didn't like the idea of leaving the other +boys, and told her so. + +"'You'll all be killed, anyway,' she said, all excited. 'They might as +well die now as later. They'll kill you, too, if you go back!' + +"That was logic, all right, but I'd have gone back anyway if I hadn't +heard Nebraska and Taylor working their guns just then. The Toltecs +broke and scattered--some of them. Three or four of them couldn't +after the boys began to shoot. Soon as the Toltecs broke away a +little, Nebraska and Taylor made for where we stood. I saw them coming +and told the girl to lead us. The three of us--the girl, Taggart, and +me--got to the bridge, which was a light, flimsy, narrow affair made of +two long, straight saplings lashed together with vines, with a couple +of strips of bark for a bottom--and crossed it. Then we stood on the +ledge in front of the mouth of the cave, watching Nebraska and Taylor. +They were coming for all they were worth, shooting as they ran and +keeping the bunch of Toltecs at a respectable distance, though the +Toltecs were running parallel with them, trying to bring them down with +arrows. + +"Nebraska and Taylor made the bridge. They had got about half way over +when a dozen or so of the Toltecs threw themselves at the end of the +bridge which rested on the village side of the canyon, grabbed hold of +it, and pulled it off the ledge on our side. I yelled to the boys and +jumped for the end of the bridge. But I was too late. The bridge +balanced for an instant, and then the end on which the boys were +standing started to sink. Nebraska saw what was coming, off and jumped +for the ledge on which we were standing. He missed it by five feet. +There wasn't a sound from his lips as he shot down into the awful +blackness of the canyon. I got sick and dizzy, but not so sick that I +couldn't see what was happening to Taylor. Taylor didn't jump for the +ledge. He turned like a cat and grabbed a rail of the bridge, trying +to climb back to the level. He'd have made it, too, but the Toltecs +wouldn't let him. They jabbed at him with their spears and arrows and +threw knives at him. One of the knives struck him in the shoulder, and +when I heard him scream I pulled my guns and began to shoot across the +canyon. I hadn't thought of it before; there are times when a man's +brain refuses to work like he'd like to have it. But the Toltecs +didn't mind the shooting a little bit. + +"Three or four of them got hit and backed away from the edge of the +canyon, but there were enough others to do what they were trying to do, +and they did it. I stood there, helpless, and saw them shove Taylor +off the bridge with their spears. When he finally let go and went +turning over and over down into the black hole, my whole insides fanned +up into my throat. That sensation has never left me; I wake up nights +seeing Taylor as he let go of the bridge, watching him sink, tumbling +over and over into that black gash, and I get sick and dizzy just as I +did that night. + +"But just then I didn't have much of a chance to be sick long. While I +was standing there wondering what to do I saw a Toltec priest come out +of the cave. He had a spear in his hand and was sneaking up on +Taggart--who stood there almost fainting from fright. There was murder +in the priest's eyes; I saw it and bent my gun on him. The trigger +snapped on dead cartridges, and I yanked out my knife. I'd have been +too late, at that. But the girl saw the priest, and she dodged behind +him and gave him a shove. He pitched out and went head first down into +the canyon. + +"The Toltecs on the other side were watching, and they saw the priest +go. Until now they hadn't shot at us, probably afraid of hitting the +girl, but when they saw her push the priest over the edge of the canyon +they saw that her sympathies were with us, and they let drive at us +with their arrows. We were all slightly wounded--not enough to +mention--and we got back into the cave where their arrows couldn't +reach us. Three or four times the Toltecs tried to swing the bridge +back into position, but they couldn't make it because there was no one +on our side to help them, and Taggart and me made things mighty +unpleasant for them with our sixes. They finally went away and held a +council of war, which seemed to leave them undecided. They evidently +hadn't figured on the girl turning traitor. If she hadn't they'd have +got me and Taggart in short order. + +"We'd got where the treasure was, all right, but it was a mighty bad +outlook for us. We were kind of anxious about the bridge, being afraid +the Toltecs would get it back into place; but the girl, who called +herself Ezela, showed us that getting the bridge back wasn't possible +without help from our side. She said that the priest she'd dumped down +into the canyon was the only one with the tribe at the time; the others +had gone to a distant village. She said, too, that there was a secret +passage from the cave; she'd discovered it, and no one but her and the +priests knew anything about it, but that the Toltecs would send runners +for the priests and we'd have to get out before they came, or they'd +lay for us at the outlet. + +"Well, we hustled. We felt bad about Nebraska and Taylor, and were +determined not to leave without some of the treasure, and after Ezela +showed us where it was I kept her busy talking while Taggart got about +as much as he could carry. Ezela offered no objections; on the other +hand, when Taggart came back she told me to get some of the treasure +too. Taggart hadn't taken enough to miss; there were millions of +dollars' worth of gold and diamonds in the room, where they'd raised a +kind of an altar, and I had my choice. + +"I took some of the gold, but what attracted me--not because it was +pretty, but because I saw in a minute that it was valuable--was a +hideous image about six inches high. I had had an idea all along that +Queza had been lying about the diamonds, but when I saw the image I +knew he'd told the truth. There were about a hundred diamonds on the +image, stuck all around it, the image itself being gold. The diamonds +ran from a carat to seven or eight carats, and there was no question +about them being the real thing. I stuck the thing into a hip pocket, +figuring that with the few other ornaments I had I would have plenty to +carry. Then I went back to where Ezela and Taggart were waiting for me. + +"Ezela led us through a long, narrow passage, down some steps to +another passage, and pretty soon we were sneaking along this and I +began to get a whiff of fresh air. In a little while we found +ourselves on a narrow ledge in the canyon, about thirty or forty feet +below the level where the bridge had been, and it was so dark down +there that we couldn't see one another. + +"Ezela whispered to us to follow her, and to be careful. We had to be +careful, and after what had happened, crawling along that ledge wasn't +the most cheerful job in the world. It would have been a ticklish +thing to do in the daytime, but at night it was a thousand times worse. +I kept thinking about poor Taylor and Nebraska, and there were times +when I felt that I just had to yell and jump out into the black hole +around us. Taggart showed it worse than me. It took us an hour to +traverse that ledge. We'd strike a short turn where there wouldn't be +more than six or eight inches of ledge between us and eternity, and we +couldn't see a thing--I've thought since that maybe it was a good thing +we couldn't. But we could feel the width of the ledge with our feet, +and there were times when my legs shook under me like I had the ague. +Taggart was pretty near collapse all the time. He kept mumbling to +himself, making queer little throaty noises and grabbing at me. Two or +three times I had to turn and talk to him, or he'd have let go all +holds and jumped. + +"We finally made solid ground, and it was a full hour before me or +Taggart could get up after we'd sat down, we were that tuckered out. +The girl didn't seem to mind it a bit; she told me she'd discovered the +secret passage that way. She'd been nosing around the mountain one day +and had crept along the edge, finding that it led to the treasure cave. + +"There wasn't any time lost by us in getting away from that place. +Ezela told us there wasn't any use hoping that Nebraska and Taylor were +alive, because the canyon was over a thousand feet deep and there was a +roaring river at the bottom. I don't like to think of that fall. + +"Taggart objected to Ezela going with us, but I couldn't think of +letting her stay to be punished by her tribe for what she'd +done--they'd have burned her, sure, she said. Besides, I may as well +tell the truth, I'd got to liking Ezela a good bit by this time. She +was good to look at, and she'd been hanging around me, telling me that +she wanted to go with us, and that she'd done what she had for my sake, +because she liked me. All that sort of stuff plays on a man's vanity +when it comes from a pretty girl, and it didn't take me long to decide +that I was in love with her and that, aside from humane reasons, I +ought to take her with me. So I took her. + +"We reached the boat after a week of heart-breaking travel, and we +hadn't got over two miles out in the bay when we saw that we hadn't +left any too soon. A hundred or so Toltecs were on the beach, doing a +war dance and waving their spears at us. We had a pretty close call of +it for grub, but we made a little town on the gulf and stocked up, and +then we headed for the mouth of the Rio Grande. We camped one night a +week later on United States soil, and that night while I was asleep +Taggart tried to knife me. I'd showed Taggart the diamond image one +day while Ezela was asleep in the boat, and he'd got greedy for it. +Ezela screamed when she saw him getting close to me with the knife, and +I woke in time to grab him before he got a chance to get the knife into +me. He finally broke away, leaving all the treasure he'd brought +except a little that he had in his pockets--he'd had a bundle of it +strapped to his belt besides that--and I didn't see him again for four +years. + +"I took Ezela up the Pecos to the Connors', where I'd left you, bought +a wagon and horses and a few things--bedding and grub and such +stuff--and lit out for New Mexico. I figured that I had enough of the +kind of friends I'd been keeping, and I didn't want to be ridiculed for +tying up to an Indian girl--white folks don't like to see that. I came +here and took up this land, figuring that I wouldn't be disturbed. I'd +been here four years when Taggart came. I'd sold some of the treasure, +but, for some reason which I've never been able to figure out, I kept +the idol. I think I was afraid to try to sell it on account of the big +diamonds in it. + +"I gave Taggart the treasure he'd left behind the night he tried to +knife me, but he wasn't satisfied; he wanted more, wanted me to sell +the Toltec image and split with him. Of course I wouldn't do that +because of the way he'd acted, and he swore to get it some day. + +"He took up some land about fifteen miles down the river, and he's +stayed there ever since. I've been afraid to go anywhere with the idol +for fear he'd waylay me and get it. One day while I was away somewhere +he came here and told Ezela about me having the idol. From that time +on I led a life of hell. Ezela turned on me. She said I'd desecrated +the altars of her tribe, and she kept harping to me about it until I +got so I couldn't bear the sight of her. + +"I discovered soon after we came here that I had been mistaken in +thinking I had loved her--what I had thought was love was merely +gratitude. My gratitude didn't last, of course, with her hounding me +continually about the idol. Finally I discovered that she and Taggart +were plotting against me. Of course, Taggart was after the image +himself. He didn't care anything about her religious scruples, but he +made her believe he sympathized with her, and made a fool of her. I +tried to kill Taggart the day I found that out, but he got away, and +after that he never traveled alone and I didn't get another chance. I +ordered Ezela away, but she said she wouldn't go until she got the +image. Many times I debated the idea of putting her out of the way, +but there was always the knowledge in my mind that she had saved my +life, and I hadn't the heart to do it. + +"You know how we lived. My life was constantly in danger, and I became +hardened, suspicious, brutal. You got the whole accumulation. Taggart +and Ezela bribed my men to watch me. I had to discharge them. After +Ezela died I thought Taggart would leave me alone. But he didn't--he +wanted the image. One day he and his boy Neal came over and ambushed +me. They shot me in the shoulder. I was in the house, defending +myself as best I could, when Malcolm Clayton came. By this time Betty +has told you the rest and you know just what you can expect from the +Taggarts. + +"That is the whole history of the Toltec idol. I am not proud of my +part in the affair, but Tom Taggart must never have the idol. Remember +that! I don't want him to have it! Neither do I want you to have it, +or the money I leave, unless you can show that you forgive me. As I +have said, I don't take your word for it--you must prove it. + +"I know you are coming home, and I wish I could live to see you. But I +know I won't. Don't be too hard on me. Your father, + +"JAMES MARSTON." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +RESPONSIBILITY + +For a long time after he had completed the reading of the letter, +Calumet was silent, staring straight ahead of him. The information +contained in the account of his father's adventures was soothing--the +termagant who had presided over his boyhood destinies had not been his +real mother, and his father had left him a score to settle. He already +hated the Taggarts, not particularly because they were his father's +enemies, but rather because Tom Taggart had been a traitor. He felt a +contempt for him. He himself was mean and vicious--he knew that. But +he had never betrayed a friend. It was better to have no friend than +to have one and betray him. He looked around to see that Betty was +still apparently absorbed in her book. + +"Do you know what is in this letter?" he said. + +She laid the book in her lap and nodded affirmatively. + +"You opened it, I suppose?" he sneered. + +"No," she returned, unmoved. "Your father read it to me." + +"Kind of him, wasn't it? What do you think of it?" + +"What I think isn't important. What do you think of it?" + +"Nosey, eh?" he jeered. "If it won't inconvenience you any, I'll keep +what I think of it to myself. But it's plain to me now that when you +caught me tryin' to guzzle your granddad you thought I belonged to the +Taggart bunch. You told me I'd have to try again--or somethin' like +that. I reckon you thought I was after the idol?" + +"Yes." + +"Then the Taggarts have tried to get it since you've been here?" + +"Many times." + +"But you left the front door open the night I came," insinuated +Calumet, his eyes glowing subtly. "That looks like you was invitin' +someone to come in an' get the idol." + +"We never bother much about barring the doors. Besides, I don't +remember to have told you that the idol is in the house," she smiled. + +He looked at her with a baffled sneer. "Foxy, ain't you?" He folded +the letter and placed it into a pocket, she watching him silently. Her +gaze fell on the injured arm; she saw the angry red streaks spreading +from beneath the crude bandage and she got up, laying her book down and +regarding him with determined eyes. + +"Please come out into the kitchen with me," she said; "I am going to +take care of your arm." + +He looked up at her with a glance of cold mockery. "When did you get +my permission to take care of it? It don't need any carin' for. An' +if it did, I reckon to be able to do my own doctorin'." + +She looked at him steadily and something in her gaze made him feel +uncomfortable. + +"Don't be silly," she said. She turned and went out into the kitchen. +He could hear her working over the stove. He saw her cross the room +with a tea kettle, fill it with water from a pail, return and place the +kettle on the stove. He was determined that he would not allow her to +dress the wound, but when ten minutes later she appeared in the kitchen +door and told him she was ready, he got up and went reluctantly out. + +She washed the arm, bathing the wound with a solution of water and some +medicine which she poured from a bottle, and then bandaged it with some +white cloth. Neither said anything until after she had delicately tied +a string around the bandage to keep it in place, and then she stepped +back and regarded her work with satisfaction. + +"There," she said; "doesn't that feel better?" + +"Some," he returned, grudgingly. He stood up and watched her while she +spread a cloth partly over the table and placed some dishes and food +upon it. He was hungry, and the sight of the food made him feel +suddenly ravenous. He watched her covertly, noting her matter-of-fact +movements. It was as though she had not the slightest idea that he +would refuse to eat, and he felt certain that he could not refuse. She +was making him feel uncomfortable again; that epithet, "silly," rankled +in him and he did not want to hear her apply it to him again. But he +would have risked it had she looked at him. She did not look at him. +When she had finally arranged everything to suit her taste she turned +her back and walked to the door of the dining-room. + +"There is your supper," she said quietly. "I have fixed up your room +for you--the room you occupied before you left home. I am going to +leave the light burning in the dining-room--you might want to read your +letter again. Blow the light out when you go to bed. Good night." + +He grumbled an incoherent reply, turning his back to her. Her calm, +unruffled acceptance of his incivility filled him with a cold +resentment. + +"What did you say?" she demanded of him from the door. + +He turned sullenly. The light mockery in her voice stung him, shamed +him--her eyes, dancing with mischief, held his. + +"Good night," he said shortly. + +"Good night," she said again. She laughed and vanished. + +For an instant Calumet stood, scowling at the vacant doorway. Then he +turned and went over to the table in the kitchen, looking down at the +food and the dishes. She had compelled him to be civil. He gripped +one end of the table cloth, and for an instant it seemed as though he +meditated dumping dishes and food upon the floor. Then he grinned, +grimly amused, and sat in the chair before the table, taking up knife +and fork. + +Early as he arose the next morning, he found that Betty had been before +him. He saw her standing on the rear porch when he went out to care +for his horse, and she smiled and called a greeting to him, which he +answered soberly. + +For some reason which he could not explain he felt a little reluctance +toward going into the kitchen for breakfast this morning. Yet he did +go, though he waited outside until Betty came to the door and called +him. He was pretending to be busy at his saddle, though he knew this +was a pretext to cover his submission to her. He did not move toward +the house until she vanished within it. + +He was quiet during the meal, wondering at the change that had come +over him, for he felt a strange resignation. He told himself that it +was gratitude for her action in caring for his injured arm, and yet he +watched her narrowly for any sign that would tell him that she was +aware of his thoughts and was enjoying him. But he was able to +determine nothing from her face, for though she smiled often there was +nothing in her face at which he could take offense. She devoted much +of her time and attention to Bob. And Bob talked to Calumet. There +was something about the boy that attracted Calumet, and before the meal +ended they were conversing companionably. But toward the conclusion of +the meal, when in answer to something Bob said to him he smiled at the +boy, he saw Betty looking at him with a glance of mingled astonishment +and pleasure, he sobered and ceased talking. He didn't want to do +anything to please Betty. + +He was saddling Blackleg after breakfast, intending to go down the +river a short distance, when he became aware that Betty was standing +near him. Without a word she handed him a bulky envelope with his name +written on it. He took it, tore open an end, and a piece of paper, +enclosing several bills, slipped out. He shot a quick glance at Betty; +she was looking at him unconcernedly. He counted the bills; there were +ten one hundred dollar gold certificates. + +"What's this for?" he demanded. + +"Read the letter," she directed. + +He unfolded the paper. It read: + + +"MY DEAR SON: The money in this envelope is to be used by you in buying +material to be used to repair the ranchhouse. I have prepared an +itemized list of the necessary materials, which Betty will give you. +Your acceptance of the task imposed on you will indicate that you +intend to fulfill my wishes. It will also mean that you seriously +contemplate an attempt at reform. The fact that you receive this money +shows that you are already making progress, for you would never get it +if Betty thought you didn't deserve it, or were not worthy of a trial. +I congratulate you. + +"YOUR FATHER." + + +"Got it all framed up on me, eh?" said Calumet. "So you think I've +made progress, an' that I'm goin' to do what you want me to do?" + +"Your progress hasn't been startling," she said dryly. "But you _have_ +progressed. At least, you have shown some inclination to listen to +reason. Here is the itemized list which your father speaks of." She +passed over another paper, which Calumet scanned slowly and carefully. +His gaze became fixed on the total at the bottom of the column of +figures. + +"It amounts to nine hundred and sixty dollars," he said, looking at +her, a disgusted expression on his face. "Looks like the old fool was +mighty careless with his money. Couldn't he have put down another item +to cover that forty dollars?" + +"I believe that margin was left purposely to take care of a possible +advance in prices over those with which your father was familiar at the +time he made out the list," she answered, smiling in appreciation of +his perturbation. + +"That's keepin' cases pretty close, ain't it?" he said. "Suppose I'd +blow the whole business?" + +"That would show that you could not be trusted. Your father left +instructions which provide for that contingency." + +"What are they?" + +"I am not to tell." + +"Clever, ain't it?" he said, looking at her with displeased, hostile +eyes. She met his gaze with a calm half-smile which had in it that +irritating quality of advantage that he had noticed before. + +"I am glad you think it clever," she returned. + +"It was your idea, I reckon?" + +"I believe I did suggest it to your father. He was somewhat at a loss +to know how to deal with you. He told me that he had some doubts about +the scheme working; he said you would take it and 'blow' it in, as you +said you might, but I disagreed with him. I was convinced that you +would do the right thing." + +"You had a lot of faith in me, didn't you?" he said, incredulously. +"You believed in a man you'd never seen." + +"Your father had a picture of you," she said, looking straight at him. +"It was taken when you were fifteen, just before you left the ranch. +It showed a boy with a cynical face and brooding, challenging eyes. +But in spite of all that I thought I detected signs of promise in the +face. I was certain that if you were managed right you could be +reformed." + +"You _were_ certain," he said significantly. "What do you think now?" + +"I haven't altered my opinion." Her gaze was steady and challenging. +"Of course," she added, blushing faintly; "I believe I was a little +surprised when you came and I saw that you had grown to be a man. You +see, I had looked at your picture so often that I rather expected to +see a boy when you came. I had forgotten those thirteen years. But it +has been said that a man is merely a grown-up boy and there is much +truth in that. Despite your gruff ways, your big voice, and your +contemptible way of treating people, you are very much a boy. But I am +still convinced that you are all right at heart. I think everybody is, +and the good could be brought forward if someone would take enough +interest in the subject." + +"Then you take an interest in me?" said Calumet, grinning scornfully. + +"Yes," she said frankly; "to the extent of wondering whether or not +time will vindicate my judgment." + +"Then you think I won't blow this coin?" he said, tapping the bills. + +"I think you will spend it for the articles on the list I have given +you." + +He looked at her and she was certain there was indecision in the glance. + +"Well," he said abruptly, turning from her; "mebbe I will an' mebbe I +won't. But whatever I do with it will be done to suit myself. It +won't be done to please you." + +He mounted his pony and rode to the far end of the ranchhouse yard. +When he turned in the saddle it was with the conviction that Betty +would be standing there watching him. Somehow, he wished she would. +But she was walking toward the ranchhouse, her back to him, and he made +a grimace of disappointment as he urged his pony out into the valley. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +NEW ACQUAINTANCES + +Calumet had been in no hurry, though maintaining its steady chop-trot +for most of the distance, Blackleg had set him down in Lazette in a +little over two hours. + +Something had happened to Calumet. He had carefully considered the +phenomenon all the way over from the Lazy Y; he considered it now as he +sat sideways in the saddle before the rough board front of the Red Dog +Saloon. Betty had faith in him. That was the phenomenon--the unheard +of miracle. No one else had ever had faith in him, and so it was a new +experience and one that must be thoroughly pondered if he was to enjoy +it. And that he was enjoying it was apparent. Though he faced the Red +Dog Saloon he did not see it. He kept seeing Betty as she looked after +she had given him the money. "I know you will do the right thing," she +had said, or something very like that. It made no difference what her +words had been. What she meant was that she had faith in him. And her +eyes had said that she expected him to justify that faith. + +But would he? He didn't know. For the first time in his life he was +afflicted with indecision over the possession of money. In the old +days--the Durango days--which now seemed to be far behind him, the +thousand dollars in his pocket would have served to finance a brief +holiday of license and drinking and reckless play with gambling +devices. But now it was different--something within him had called--or +was calling--a halt. He told himself that it was because he had a +curiosity to follow this strange, freakish plan of Betty's to the end. + +Some other emotion was calling just as strongly for him to do with the +money as he had always done with money. And so indecision afflicted +him. Humor likewise. He rarely felt in this mood. Not for years had +he felt like laughing. Was he the Calumet Marston who, a week before, +had set out on his homeward journey filled with bitterness--looking for +trouble? Had he been at the Lazy Y a day or a year? It was a day--two +days--but it seemed more like the longer time. At least the time had +wrought a change in him. It was ludicrous, farcical. In spite of his +treatment of Betty she had faith in him! Wasn't that just like a +woman? There was nothing logical in her. She had taken him on trust. +The whole business was in the nature of a comedy and suddenly yielding +to his feelings he straightened in the saddle and laughed uproariously. + +He did not laugh long, and when he sobered down and with an effort +brought his mind back to the present, he became aware of the Red Dog, +saw a young cowpuncher seated on the board sidewalk in front of the +building, his back resting against it, laughing in sympathy with him. + +Calumet was disconcerted for a moment. His eyes narrowed truculently. +But then, as the oddness of the situation struck him he laughed again. +But this time as he laughed he took stock of the young cowpuncher, who +was again laughing with him. + +The puncher was young--very young; not more than twenty-one or two. +There was a week's growth of beard on his face. A saddle reposed by +his side. In spite of his laughter something about him spoke +eloquently of trouble. Calumet felt a sudden interest in him. Any man +who could laugh when the world was not doing well with him must be made +of good stuff. But Calumet's interest was cynical and it brought a +sneer to his lips as he ceased laughing and sat loosely in the saddle +regarding the puncher. + +"I reckon you ain't got no objections to tellin' me what you're +laughin' at?" he said coldly. + +"Mebbe you'd put me wise to the same thing," said the other. "I'm +settin' here, puttin' in a heap of my time tryin' to figger out who got +the most of the six months' wages which I had with me when I struck +town yesterday--an' not makin' a hell of a lot of progress--when you +mosey up here an' begin to laugh your fool head off. At nothin', so +far's I can see. Well, that's what I was laughin' at. Ketch my drift?" + +"Meanin' that I'm nothin', I reckon?" + +"Meanin' that you was laughin' at it," said the puncher with a +deprecatory smile. "I ain't lookin' for trouble--I'm it!" + +Calumet's eyes twinkled. This was a very discerning young man. +"Cleaned out, I reckon," he said. "You look old enough to _sabe_ that +playin' with a buzz saw is mild amusement compared with buckin' a +gambler's game." + +"Got singed yourself, I reckon," said the puncher wearily. "You know +the signs. Well, you've hit it. They'd have got my saddle, too, +only--only they didn't seem to want it. There's still charity in the +world, after all--some guys don't want everything. So I'm considerin' +the saddle a gift. It's likely, though, that they thought that if they +left me the saddle I'd go right out an' rustle me another job an' earn +some more coin an' come back an' hand that over, too. But they've got +me wrong. Your little Dade Hallowell has swore off. He ain't never +goin' to get the idea again that he's a simon-pure, dyed-in-the-wool +card sharp." + +"Another job? Then you're disconnected at present?" + +"I'm free as the water. Ugh!" he shivered. "I couldn't even wash my +face in it this mornin'. Water's a weak sister after last night." His +expression changed. "I reckon you're in clover, though. Any man which +can laugh to hisself as you was laughin', certainly ain't botherin' his +head about much." + +This quick turn of the conversation brought Calumet's thoughts back to +Betty. "Looks is deceivin'," he said. "I've got a heap of burden on +my mind. I've got a thousand dollars which is botherin' me +considerable." + +The puncher sat erect, his eyes bulging. + +"You've got a thousand!" he said "Oh, Lordy! An' you're botherin' +about it?" + +"It ain't none of your business, of course," said Calumet. "An' I +reckon I'm tellin' you about it so's you'll feel mean about losin' your +own. But mebbe not. Mebbe I'm tellin' you about it because I've got +somethin' else in mind. When I first seen you I was filled clear to +the top with doubt. If you had my thousand what would you do with it?" + +"Meanin' that if I had your thousand an' was in your place?" + +"I reckon." + +"That would depend," said the puncher, cautiously. "If I'd robbed a +man, or held up a stage coach, or busted a bank, I'd be burnin' the +breeze out of the country. But if I'd earned it honest I'd blow myself +proper, beginnin' by settin' 'em up to a fool guy which had give all +his coin to some card sharps yesterday." + +"None of them things fill the bill," said Calumet. "This thousand was +give to me by a woman. I'm to buy things with it--horses, wagon, +lumber, hardware, an' such truck." + +"Shucks," said the puncher, disappointedly. Over his face settled a +glum expression. "Then you ain't got no right to spend it--for +anything but what she told you about. You'd be worse'n a thief to +squander that money." + +Calumet looked keenly at him. "I reckon you're more'n half right. +You've settled a thing in my mind. If you're hangin' around here when +I get through buyin' them things I'll be settin' them up to you. If +I've got anything left." He abruptly broke off and urged his pony +about, leaving the puncher to look after him speculatively. + +Two hours later he returned, driving two horses which were hitched to a +wagon of the "prairie-schooner" variety. The wagon was loaded with +lumber and sundry kegs, boxes and packages. Calumet's pony trailed it. + +The puncher was still where Calumet had left him--apparently he had not +moved. But when he saw Calumet halt the horses in front of him and +jump out of the wagon he got to his feet. He met Calumet's gaze with a +sober, interested smile. + +"That wagon of yours is speakin' mighty loud of work," he said. "Back +in Texas I used to be counted uncommon clever with a saw an' hammer. +If you can rassle them two statements around to look them in the face +you can see what I'm drivin' at." + +"What do you think you are worth to a man who ain't got no authority to +do any hirin'?" said Calumet. + +"Ain't you the boss?" said Dade, disappointedly. + +"The boss is a woman. If you're wantin' to work you can come along. +You'll have to take your chance. Otherwise--" + +"I'll go you," said the puncher. He threw his saddle into the wagon. +"You said somethin' about a drink," he added, "if you had anything +left. I'm hopin'--" + +Calumet hesitated. + +"Just one," said Dade. "Mebbe two. Not more than three--or four. If +your ranch is far--" + +"Twenty miles." + +"About two, then," suggested Dade. "You wouldn't feel satisfied to +know that it was here an' you left it." + +"Well, then, get a move on you," growled Calumet. He followed Dade +into the Red Dog. + +It was quiet in the barroom. Three men sat at a table near the center +of the room, laughing and talking. They looked up with casual interest +as Dade and Calumet entered, favored them with quick, appraising +glances, and then resumed their talk and laughter. Behind the bar the +proprietor waited, indolently watching. + +"I'll take red-eye," said Dade; "the same that made me think I was a +sure enough gambler last night. Did you ever notice," he added, +turning to Calumet, who was filling his glass, "what a heap of +confidence whisky will give a man? Take me, last night. Things was +lookin' rosy. Them gamblers looked like plumb easy pickin'. The more +whisky I drank the easier they looked, until--" + +"Have another drink," invited the proprietor, for it was at one of his +tables that Dade had played. His smile was bland and his manner suave +and smooth. He shoved a bottle toward Dade. At the same time he +looked with interest upon Calumet. + +"Stranger here, I reckon?" he said. "I seen you loadin' a heap of +stuff into your wagon. What's your ranch?" + +"The Lazy Y." + +The proprietor started and peered closer at Calumet. "That's old +Marston's place, ain't it?" To Calumet's slow nod, he continued: +"Betty Clayton's runnin' it now. They say old Marston was the meanest +old coyote that ever--" + +Calumet's gaze was level and direct, and the proprietor shrank under +its cold malignance. Calumet leaned forward. "You're talkin' to the +old coyote's son right now," he said. "An' you can speak right out +loud in meetin' an' say that you was gassin' through your hat!" + +The proprietor paled, then reddened. "I'm beggin' your pardon," he +said. "I reckon--you see--there's been talk--" + +"Sure," said Calumet. He smiled. It was the smile of reluctant +tolerance. "Just talk," he added. "But it won't be healthy +talk--hereafter." + +"Have another drink," invited the proprietor, and he pulled a +handkerchief from a pocket and wiped the sudden perspiration from his +forehead. Then he retreated to the far end of the bar, from whence he +tried to appear unconcerned. + +Dade finished his drink and set the glass down. But he was visibly +excited. + +"Betty Clayton," he said, looking sharply at Calumet. "Has she got a +granddad named Malcolm Clayton, an' a brother Bob?" + +"That's her." Calumet returned Dade's sharp glance. "What's eatin' +you? Know her? Know Bob? Know Malcolm?" + +"Know them!" said Dade. "Why, man, they was neighbors of mine in +Texas!" + +Calumet's eyes narrowed. A pulse of some strong emotion was revealed +in his face, but it was instantly subdued. "That's joyful news--for +you. So you know her? It's likely she'll be glad to see you." + +Dade was mystified by his tone. "I reckon I ain't gettin' this thing +just right," he said. "You told me Betty was runnin' the ranch, an' +you tell this man that you're the son of the man that owns it. I don't +see--" + +Calumet smiled saturninely. "Take another drink," he advised. He +shoved the bottle toward Dade. "This is your fourth. Then we'll be +hittin' the breeze to the Lazy Y. Betty'll be lonesome without me." +He laughed raucously, filled his glass and drank its contents. Then he +turned from the bar and walked toward the door. Half way to it, Dade +following him, he halted, for the voice of a man who sat at a table +reached him. + +"Aw, Taggart," it said loudly, "you're crowdin' the ante a little, +ain't you?" The speaker laughed. "They tell me that Betty Clayton +ain't no man's fool. An' here you say--" The rest of it was drowned +in a laugh that followed, the other two men joining the speaker. + +"Stuck on me, I tell you!" said another voice, and Calumet, half turned +toward the table, saw the speaker's face. It was the face of an +egotist--the vain, sensuous visage of a man in whom the animal +instincts predominated--the face of the rider that Calumet had seen on +the hill in the valley on the day of his return--the face of the man +who had shot at him. The man was good-looking in a coarse, vulgar way, +and dissipated, gross, self-sufficient. Calumet's eyes narrowed with +dislike as he looked at him. There was interest in his glance, too, +for this was his father's enemy--his enemy. But after the first look +his face became inscrutable. He turned to see Dade standing beside +him. Dade was rigid, pale; his body was in a half-crouch and there was +an expression of cold malignance on his face. Quickly Calumet placed +both hands on the young man's shoulders and shoved him back against the +bar, thrusting his own body between him and Taggart. + +"Easy there," he warned in a whisper. "He's my meat." + +Dade caught the mirthless smile on his lips and looked at him +curiously, his attitude still belligerent. + +"He's talkin' about Betty, the damned skunk!" he objected. His voice +was a low, throaty whisper and it did not carry to the table where the +three men sat. + +"He was sure talkin' about her," said Calumet inexpressively. "An' +I'll admit that any man who talks that way about a woman is what you've +called him. But it's my funeral," he added, his voice suddenly cold +and hard, "an' you ain't buttin' in, whatever happens. Buy yourself +another drink," he suggested; "you look flustered. I'm havin' a talk +with Taggart." + +He left Dade standing at the bar looking at him wonderingly, and made +his way slowly to the table where Taggart sat. Taggart was drinking +when Calumet reached his side, and Dade stood tense, awaiting the +expected clash. + +But none came. Calumet's grin as he nodded to Taggart was almost +friendly, and his voice was soft, even--almost gentle. + +"I heard one of these man call you Taggart," he said. "I reckon you're +from the Arrow?" + +Taggart leaned back in his chair and insolently surveyed his +questioner. What he saw in Calumet's face made his own pale a little. + +"I'm Taggart," he said shortly--"Neal Taggart. What you wantin' of me?" + +Calumet smiled. "Nothin' much," he said. "I thought mebbe you'd like +to know me. We're neighbors, you know. I'm Marston--Calumet Marston, +of the Lazy Y." + +The color receded entirely from Taggart's face, leaving it with a queer +pallor. He abruptly shoved back his chair and stood, his eyes alert +and fearful as his right hand stole slowly toward the butt of the +pistol at his hip. Calumet's right hand did not seem to move, but +before Taggart could get his weapon free of its holster he saw the +sombre muzzle of a forty-five frowning at him from Calumet's hip and he +quickly drew his own hand away--empty. + +"Shucks," Calumet's voice came slowly into the silence that had +fallen--slowly and softly and with apparently genuine deprecation. "If +I'd known that you was goin' to get that excited I'd have broke the +news different. I don't know what you're gettin' at, trying to drag +your gun out that way. I was hopin' we'd be friends. We ought to, you +know, bein' neighbors." + +"Friends?" Taggart stepped back a pace and looked at Calumet +incredulously, his eyes searching for signs of insincerity. He saw no +such signs, for if Calumet had emotion at this minute it was too deep +to be uncovered with a glance. But he knew from Taggart's perturbation +that the latter knew him to be the man he had shot at that day in the +valley. + +Obviously, he had not then had any suspicion as to his identity--his +surprise showed that he had not. And his half-fearful, puzzled looks +at Calumet indicated to the latter that he was wondering whether +Calumet recognized him as the man who had done the shooting. + +Calumet's smile was cordial, inviting, even slightly ingratiating, and +watching him closely Taggart was convinced that he was not recognized. +Also he was certain that Calumet could not have learned anything of the +trouble between their parents. Yet Betty knew, and if Betty hadn't +told him there must be something between them--dislike or greed on +Betty's part--and a smile appeared on his face as he remembered that he +had heard his father say that Calumet had been vicious and unmanageable +in his youth. He must be at odds with Betty. + +And Betty--well, a shyster lawyer in Las Vegas had told Taggart +something about a will which old Marston had made, in which Betty had +been named as beneficiary of the property in case Calumet failed to +agree to certain specifications, and Taggart was ready to believe that +Betty would not hesitate to bring about an open clash with Calumet in +order to gain control of the ranch. This thought filled Taggart with a +savage exultation. He and his father had made very little progress in +their past attacks on the Lazy Y, and if it were possible to set +Calumet against Betty there might come an opportunity to drive a wedge +which would make an opening--the opening they had long sought for. At +all events he would have considered himself a fool if he failed to take +advantage of this opportunity to ingratiate himself into the good +nature of this man. + +"Well, that's right, I reckon," he said. "There ain't no reason that I +know of why we shouldn't be friends. I'm right glad to see you." He +stuck out his right hand, but it appeared that Calumet did not notice +it, for he laughed as he replaced the pistol in its holster. + +"Same here," he said. "If you're passin' the Lazy Y any time, drop in +an' visit. I'm fixin' her up a few--enough so's I can live in the old +shack." + +Taggart had noted with a lowering frown Calumet's omission of the +proffered handshake, but the cordial good nature of the smile on the +latter's face was unmistakable, and he grinned in reply. + +"I'll sure do that," he said. + +"I'll be right glad to have you," said Calumet. "Come tomorrow--in the +afternoon--any time." + +"You reckonin' on bein' the boss now?" questioned Taggart. + +Some emotion flickered Calumet's eyelashes. "You've said somethin'," +he returned; "nobody's runnin' me." He turned and walked to Dade, who +had been watching him with wrath and astonishment. + +"Drinkin'?" suggested Taggart. "Have a drink, old man," he said, with +celluloid good fellowship. + +Calumet turned with a grin. "Me an' my friend has got to the end of +our capacity," he said. "He's workin' for me an I ain't settin' him a +bad example. The next time, if you're in the humor, I'll be glad to +drink all you can buy." He waved a hand behind him, with the other he +was pushing Dade before him toward the door. "So-long," he said, as he +and Dade went out. + +Taggart laughed as he turned to his companions, who had said nothing +during the conversation. + +"Friends!" he said; "he's green an' due for a shock!" + +Either Taggart or the proprietor had made a mistake in their estimate +of Calumet. For at the instant Taggart had sneered at Calumet to his +friends, the bartender, who had come in while Taggart and Calumet had +been talking, leaned over to listen to the proprietor. + +"In Taggart's place," said the proprietor, "I'd be mighty careful of +that man. Friend, eh? Well, mebbe. But you noticed that he didn't +offer to shake hands with Taggart. An' he wouldn't drink. Reached his +capacity! He had four in here. Sober as a judge! Did you notice his +eyes? They fair made me shiver when he looked at me when I was talkin' +about his old man. I'm goin' to be damn careful about my palaver after +this. Friend! Well, if I wasn't his friend I'd be damn careful not to +rile him!" + +Outside Dade halted, white hot with rage. + +"I reckon I ain't got no job with you, you white-livered--" + +The muzzle of Calumet's forty-five, magically produced, it seemed, so +quickly did it show in his hand, was making an icy ring against Dade's +throat, and the words, the epithet for which he had hesitated, remained +unspoken. Metallic, venomous and filled with a threat of death came +Calumet's voice. + +"You sufferin' fool!" he said, the words writhing through his lips, his +eyes blazing. "It's my game, do you hear? An' if you gas another word +about it I'll tear you apart!" + +"He was blackguardin' Betty," objected Dade, his face ashen, but his +spirit still undaunted. "He was blackguardin' her an' you made friends +with him. I'd have salivated him if I'd thought you wasn't goin' to. +I'm goin' back there now an'--" + +Calumet stepped back a pace and cocked his six-shooter. "I reckon I +can't make you understand that it's my game," he said coldly. "Walk +backwards when you go in," he directed; "I don't want to plug you in +the back." + +Dade started and looked intently at Calumet. "You mean that it ain't +ended between you an' him?" he demanded. + +"Some people would have tumbled to that long ago," jeered Calumet. +"But kids--kids take longer to _sabe_ a thing. I'm glad you're over +it," he added. He sheathed his pistol. "I reckon we'll be goin'," he +said. "Betty'll begin to believe I'm lost." + +Dade followed him to the wagon, meekly enough now that he had received +unmistakable proof that Taggart was Calumet's "game," and shortly +afterward the wagon pulled out of Lazette and struck the trail toward +the Lazy Y. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PROGRESS + +Calumet had some thoughts on the subject but they were all inchoate and +unsatisfying. He got only one conclusion out of them--that for some +mysterious reason he had surrendered to Betty and was going to work to +repair the ranchhouse. + +On the morning following his visit to Lazette he sat on a piece of +heavy timber which he and Dade had lifted a few minutes before to some +saw-horses preparatory to framing. Armed with a scratch awl and a +square Dade was at the other end of the timber, his hat shoved back +from his forehead while he ran his fingers through his hair as though +pondering some weighty problem. Watching him, Calumet suffered a +recurrence of that vague disquiet which had moved him the night before +when he had listened to the cordial greeting which Betty had given the +young man. Old friendship had been between the two and somehow it had +disturbed Calumet. He did not know why. He didn't like Betty, but at +the same time every smile that she had given Dade the night before had +caused some strange emotion to grip him. And he liked Dade, too. He +couldn't understand that, either. + +He had never been friendly with any man. But something about Dade +appealed to him; he felt tolerant toward him, was mildly interested in +him. He thought it was because Dade was boyish and impulsive. +Whatever it was, he knew of its existence. It was not a deep feeling; +it was like the emotion that moves a large animal to permit a smaller +one to remain near it--a grudging tolerance which may develop into +sincere friendship or at a flash turn into a furious hatred. And so +Dade's security depended entirely upon how he conducted himself. If he +kept out of Calumet's way, all well and good. But if he interfered +with him, if, for instance, he became too friendly with Betty, there +would come an end to Calumet's tolerance. + +And so there was a glint of speculative distrust in Calumet's eyes as +he sat and watched Dade ponder. Calumet was in no good humor. He felt +like baiting Dade. + +"What you clawin' your head that way for?" he suddenly demanded as Dade +continued to puzzle over his problem. + +Dade grinned. "I'm goin' to halve these sills together. But I'm +wantin' to make sure that the halves will be made reverse, so's they'll +fit. An' I don't seem to be able to fix it clear in my mind." + +"You was braggin' some on bein' a carpenter." + +"I reckon I wasn't doin' no braggin'," denied Dade, reddening a little. + +Calumet fixed a hostile eye on him. "Braggin' goes," he said shortly. +"If you'd said you was a barber, now, no one would expect you to fit +any sills together. But when you say you've done carpenter work that +makes it different. You ought to _sabe_ sills." + +Dade laid his square and scratch awl down on the piece of timber and +deliberately seated himself on the saw-horse beside it. He looked +defiantly at Calumet. A change had come over him from the day +before--the slight deference in his manner had become succeeded by +something unyielding and hard. + +"Let's get on an understandin'," he said. "You can't go to pickin' on +me." And he looked fairly into Calumet's eyes over the length of the +timber. + +"I'm gassin' to suit myself," said Calumet; "if that don't size up +right to you you can pull your freight." + +"You're a false alarm," said Dade bluntly; "you drive me plumb weary." + +Before his voice had died away Calumet's hand had flashed to his pistol +butt. Why he did not draw the weapon was a mystery known only to +himself. It might have been because Dade had not moved. Calumet's +lips had tensed over his teeth in a savage snarl; they still held the +snarl when he spoke. + +"You'll swallow that," he said. "Do you _sabe_ my idea?" + +"Nary swallow," declared Dade. "False alarm goes. I've got you sized +up right." + +Calumet's six-shooter came out. His eyes, blazing with a wanton fire, +met Dade's and held them. The youngster's lips whitened, but his eyes +did not waver. Death twitched at Calumet's finger. There was a long +silence. And then Dade spoke. + +"Usin' it?" he said. + +Into Calumet's blazing eyes came a slow glint of doubt, of reluctant +admiration. His lashes flickered, the blaze died down, he squinted, a +cold, amused smile succeeded the snarl. He laughed shortly, looked at +the pistol, and then slowly jammed it back into the holster. + +"You're too good to lose," he said. "I'm savin' you for another time." + +"Thanks," said Dade dryly, though the ashen face of him showed how well +he realized his narrow escape. "I reckon we understand each other now. +I can see by the way you yanked out your gun just now and by the way +you got the drop on Taggart yesterday, that you're some on the shoot. +But I ain't none scared of you. An' now I'm tellin' you why I said +you're a false alarm. I was talkin' to Betty last night. She's read +up a bit, an' I'm parrotin' what she said about you because it's what I +think, too. Your cosmos is all ego. That's what Betty said. Brought +down to cases, what that means is that you've got a bad case of swelled +head. So far as you're concerned there's only one person in the world. +That's you. Nobody else counts. You've been thinkin' about yourself +so much that you can't find time to think about anybody else. There's +other people in the world as good as you--better. Betty's one of them. +She's a good girl an' you an' me'll hitch all right as long as you +don't go to bullyin' her. I reckon that's all." + +"Meanin' that you'll let me hang around as long as I'm good," sneered +Calumet in a dangerously soft voice. He was trying to work himself +into a rage, but the effort was futile. Something in Dade's quiet, +matter-of-fact voice had a dulling, cooling effect on him. Besides, he +knew that an attack on Dade would be resented by Betty, and he felt a +strange reluctance toward further antagonizing her. "You Texas folks +are sure clever at workin' your jaws," he sneered, when Dade did not +answer. "But I reckon that lets you out. When I'm lookin' for advice +from women an' kids mebbe I'll call on you an' Betty, but if I don't +you'll understand that I'm followin' my own trail. You've got away +with one call because--well, because I was fool enough to let you. +Mebbe another time I won't feel so foolish." + +There were few words spoken between them during the following hours of +the morning, though several times Dade caught Calumet watching him with +a puzzled, amused smile in which there was a sort of slumbering +ferocity. By the middle of the morning the front of the ranchhouse had +been raised with the assistance of jacks, the old rotted sills taken +out and new ones substituted. About an hour before noon, while +Calumet, in woolen shirt and overalls, his face dirty, his hair +tousled, and his temper none too good, was wedging the sill tight +against the studding above it, he became aware of Betty standing near +him. She nodded toward the sill. + +"That makes an improvement already," she said. + +"Ye-es?" he said, with an irritating drawl. + +There was a silence; she stood, regarding his back, a faint smile on +her face. + +"I want to compliment you on your judgment of horses," she persisted, +in an attempt to make him talk; "the ones you bought are fine." + +Calumet drove a wedge home viciously. But he did not answer. + +"I've been checking up your other purchases," she went on; "and I find +that you followed the list I gave you faithfully." + +He turned and looked up. "Look here," he said; "I got what you wanted, +didn't I? There's no use of gettin' mush headed about it. I'd have +blowed the money just as quick, if I'd wanted to." + +"But you didn't." + +"Because you didn't want me to, I reckon?" he sneered. + +"No. Because you wanted to be fair." + +He had not known what sort of an answer he had expected from her, but +the one he got embarrassed him. He felt a reluctant pleasure over the +knowledge that she had faith in him, but mingling with this was a rage +against himself over his surrender. When she turned from him and +walked over to Dade, speaking to him in a low voice, he could not have +told which affected him most, his rage against himself or his +disappointment over her abrupt leave-taking. She irritated him, but +somehow he got a certain pleasure out of that irritation--which was a +wholly unsatisfying and mystifying paradox. He covertly watched Dade +during her talk with him and discovered that he did not like the way +the young man looked at her; he was entirely too familiar even if he +was a friend of the family. He saw, too, that Betty seemed to be an +entirely different person when talking to Dade. For one thing she +seemed natural, which she didn't seem when talking to him. Until he +saw her talking with Dade he had been able to see nothing in her manner +but restraint and stiff formality, but figuratively, when in Dade's +presence she seemed to melt--she was gracious, smiling, cordial. + +Betty's attitude toward him during the noon meal puzzled him much. +Some subtle change had come over her. Several times he surprised her +looking at him, and at these times he was certain there was approval in +her glances, though perhaps the approval was mingled with something +else--speculation, he thought. + +But whatever it was, he had not seen it before. Had he known that Dade +had told her about the incident of the Red Dog Saloon he would have +understood, for she was wondering--as Dade had wondered--why he had +pretended to make friends with Taggart, why he had asked the Arrow man +to visit the Lazy Y that afternoon. + +After dinner Calumet went out again to his work, apparently carefree +and unconcerned, if we are to omit those thoughts in which Dade and +Betty figured, Dade watched him with much curiosity, for the incident +of the day before was still vivid in his mind, and if there had been. +mystery in Calumet's action in inviting Taggart to the Lazy Y there had +been no mystery in the words he had spoken outside the Red Dog Saloon +immediately afterward: "It's my game, do you hear?" + +But along toward the middle of the afternoon Dade became so interested +that he forgot all about Taggart, and was only reminded of him when +looking up momentarily he saw Calumet sitting on a pile of timber near +the ranchhouse, leaning lazily forward, his elbows resting on his +knees, his chin on his hands, gazing speculatively into the afternoon +haze. Dade noted that he was looking southward, and he turned and +followed his gaze to see, far out in the valley, a horseman approaching. + +Dade had turned stealthily and thought his movement had been unobserved +by Calumet, and he started when the latter slowly remarked: + +"Well, he's comin', after all. I was thinkin' he wouldn't." + +"That's him, all right, I reckon," returned Dade. He shot a glance at +Calumet's face--it was expressionless. + +There was a silence until Taggart reached the low hill in the valley +where on the day following his coming to the Lazy Y Calumet had seen +Lonesome, before the dog had begun the stalk that had ended in its +death. Then Calumet turned to Dade, a derisive light in his eyes. + +"Do you reckon Betty will be glad to see him?" + +"I don't reckon you done just right in askin' him here after what he +said in the Red Dog," returned Dade. + +Calumet seemed amused. "Shucks, you're a kid yet," he said. He +ignored Dade, giving his attention to Taggart, who was now near the +bunkhouse. + +Taggart's coming was attended with interest by Malcolm, who, hearing +hoofbeats in the ranchhouse yard came to the door of the bunkhouse +where he had been doing some small task; by Bob, who hobbled out of the +stable door, his eyes wide; and by Betty, who, forewarned of the visit +by Dade, had come out upon the porch and had been watching his approach. + +Dade was interested also, betraying his interest by covertly eyeing +Taggart as he drew his pony to a halt. But apparently Calumet's +interest was largely negative, for he did not move from his position, +merely glancing at Taggart as the latter halted his pony, grinning +mildly at him and speaking to him in a slow drawl. + +"Get off your cayuse an' visit," he invited. + +Taggart's smile was wide as he dismounted. He did not seem to look at +the others particularly, not even deigning a glance at Dade, but his +gaze fell on Betty with an insolent boldness that brought a flush to +that young lady's face. There was a challenge in the look he gave her. +He dismounted and bowed mockingly to her, sweeping his hat from his +head with a movement so derisive that it made Dade longingly finger his +pistol butt. + +Calumet still sat on the pile of lumber. His smile was engaging even +if, as it seemed to Dade, it was a trifle shallow. But now Calumet +slowly got to his feet. He stood erect, yawned, and stretched himself. +Then turning, his back to Taggart, who had come close to him, he looked +at Betty, steadily, intently, with a command showing so plainly in his +eyes that the girl involuntarily started. + +"Betty," he said slowly; "come here." + +She went toward him, scarcely knowing why, yet remotely conscious of +something in his eyes that warned her that she must not refuse--a cold, +sinister gleam that hinted of approaching trouble. She walked to a +point near him and stood looking at him wonderingly. And now for the +first time since the beginning of their acquaintance she became aware +of a quiet indomitability in his character, the existence of which she +had suspected all along without having actually sensed it. She saw now +why men feared him. In his attitude, outwardly calm, but suggesting in +some subtle way the imminence of deadly violence; in his eyes, steady +and cold, but with something cruel and bitter and passionate slumbering +deep in them; in the set of his head and the thrust of his chin, there +was a threat--nay, more--a promise of volcanic action; of ruthless, +destroying anger. + +Taggart, apparently, saw nothing of these things. He looked again at +Betty, his heavy face wreathed in an insolent half-smile. She saw the +look and instantly flushed and stiffened. But it appeared that Calumet +noticed nothing of her agitation or of Taggart's insulting glance. He +stood a little to one side of Taggart, and he spoke slowly and +distinctly: + +"Taggart," he said; "meet my boss, Betty Clayton." He smiled grimly at +the consternation in Betty's face, at the black rage in Dade's. + +"I have already had the honor of meeting Mr. Taggart," said Betty +coldly. "If that is what you--" She caught a glance from Calumet and +subsided. + +Taggart was deeply amused; he guffawed loudly. + +"That's rich," he said. "Why, man, I've knowed her ever since she's +been here. Me an' her's pretty well acquainted. In fact--" + +"Well, now; that's odd," cut in Calumet dryly. + +"What is?" questioned Taggart quickly, noting his tone. + +"That I didn't remember," said Calumet. + +"Remember what?" inquired Taggart. + +"That I heard you gassin' about Betty to your Red Dog friends. You +rattled it off pretty glibly. You ought to remember what you said. +I'm wantin' you to repeat it while she's watchin' you. That's why I +wanted you to come over here." + +"Why--" began Taggart. Then he hesitated, an embarrassed, incredulous +light in his shifting eyes. He looked from one to the other, not +seeming to entirely comprehend the significance of the command, and +then he saw the gleam in Betty's eyes, the derisive enjoyment in +Dade's, the implacable glint in Calumet's, knowledge burst upon him in +a sudden, sickening flood and his face paled. He looked at Calumet, +the look of a trapped animal. + +"Get goin'!" said the latter; "we're all waitin'." + +Taggart cursed profanely, stepping back a pace and reaching for his +pistol. But as in the Red Dog, Calumet was before him. Again his +right hand moved with the barely perceptible motion, and his +six-shooter was covering Taggart. The latter quickly withdrew his own +hand, it was empty. And in response to an abrupt movement of Calumet's +hand it went upward, the other following it instantly. Watchful, +alert, Calumet stepped forward, plucked Taggart's pistol from its +holster, threw it a dozen feet from him, swiftly passed a hand over +Taggart's shirt and waistband and then stepped back. + +"You've got a minute," he said. "Sixty seconds to decide whether you'd +rather die with your boots on or get to talkin'. Take your time, for +there won't be any arguin' afterward." + +Taggart looked into Calumet's eyes. What he saw there seemed to decide +him. "I reckon it's your trick," he said; "I'll talk." + +"Get goin'." + +"I said I'd made love to her." + +A half-sneer wreathed Calumet's face. "I reckon that covers the ground +pretty well. You didn't say it that way, but we won't have you repeat +the exact words; they ain't fit to hear. The point is, did you tell +the truth?" + +"No," said Taggart. He did not look at Betty and his face was scarlet. + +"So you lied, eh? Lied about a woman! There's only one place for that +kind of a man. Crawl an' tell her you're a snake!" + +Taggart had partly recovered his composure. + +"Guess again," he sneered. "You're buttin' in where--" + +Calumet dropped his pistol and took a quick step. With a swish his +right hand went forward to Taggart's face, one hundred and eighty +pounds of vengeful, malignant muscle behind it. There was the dull, +strange sound of impacting bone and flesh. Taggart's head shot +backward, he crumpled oddly, his legs wabbled and doubled under him and +he sank in his tracks, sprawling on his hands and knees in the sand. + +For an instant he remained in this position, then he threw himself +forward, groping for the pistol Calumet had dropped. Calumet's booted +foot struck his wrist, and with a bellow of rage and pain he got to his +feet and rushed headlong at his assailant. Calumet advanced a step to +meet him. His right fist shot out again; it caught Taggart fairly in +the mouth and he sank down once more. He landed as before, on his +hands and knees, and for an instant he stayed in that position, his +head hanging between his arms and swaying limply from side to side. +Then with an inarticulate grunt he plunged forward and lay face +downward in the sand. + +Calumet stood watching him. He felt Betty's hand on his arm, laid +there restrainingly, but he shook her viciously off, telling her to +"mind her own business." Malcolm had come forward; he stood behind +Betty. Dade had not moved, though a savage satisfaction had come into +his eyes. Bob stood in front of the stable door, trembling from +excitement. But besides Betty, none of them attempted to interfere, +and there was a queer silence when Taggart finally got to his feet. + +He stood for an instant, glaring around at them all, and then his gaze +at last centered on Calumet. Calumet silently motioned toward Betty. + +In response to the movement, Taggart's lips moved. "I'm apologizin'," +he said. He turned to his horse. After he had climbed into the saddle +he looked around at Calumet. He sneered through his swollen lips. + +"You'll be gettin' what I owe you," he threatened. + +"I'm your friend," jeered Calumet. "I've been your friend since the +day you tried to bore me with a rifle bullet out there in the +valley--the day I come here--after runnin' like a coyote from the +daylight. I've got an idea what you was hangin' around for that +day--I've got the same idea now. You're tryin' to locate that heathen +idol. You're wastin' your time. You're doin' more--you're runnin' a +heap of risk. For what you've just got is only a sample of what you'll +get if you stray over onto my range again. That goes for the sneakin' +thief you call your father, or any of your damned crowd." + +He stood, slouching a little, watching Taggart until the latter rode +well out into the valley. Then without a word he walked over to the +sill upon which he had been working before the arrival of Taggart, +seized a hammer, and began to drive wedges wherever they were necessary. + +Presently he heard a voice behind him, and he turned to confront Betty. + +"I heard what you said to Taggart, of course, about him trying to shoot +you. I didn't know that. He deserved punishment for it. But I am +sure that part of the punishment you dealt him was administered because +of the way he talked about me. If that is so, I wish to thank you." + +"You might as well save your breath," he said gruffly; "I didn't do it +for you." + +She laughed. "Then why didn't you choose another place to call him to +account?" + +He did not answer, driving another wedge home with an extra vicious +blow. + +She watched him in silence for an instant, and then, with a laugh which +might have meant amusement or something akin to it, she turned and +walked to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A PEACE OFFERING + +If there was one trait in Betty's character that bothered Calumet more +than another, it was her frankness. More than once during the days +that followed Neal Taggart's visit Calumet was made to feel the absence +of guile in her treatment of him. The glances she gave him were as +straightforward and direct as her words, and it became plain to him +that with her there were no mental reservations. Her attitude toward +him had not changed; she still dealt with him as the school teacher +deals with the unruly scholar--with a personal aloofness that promised +an ever-widening gulf if he persisted in defying her authority. +Calumet got this impression and it grew on him; it was disconcerting, +irritating, and he tried hard to shake it off, to no avail. + +He had considered carefully the impulse which had moved him to entice +Taggart to the Lazy Y, and was convinced that it had been aroused +through a desire to take some step to avenge his father. He told +himself that if in the action there had been any desire to champion +Betty he had not been conscious of it. It angered him to think that +she should presume to imagine such a thing. And yet he had felt a +throb of emotion when she had thanked him--a reluctant, savage, +resentful satisfaction which later changed to amusement. If she +believed he had thrashed Taggart in defense of her, let her continue to +believe that. It made no difference one way or another. But he would +take good care to see that she should have no occasion to thank him +again. She did not interfere with the work, which went steadily on. +The ranchhouse began to take on a prosperous appearance. Within a week +after the beginning of the work the sills were all in, the rotted +bottoms of the studding had been replaced, and the outside walls +patched up. During the next week the old porches were torn down and +new ones built in their places. At the end of the third week the roof +had been repaired, and then there were some odds and ends that had to +be looked to, so that the fourth week was nearly gone when Dade and +Calumet cleared up the debris. It was Dade who, in spite of Calumet's +remonstrances, went inside to announce the news to Betty, and she came +out with him and looked the work over with a critical, though +approving, eye. Calumet was watching her, and when she had concluded +her inspection she turned to him with a smile. + +"Tomorrow you can go to Lazette and get some paint," she said. + +"Want it done up in style, eh?" + +"Of course," she returned; "why not?" + +"That's it," he growled; "why not? You don't have to do the work." + +She laughed. "I should dislike to think you are lazy." + +He flushed. "I reckon I ain't none lazy." He could think of nothing +else to say. Her voice had a taunt in it; her attack was direct and +merciless. She looked at Dade, whose face was red with some emotion, +but she spoke to Calumet. + +"I don't think you ought to complain about the work," she said. "You +were to do it alone, but on my own responsibility I gave you Dade." + +"Pitied me, I reckon," he sneered. + +"Yes." Her gaze was steady. "I pity you in more ways than one." + +"When did you think I needed any pity?" he demanded truculently, +angered. + +"Oh," she said, in pretended surprise, "you are in one of your moods +again! Well, I am not going to quarrel with you." She turned abruptly +and entered the house, and Calumet fell to kicking savagely into a +hummock with the toe of his boot. As in every clash he had had with +her yet, he emerged feeling like a reproved school boy. What made it +worse was that he was beginning to feel that there was no justification +for his rage against her. As in the present case, he had been the +aggressor and deserved all the scorn she had heaped upon him. But the +rage was with him, nevertheless, perhaps the more poignant because he +felt its impotency. He looked around at Dade. That young man was +trying to appear unconscious of the embarrassing predicament of his +fellow workman. He endeavored to lighten the load for him. + +"She certainly does talk straight to the point," he said. "But I +reckon she don't mean more'n half of it." + +Calumet shot a malignant look at him. "Who in hell is askin' for +_your_ opinion?" he demanded. + +The paint, however, was secured, Calumet making the trip to Lazette for +it. He returned after dark, and Bob, who was sitting in the kitchen +where Betty was washing the dishes, hobbled out to greet him. Bob had +been outside only a few minutes when Betty heard his voice, raised +joyously. She went to a rear window, but the darkness outside was +impenetrable and she could see nothing. Presently, though, she heard +Bob's step on the porch, and almost instantly he appeared, holding in +his arm a three-month-old puppy of doubtful breed. He radiated delight. + +"Calumet brought it!" he said, in answer to Betty's quick +interrogation. "He said it was to take the place of Lonesome. I +reckon he ain't so bad, after all--is he Betty?" + +Betty patted the puppy's head, leaning over so that Bob did not see the +strange light in her eyes. + +"He's nice," she said. + +"Who?" said Bob, quickly--"Calumet?" + +Betty rose, her face flushing. "No," she said sharply; "the puppy." + +Bob looked at her twice before he said, in a slightly disappointed +voice, "Uh-huh." + +When Calumet came into the kitchen half an hour later, having stabled +his horses and washed his face and hands from the basin he found on the +porch, he found his supper set out on the table; but Betty was nowhere +to be seen. + +"Where's Betty?" he demanded of Bob, who was romping delightedly with +the new dog, which showed its appreciation of its new friend by yelping +joyously. + +"I reckon she's gone to bed," returned the young man. + +For a few minutes Calumet stood near the door, watching the dog and the +boy. Several times he looked toward the other doors, disappointment +revealed in his eyes. Was he to take Betty's departure before his +arrival as an indication that she had fled from him? He had seen her +when she had pressed her face to the window some time before, and it +now appeared to him that she had deliberately left the room to avoid +meeting him. He frowned and walked to the table, looking down at the +food. She had thought of him, at any rate. + +He sat at the table and took several bites of food before he spoke +again. + +"Betty see the pup?" he asked. + +"Yep." + +"Like him?" + +"Yep." + +He hesitated, while Bob looked at him, intent for more questions. He +had liked Calumet from the first, despite the killing of Lonesome. He +could not forget the gruff words of consolation that had been spoken by +Calumet on that occasion--they had been sincere, at any rate--his boy's +heart knew that. He worshiped Calumet since he had given him the dog. +And so he wanted to talk. + +"She patted him on the head," he said. + +"Just what did she say?" inquired Calumet. + +"She said he was nice." + +"Them the exact words?" + +"Yep." + +There was a silence again, while Calumet chewed meditatively at his +food. Bob suspended play with the puppy to watch him. + +"Well," said Calumet finally, "that shows just what a woman knows about +dogs--or anything. He ain't none nice, not at all, takin' dogs as +dogs. He's nothin' but a fool yellow mongrel." + +Bob contemplated his benefactor, sourly at first, for already he and +the dog were friends, and thus Calumet's derogatory words were in the +nature of a base slander. But he reasoned that all was not well +between Betty and Calumet, and therefore perhaps Calumet had not meant +them in exactly that spirit. + +"Well," he said at last, "I like him a lot, anyway." + +"What's that?" said Calumet, startled. He had forgotten about the dog. +He had been wondering if Betty had gone to bed, or whether she was in +the sitting room, reading, as she was accustomed to doing. A light +came through the sitting room door, and Calumet had been watching it, +momentarily expecting to see Betty's shadow. "What's that?" he +repeated. "You like him, anyway? Why?" + +"Because you gave him to me," said Bob, blushing at the admission. + +Calumet looked at him, sourly at first; and then, with a crafty grin on +his face as he watched the sitting room door, he raised his voice so +that if Betty were in the sitting room she could not help hearing it. + +"Well," he said, "you like him because I gave him to you, eh? Shucks. +I reckon that ain't the reason Betty likes him." + +Apparently Bob had no answer to make to this, for he kept silent. But +Calumet saw a shadow cross the sitting room floor, and presently he +heard a light footstep on the stairs. He smiled and went on eating. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +SUSPICION + +"If the repairs on the ranchhouse were not finished by this time you +would not be reading this," began a letter drawn from a tightly sealed +envelope Betty had given Calumet after he and Dade had completed the +painting. Supper had been over for some time, but the dishes had not +yet been cleared away, and when Betty had handed Calumet the letter he +had shoved the tablecloth back to make room for his elbows while he +read. Bob had gone to bed; Malcolm and Dade were somewhere outside. +Calumet had started to go with them, but had remained when Betty had +told him quietly that she wanted to talk to him on a matter of +importance. She sat opposite him now, unconcernedly balancing a knife +on the edge of a coffee cup, while she waited for him to finish reading +the letter. + +"Therefore," continued the letter, "by this time your heart must have +softened a little toward me. I am certain of this, for I know that, in +spite of your other weaknesses, that cupidity and greed have no place +in your mental make-up. I know, too, that you are no fool, and by this +time you must have digested my first letter, and if you have you are +not blaming me as much as you did in the beginning. + +"I have talked this over with Betty, and she is of the opinion that as +you have thus far obeyed my wishes you should be permitted to have a +free hand henceforth, for she insists that perhaps by this time the +restraint she has put on you will have resulted in you hating her, and +in that case she says she will not care to remain here any longer. But +as I have said, I do not think you are a fool, and nobody but a fool +could hate Betty. So I have persuaded her that even if you should come +to look upon her in that light she owes it to me to stay until the +conditions are fulfilled. + +"It is my own hope that by this time you have made friends with her. +Perhaps--I am not going to offer you any advice, but Betty is a jewel, +and you might do worse. You probably will if you haven't sense enough +to take her--if you can get her. I have given her your picture, and +she likes you in spite of the reputation I have given you. She says +you have good eyes. Now, if a girl once gets in that mood there's no +end of the things she won't do for a man. And the man would be an +ingrate if he didn't try to live up to her specifications after he +found that out. That's why I am telling you. Faith made a certain +disciple walk on the water, and lack of it caused the same one to sink. +Do a little thinking just here. If you do you are safe, and if you +don't you are not worth saving. + +"This is all about Betty. Whatever happens, I think she will be a +match for you. + +"Betty will give you another thousand dollars. With it you will fix up +the corrals, the bunkhouse, and the stable. + +"Perhaps you will want to know why I have not so much faith in you as +Betty has. It is because one day a man from the Durango country +stopped here for a day. He told me he knew you--that you were +cold-blooded and a hard case. Then I knew you hadn't improved after +leaving home. And so you must continue to do Betty's will, and mine. +Do you doubt this is for your own good? + +"YOUR FATHER." + + +When Calumet folded the letter and placed it in a pocket, he leaned his +arms on the table again and regarded Betty intently. + +"Do you know what is in this letter?" he said, tapping the pocket into +which he had placed it. + +"No." + +"There is something missing from the letter, ain't there?" + +"Yes," she returned; "a thousand dollars." She passed it over to him. +As before, there were ten one-hundred-dollar bills. + +His eyes flashed with mocking triumph. "If you don't know what is in +this letter--if you didn't read it--how do you know that I am to have +this money?" he said. + +She silently passed over another envelope and watched him with a smile +of quiet contempt as he removed the contents and read: + + +"BETTY:--Give Calumet a thousand dollars when you turn over letter +number three to him. + +"JAMES MARSTON." + + +Calumet looked at the envelope; Betty's name was on the face of it. +The triumph in his eyes was succeeded by embarrassment. He looked up +to see Betty's amused gaze on him. + +"Well?" she questioned. + +"Most women would have read it," he said. He got up and went outside, +leaving her to look after him, not knowing whether he had meant to +compliment her or not. + +He found Dade and Malcolm standing near the stable. There was a +brilliant moon. At Dade's invitation they all went down to the +bunkhouse. In spite of the dilapidated appearance of its exterior, the +interior of the building was in comparatively good condition--due to +the continual tinkering of Malcolm, who liked to spend his idle hours +there--and Malcolm lighted a candle, placed it on the rough table, took +a deck of cards from the shelf, and the three played "pitch" for two +hours. At the end of that time Malcolm said he was going to bed. Dade +signified that he intended doing likewise. He occupied half of +Calumet's bed. Since the day following the clash with Dade, Calumet +had insisted on this. + +"Just to show you that what you said ain't botherin' me a heap," he had +told Dade. "You're still yearlin' and need some one to keep an eye on +you, so's some careless son of a gun won't herd-ride you." + +That Dade accepted this in the spirit in which it was spoken made it +possible for them to bunk together in amity. If Dade had "sized up" +Calumet, the latter had made no mistake in Dade. + +Dade snuffed out the candle and followed Malcolm out. The latter went +immediately to the ranchhouse, but Dade lingered until Calumet stepped +down from the door of the bunkhouse. + +"Bed suits me," suggested Dade. "Comin'?" + +"I'm smokin' a cigarette first," said Calumet. "Mebbe two," he added +as an afterthought. + +He watched Malcolm go in; saw the light from the lamp on the table in +the kitchen flare its light out through the kitchen door as Dade +entered; heard the door close. The lamp still burned after he had seen +Dade's shadow vanish, and he knew that Dade had gone upstairs. Dade +had left the light burning for him. + +Alone, Calumet rolled the cigarette he had promised himself, lit it, +and then, in the flood of moonlight, walked slowly around the +bunkhouse, estimating the material and work that would be necessary to +repair it. Then, puffing at his cigarette, he made a round of the +corral fence. It was a long trip, and he stopped twice to roll new +cigarettes before he circled it. Then he examined the stable. This +finished, he stepped over to the corral fence, leaned his arms on the +top rail, and, in the moonlight that came over his shoulder, reread his +father's letter, making out the picturesque chirography with difficulty. + +As during the first days of his return, when he had watched the army of +memories pass in review, he lingered over them now, and, to his +surprise, discovered that he felt some little regret over his own +conduct in those days preceding his leave-taking. To be sure, he had +been only a boy at that time, but he had been a man since, and the cold +light of reason should have shown him that there must have been cause +for his father's brutal treatment of him--if indeed it had been brutal. +In fact, if he had acted in his youth as he had acted since reaching +maturity, there was small reason to wonder that he had received blows. +Boys needed to be reprimanded, punished, and perhaps he had deserved +all he had received. + +The tone of his father's letters was distinctly sorrowful. Remorse, +sincere remorse, had afflicted him. His father had been wronged, +misled, betrayed, and humiliated by the Taggarts, and as Calumet stood +beside the corral fence he found that all his rage--the bitter, +malignant hatred which had once been in his heart against his +father--had vanished, that it had been succeeded by an emotion that was +new to him--pity. An hour, two hours, passed before he turned and +walked toward the ranchhouse. His lips were grim and white, tell-tale +signs of a new resolve, as he stepped softly upon the rear porch, +stealthily opened the kitchen door, and let himself in. He halted at +the table on which stood the kerosene lamp, looking at the chair in +which he had been sitting some hours before talking to Betty, blinking +at the chair in which she had sat, summoning into his mind the picture +she had made when he had voiced his suspicions about her knowledge of +the contents of the letter she had given him. "Nobody but a fool could +hate Betty," the letter had read. And at the instant he had read the +words he had known that he didn't hate her. But he was a fool, just +the same; he was a fool for treating her as he did--as Dade had said. +He had known that all along; he knew that was the reason why he had +curbed his rage when it would have driven him to commit some rash +action. He had been a fool, but had he let himself go he would have +been a bigger one. + +Betty had appraised him correctly--"sized him up," in Dade's idiomatic +phraseology--and knew that his vicious impulses were surface ones that +had been acquired and not inherited, as he had thought. And he was +strangely pleased. + +He looked once around the room, noting the spotless cleanliness of it +before he blew out the light. And then he stepped across the floor and +into the dining-room, tip-toeing toward the stairs, that he might +awaken no one. But he halted in amazement when he reached a point near +the center of the room, for he saw, under the threshold of the door +that led from the dining-room to his father's office, a weak, +flickering beam of light. + +The door was tightly closed. He knew from the fact that no light shone +through it except from the space between the bottom of it and the +threshold that it was barred, for he had locked the door during the +time he was repairing the house, and had satisfied himself that it +could not be tightly closed unless barred. Someone was in the room, +too. He heard the scuffle of a foot, the sound of a chair scraping on +the floor. He stood rigid in the darkness of the dining-room, +straining his ears to catch another sound. + +For a long time he could hear only muffled undertones which, while they +told him that there were two or more persons in the room, gave him no +clue to their identity. And then, as he moved closer to the door, he +caught a laugh, low, but clear and musical. + +It was Betty's! He had heard it often when she had been talking to +Dade; she had never laughed in that voice when talking to him! + +He halted in his approach toward the door, watching the light under it, +listening intently, afflicted with indecision. At first he felt only a +natural curiosity over the situation, but as he continued to stand +there he began to feel a growing desire to know who Betty was talking +to. To be sure, Betty had a right to talk to whom she pleased, but +this talk behind a barred door had an appearance of secrecy. And since +he knew of no occasion for secrecy, the thing took on an element of +mystery which irritated him. He smiled grimly in the darkness, and +with infinite care sat down on the floor and removed his boots. Then +he stole noiselessly over to the door and placed an ear against it. + +Almost instantly he heard a man's voice. He did not recognize it, but +the words were sufficiently clear and distinct. There was amusement in +them. + +"So you're stringin' him along all right, then?" said the voice. "I've +got to hand it to you--you're some clever." + +"I am merely following instructions." This in Betty's voice. + +The man chuckled. "He's a hard case. I expected he'd have you all +fired out by this time." + +Betty laughed. "He is improving right along," she said. "He brought +Bob another dog to replace Lonesome. I felt sorry for him that night." + +"Well," said the man, "I'm glad he's learnin'. I reckon he's some +impatient to find out where the idol is?" + +"Rather," said Betty. "And he wanted the money right away." + +The man laughed. "Well," he said, "keep stringin' him along until we +get ready to lift the idol from its hidin' place. I've been thinkin' +that it'd be a good idea to take the durn thing over to Las Vegas an' +sell it. The money we'd get for it would be safer in the bank than the +idol where it is. An' we could take it out when we get ready." + +"No," said Betty firmly; "we will leave the idol where it is. No one +but me knows, and I certainly will not tell." + +"You're the boss," said the man. He laughed again, and then both +voices became inaudible to Calumet. + +A cold, deadly rage seized Calumet. Betty was deceiving him, trifling +with him. Some plan that she had in mind with reference to him was +working smoothly and well, so successfully that her confederate--for +certainly the man in the room with her must be that--was distinctly +pleased. Betty, to use the man's words, was "stringing" him. In other +words, she was making a fool of him! + +Those half-formed good resolutions which Calumet had made a few minutes +before entering the house had fled long ago; he snarled now as he +realized what a fool he had been for making them. Betty had been +leading him on. He had been under the spell of her influence; he had +been allowing her to shape his character to her will; he was, or had +been, in danger of becoming a puppet which she could control by merely +pulling some strings. She had been working on his better nature with +selfish aims. + +Who was the man? Malcolm? Dade? He thought not; the voice sounded +strangely like Neal Taggart's. This suspicion enraged him, and he +stepped back, intending to hurl himself against the door in an effort +to smash it in. But he hesitated, leered cunningly at the door, and +then softly and swiftly made his way upstairs. + +He went first to his own room, for he half suspected that it might be +Dade who was downstairs with Betty, and if it was-- Well, just now he +remembered vividly how Dade had defied him, and he made a mental vow +that if it were Dade who was with Betty the young man would leave the +Lazy Y before dawn quite suddenly. But it was not Dade. Dade was in +bed, snoring, stretched out comfortably. + +Calumet slipped out of the room and went to Malcolm's. Both Bob and +Malcolm were sound asleep. He hesitated for an instant, and then made +his way slowly downstairs. Again he listened at the door. Betty and +the man were still talking. + +Calumet found his boots. He decided not to put them on until he got to +the kitchen door, for he was determined to go around the outside of the +house and lay in wait for Betty's confederate, and he did not want to +make any sound that would scare him off. He was proceeding stealthily, +directing his course through the darkness by a stream of moonlight that +came in through one of the kitchen windows, and had almost reached the +kitchen door when his feet struck an obstruction--something soft and +yielding. + +There was a sudden scurrying, a sharp, terrified yelp. + +Calumet cursed. It was Bob's pup. The animal planted himself in the +stream of moonlight that came in through the window, facing Calumet and +emitting a series of short, high-pitched, resentful barks. + +There was humor in this situation, but Calumet did not see it. He +heard a cry of surprise from the direction of the dining-room, and he +turned just in time to see the office door closing on a flood of light. + +With savage energy and haste, he pulled on his boots, darted out of the +house, ran across the rear porch, leaped down, and ran around the +nearest corner of the house. As he ran he jerked his pistol from its +holster. + +When he got to the front of the house he bounded to the door of the +office and threw it violently open, expecting to surprise Betty and her +confederate. He was confronted by a dense blackness. He dodged back, +fearing a trap, and then lighted a match and held it around the corner +of one of the door jambs. After the match was burning well he threw it +into the room and then peered after it. There came no reply to this +challenge, and so he strode in boldly, lighting another match. + +The room was empty. + +He saw how it was. Betty and the man had heard the barking of the dog +and had suspected the presence of an eavesdropper. The man had fled. +Probably by this time Betty was in her room. Calumet went out upon the +porch, leaped off, and ran around the house in a direction opposite +that which had marked his course when coming toward the front, covering +the ground with long, swift strides. He reasoned that as he had seen +no one leave the house from the other side or the front, whoever had +been with Betty had made his escape in this direction, and he drew a +breath of satisfaction when, approaching some underbrush near the +kitchen, he saw outlined in the moonlight the figure of a man on a +horse. + +The latter had evidently just mounted, for at the instant Calumet saw +him he had just settled into the saddle, one foot searching for a +stirrup. He was about seventy-five feet distant, and he turned at +about the instant that Calumet saw him. That instant was enough for +Calumet, for as the man turned his face was bathed for a fraction of a +second in the moonlight, and Calumet recognized him. It was Neal +Taggart. + +Calumet halted. His six-shooter roared at the exact second that the +man buried his spurs in the flanks of his horse and threw himself +forward upon its neck. + +The bullet must have missed him only by a narrow margin, but it did +miss, for he made no sign of injury. His instant action in throwing +himself forward had undoubtedly saved his life. Calumet swung the +pistol over his head and brought it down to a quick level, whipping +another shot after the fleeing rider. But evidently the latter had +anticipated the action, for as he rode he jumped his horse from one +side to another, and as the distance was already great, and growing +greater, he made an elusive target. + +Calumet saw his failure and stood silent, watching until Taggart was +well out into the valley, riding hard, a cloud of dust enveloping him. +A yell reached Calumet from the distance--derisive, defiant, mocking. +Calumet cursed then, giving voice to his rage and disappointment. + +He went glumly around to the front of the house and closed the door to +the office. When he stepped off the porch, afterward, intending to go +around the way he had come in order to enter the house, he heard a +voice above him, and turned to see Dade, his head sticking out of an +upstairs window, his hair in disorder, his eyes bulging, a forty-five +gleaming in his hand. Back of him, his head over Dade's shoulder, +stood Malcolm, and Bob's thin face showed between the two. + +At another window, one of the front ones, was Betty. Of the four who +were watching him, Betty seemed the least excited; it seemed to Calumet +as he looked at her that there was some amusement in her eyes. + +"Lordy!" said Dade as Calumet looked up at him, "how you scairt me! +Was it you shootin'? An' what in thunder was you shootin' _at_?" + +"A snake," said Calumet in a voice loud enough for Betty to hear. + +"A snake! Holy smoke!" growled Dade in disgust. "Wakin' people up at +this time of the night because you wanted to shoot at a measly snake. +Tomorrow we'll lay off for an hour or so an' I'll take you where you +can shoot 'em to your heart's content. But, for the love of Pete, quit +shootin' at 'em when a guy's asleep." + +Calumet looked up sardonically, not at Dade, but at Betty. "Was you +all asleep?" he inquired in a voice of cold mockery. Even at that +distance he saw Betty redden, and he laughed shortly. + +"A foxy snake," he said; "one of them kind which goes roamin' around at +night. Lookin' for a mate, mebbe." He turned abruptly, with a last +sneering look at Betty, and made his way around the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +JEALOUSY + +Dade was asleep when Calumet got into bed, and he was still asleep when +Calumet awoke the next morning. Calumet descended to the kitchen. When +he opened the kitchen door Bob's dog ran between his legs and received a +kick that sent him, whining with pain and surprise, off the porch. + +Dominating everything in Calumet's mind this morning was the bitter +conviction that Betty had deceived him. There had been ground for +Taggart's talk in the Red Dog--he saw that now. Taggart and Betty were +leagued against him. When he had brought Taggart face to face with Betty +that morning more than a month ago the Arrow man had pretended insolence +toward Betty in order to allay any suspicion that Calumet might have +concerning the real relations between them. It had been done cleverly, +too, so cleverly that it had convinced him. When he remembered the cold, +disdainful treatment that Betty had accorded Taggart that afternoon, he +almost smiled--though the smile was not good to see. He had championed +her--he knew now that it had been a serious championship--and by doing so +he had exposed himself to ridicule; to Betty's and Taggart's secret humor. + +He discovered an explanation for Betty's conduct while he fed and watered +Blackleg. It was all perfectly plain to him. Neither Betty nor Taggart +had expected him to return to the Lazy Y. Betty's actions on the night +of his arrival proved that. She had exhibited emotion entirely out of +reason. Undoubtedly she and Taggart had expected to wait the year +specified in the will, certain that he would not appear to claim the +money or the idol, or they might have planned to leave before he could +return. But since he had surprised them by returning unexpectedly, it +followed that they must reconstruct their plans; they would have to make +it impossible for him to comply with his father's wishes. They could +easily do that, or thought they could, by making life at the ranch +unbearable for him. That, he was convinced, was the reason that Betty +had adopted her cold, severe, and contemptuous attitude toward him. She +expected he would find her nagging and bossing intolerable, that he would +leave in a rage and allow her and Taggart to come into possession of the +property. Neither she nor Taggart would dare make off with the money and +the idol as long as he was at the ranch, for they would fear his +vengeance. + +He thought his manner had already forced Betty to give him his father's +letters and admit the existence of the idol--she had been afraid to lie +to him about them. And so Betty was "stringing" him along, as Taggart +had suggested, until he completed the repairs on the buildings, until he +had the ranch in such shape that it might be worked, and then at the end +of the year Betty would tell him that his reformation had not been +accomplished, and she and Taggart would take legal possession. + +But if that was their plan they were mistaken in their man. Until he had +worked out this solution of the situation he had determined to leave. +Betty's deceit had disgusted him. But now, though there were faults in +the structure of the solution he had worked out, he was certain that they +intended working along those lines, and he was now equally determined to +stay and see the thing out. + +Of course, Taggart was trying to make a fool of Betty--that was all too +evident. A man who has serious intentions--honorable intentions--toward +a girl does not talk about her to his friends as Taggart had talked. +Taggart did not care for her; he was merely planning to gain her +confidence that he might gain possession of the money and the idol. The +very fact that he was meeting Betty secretly proved that she had not +given him the treasure. Perhaps she had doubts of him and was delaying. +Yes, that was the explanation. Well, he would see that Taggart would +never get the treasure. + +He went in to breakfast and watched Betty covertly during the meal. She +was trying to appear unconcerned, but it was plain to see that her +unconcern was too deep to be genuine, and it moved Calumet to malevolent +sarcasm. + +"Nothin' is botherin' you this mornin', I reckon?" he said to her once +when he caught her looking at him. "Clear conscience, eh?" he added as +she flushed. + +"What should bother me?" she asked, looking straight at him. + +"I was thinkin' that mebbe the racket I was makin' tryin' to kill that +snake might have bothered--" + +To his surprise, she pressed her lips tightly together, and he could see +mirth in her eyes--mocking mirth. + +"You are talking in riddles," she said quietly. + +So then she was going to deny it? Wrath rose in him. + +"Riddles, eh?" he said. "Well, riddles--" + +"That reptile was sure botherin' you a heap," cut in Dade; and Calumet +shot a quick glance at him, wondering whether he, also, was a party to +the plot to "string" him. + +He thought he detected gratitude in Betty's eyes as she smiled at Dade, +but he was not certain. He said no more on the subject--then. But +shortly after the conclusion of the meal he contrived to come upon Betty +outside the house. She was hanging a dish towel from a line that +stretched from a corner of the porch to the stable. + +Looking at her as he approached, he was conscious that there was +something more than rage in his heart against her for her duplicity; +there was a gnawing disappointment and regret. It was as though he was +losing something he valued. But he put this emotion away from him as he +faced her. + +"You're damn slick," he said; "slicker than I thought you was. But I +ain't lettin' you think that you're stringin' me like you thought you +was." He put vicious and significant emphasis on the word, and when he +saw her start he knew she divined that he had overheard the conversation +between her and Taggart. + +Her face flushed. "You were listening, then," she said with cold +contempt. + +"I ain't ashamed of it, either," he shot back. "When a man's dealin' +with crooks like--" He hesitated, and then gave a venomous accent to the +words--"like you an' Taggart, he can't be over-scrupulous. I was sure +listenin'. I heard Taggart ask you if you was still stringin' me. If it +hadn't been for that new pup which I just brought Bob I'd have done what +I was goin'--" + +He stopped talking and looked sharply at her, for a change had come over +her. In her eyes was that expression of conscious advantage which he had +noticed many times before. She seemed to be making a great effort to +suppress some emotion, and was succeeding, too, for when she spoke her +voice was low and well controlled. + +"So you heard Taggart talking to me?" she mocked, mirth in her eyes. +"And you shot at him? Is that it? Well, what of it? I do not have to +account to you for my actions!" + +He laughed. "Nothin' of it, I reckon. But if you're stuck on him, why +don't you come out in the open, instead of sneakin' around? You made it +pretty strong the day I smashed his face for talkin' about you. I reckon +he had some grounds." + +He was talking now to hurt her; there was a savage desire in his heart to +goad her to anger. + +But he did not succeed. Her face paled a little at his brutal words, at +the insult they implied, and she became a little rigid, her lips +stiffening. But suddenly she smiled, mockingly, with irritating +unconcern. + +"If I didn't know that you hate me as you do I should be inclined to +think that you are jealous. Are you?" + +He straightened in astonishment. Her manner was not that of the woman +who is caught doing something dishonorable; it was the calm poise of +sturdy honesty at bay. But while he was mystified, he was not convinced. +She had hit the mark, he knew, but he laughed harshly. + +"Jealous!" he said; "jealous of you? I reckon you've got a good opinion +of yourself! You make me sick. I just want to put you wise a few. You +don't need to try to pull off any of that sweet innocence stuff on me any +more. You're deep an' slick, but I've sized you up. You made a monkey +of the old man; you made him think like you're tryin' to make me think, +that you're sacrificin' yourself. + +"You soft-soaped him into smearin' a heap of mush into his letters to me. +It's likely you wrote them yourself. An' you hoodwinked him into givin' +you the money an' the idol so's you an' Taggart could divvy up after you +put me out of the runnin'. Goin' to reform me! I reckon if I was an +angel I'd have to have a recommendation from the Lord before you'd agree +that I'd reformed. You couldn't be pried loose from that coin with a +crow-bar!" + +He turned from her, baffled, for it was apparent from the expression of +mirth deep in her eyes that his attack had made no impression on her. + +Calumet went to the stable and threw a bridle on Blackleg. While he was +placing the saddle on the animal he hesitated and stood regarding it with +indecision. He had intended to refuse to accept Betty's orders in the +future; had decided that he would do no more work on the buildings. But +he was not the Calumet of old, who did things to suit himself, in +defiance to the opinions and wishes of other people. Betty had thrown a +spell over him; he discovered that in spite of his discovery he felt like +accommodating his movements to her desires. It was a mystery that +maddened him; he seemed to be losing his grip on himself, and, though he +fought against it, he found that he dreaded her disapproval, her sarcasm, +and her taunts. + +It seemed to him puerile, ridiculous, to think of refusing to continue +with the work he had started. As long as he was going to stay at the +Lazy Y he might as well keep on. Betty would surely laugh at him if he +refused to go on. He fought it out and took a long time to it, but he +finally pulled the saddle from Blackleg and hitched the two horses to the +wagon. When he drove out of the ranchhouse yard he saw Betty watching +him from one of the kitchen windows. He felt like cursing her, but did +not. + +"I reckon," he said as he curled the lash of the whip viciously over the +shoulders of the horses, "that she's got me locoed. Well," he cogitated, +"any woman's liable to stampede a man, an' I ain't the first guy that's +had his doubts whether he's a coyote or a lion after he's been herd-rode +by a petticoat. I'm waitin' her out. But Taggart--" The frown on his +face indicated that his intentions toward the latter were perfectly clear. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A MEETING IN THE RED DOG + +Of the good resolutions that Calumet had made since the night before, +when he had re-read his father's letter in the moonlight while standing +beside the corral fence, none had survived. Black, vicious thoughts +filled his mind as he drove toward Lazette. When the wagon reached the +crest of a slope about a mile out of town, Calumet halted the horses +and rolled a cigarette, a sullen look in his eyes, unrelieved by the +prospect before him. + +By no stretch of the imagination could Lazette be called attractive. +It lay forlorn and dismal at the foot of the slope, its forty or more +buildings dingy, unpainted, ugly, scattered along the one street as +though waiting for the encompassing desolation to engulf them. Two +serpentine lines of steel, glistening in the sunlight, came from some +mysterious distance across the dead level of alkali, touched the edge +of town where rose a little red wooden station and a water tank of the +same color, and then bent away toward some barren hills, where they +vanished. + +Calumet proceeded down the slope, halting at the lumber yard, where he +left his wagon and orders for the material he wanted. Across the +street from the lumber yard was a building on which was a sign: "The +Chance Saloon." Toward this Calumet went after leaving his wagon. He +hesitated for an instant on the sidewalk, and a voice, seeming to come +from nowhere in particular, whispered in his ear: + +"Neal Taggart's layin' for you!" + +When Calumet wheeled, his six-shooter was in his hand. At his +shoulder, having evidently followed him from across the street, stood a +man. He was lean-faced, hardy-looking, with a strong, determined jaw +and steady, alert eyes. He was apparently about fifty years of age. +He grinned at Calumet's belligerent motion. + +"Hearin' me?" he said to Calumet's cold, inquiring glance. + +The latter's eyes glowed. "Layin' for me, eh? Thanks." He looked +curiously at the other. "Who are you?" he said. + +"I'm Dave Toban, the sheriff." He threw back one side of his vest and +revealed a small silver star. + +"Correct," said Calumet; "how you knowin' me?" + +"Knowed your dad," said the sheriff. "You look a heap like him. +Besides," he added as his eyes twinkled, "there ain't no one else in +this section doin' any buildin' now." + +"I'm sure much obliged for your interest," said Calumet. "An' so +Taggart's lookin' for me?" + +"Been in town a week," continued the sheriff. "Been makin' his brags +what he's goin' to do to you. Says you wheedled him into comin' over +to the Lazy Y an' then beat him up. Got Denver Ed with him." + +Calumet's eyes narrowed. "I know him," he said. + +"Gun-fighter, ain't he?" questioned the sheriff. + +"Yep." Calumet's eyelashes flickered; he smiled with straight lips. +"Drinkin'?" he invited. + +"Wouldn't do," grinned the sheriff. "Publicly, I ain't takin' no side. +Privately, I'm feelin' different. Knowed your dad. Taggart's bad +medicine for this section. Different with you." + +"How different?" + +"Straight up. Anybody that lives around Betty Clayton's got to be." + +Calumet looked at him with a crooked smile. "I reckon," he said, "that +you don't know any more about women than I do. So-long," he added. He +went into the "Chance" saloon, leaving the sheriff looking after him +with a queer smile. + +Ten minutes later when Calumet came out of the saloon the sheriff was +nowhere in sight. + +Calumet went over to where his wagon stood and, concealed behind it, +took a six-shooter from under his shirt at the waistband and placed it +carefully in a sling under the right side of his vest. Then he removed +the cartridges from the weapon in the holster at his hip, smiling +mirthlessly as he replaced it in the holster and made his way up the +street. + +With apparent carelessness, though keeping an alert eye about him, he +went the rounds of the saloons. Before he had visited half of them +there was an air of suppressed excitement in the manner of Lazette's +citizens, and knowledge of his errand went before him. In the saloons +that he entered men made way for him, looking at him with interest as +he peered with impersonal intentness at them, or, standing in doorways, +they watched him in silence as he departed, and then fell to talking in +whispers. He knew what was happening--Lazette had heard what Taggart +had been saying about him, and was keeping aloof, giving him a clear +field. + +Presently he entered the Red Dog. + +There were a dozen men here, drinking, playing cards, gambling. The +talk died away as he entered; men sat silently at the tables, seeming +to look at their cards, but in reality watching him covertly. Other +men got up from their chairs and walked, with apparent unconcern, away +from the center of the room, so that when Calumet carelessly tossed a +coin on the bar in payment for a drink which he ordered, only three men +remained at the bar with him. + +He had taken quick note of these men. They were Neal Taggart; a tall, +lanky, unprepossessing man with a truculent eye rimmed by lashless +lids, and with a drooping mustache which almost concealed the cruel +curve of his lips, whom he knew as Denver Ed--having met him several +times in the Durango country; and a medium-sized stranger whom he knew +as Garvey. The latter was dark-complexioned, with a hook nose and a +loose-lipped mouth. + +Calumet did not appear to notice them. He poured his glass full and +lifted it, preparatory to drinking. Before it reached his lips he +became aware of a movement among the three men--Garvey had left them +and was standing beside him. + +"Have that on me," said Garvey, silkily, to Calumet. + +Calumet surveyed him with a glance of mild interest. He set his glass +down, and the other silently motioned to the bartender for another. + +"Stranger here, I reckon?" said Garvey as he poured his whiskey. +"Where's your ranch?" + +"The Lazy Y," said Calumet. + +The other filled his glass. "Here's how," he said, and tilted it +toward his lips. Calumet did likewise. If he felt the man's hand on +the butt of the six-shooter at his hip, he gave no indication of it. +Nor did he seem to exhibit any surprise or concern when, after drinking +and setting the glass down, he looked around to see that Garvey had +drawn the weapon out and was examining it with apparently casual +interest. + +This action on the part of Garvey was unethical and dangerous, and +there were men among the dozen in the room who looked sneeringly at +Calumet, or to one another whispered the significant words, "greenhorn" +and "tenderfoot." Others, to whom the proprietor had spoken concerning +Calumet, looked at him in surprise. Still others merely stared at +Garvey and Calumet, unable to account for the latter's mild submission +to this unallowed liberty. The proprietor alone, remembering a certain +gleam in Calumet's eyes on a former occasion, looked at him now and saw +deep in his eyes a slumbering counterpart to it, and discreetly retired +to the far end of the bar, where there was a whiskey barrel in front of +him. + +But Calumet seemed unconcerned. + +"Some gun," remarked Garvey. It was strange, though, that he was not +looking at the weapon at all, or he might have seen the empty chambers. +He was looking at Calumet, and it was apparent that his interest in the +weapon was negative. + +"Yes, some," agreed Calumet. He swung around and faced the man, +leaning his left arm carelessly on the bar. + +At that instant Denver Ed sauntered over and joined them. He looked +once at Calumet, and then his gaze went to Garvey as he spoke. + +"Friend of yourn?" he questioned. There was marked deference in the +manner of Garvey. He politely backed away, shifting his position so +that Denver Ed faced Calumet at a distance of several feet, with no +obstruction between them. + +Calumet's eyes met Denver's, and he answered the latter's question, +Garvey having apparently withdrawn from the conversation. + +"Friend of _his_?" sneered Calumet, grinning shallowly. "I reckon not; +I'm pickin' my company." + +Denver Ed did not answer at once. He moved a little toward Calumet and +shoved his right hip forward, so that the butt of his six-shooter was +invitingly near. Then, with his hands folded peacefully over his +chest, he spoke: + +"You do," he said, "you mangy ------!" + +There was a stir among the onlookers as the vile epithet was applied. +Calumet's right hand went swiftly forward and his fingers closed around +the butt of the weapon at Denver Ed's hip. The gun came out with a +jerk and lay in Calumet's hand. Calumet began to pull the trigger. +The dull, metallic impact of the hammer against empty chambers was the +only result. + +Denver Ed grinned malignantly as his right hand stole into his vest. +There was a flash of metal as he drew the concealed gun, but before its +muzzle could be trained on Calumet the latter pressed the empty weapon +in his own hand against the one that Denver Ed was attempting to draw, +blocking its egress; while in Calumet's left hand the six-shooter which +he had concealed under his own vest roared spitefully within a foot of +Denver Ed's chest. + +Many in the room saw the expression of surprise in Denver Ed's eye as +he pitched forward in a heap at Calumet's feet. There were others who +saw Garvey raise the six-shooter which he had drawn from Calumet's +holster. All heard the hammer click impotently on the empty chambers; +saw Calumet's own weapon flash around and cover Garvey; saw the +flame-spurt and watched Garvey crumple and sink. + +There was a dead silence. Taggart had not moved. Calumet's gaze went +from the two fallen men and rested on his father's enemy. + +"Didn't work," he jeered. "They missed connections, didn't they? +You'll get yours if you ain't out of town by sundown. Layin' for me +for a week, eh? You sufferin' sneak, thinkin' I was born yesterday!" +He ignored Taggart and looked coolly around at his audience, not a man +of which had moved. He saw the sheriff standing near the door, and it +was to him that he spoke. + +"Frame-up," he said in short, sharp accents. "Back Durango way Denver +an' the little guy pulled it off regular. Little man gets your gun. +Denver gets you riled. Sticks his hip out so's you'll grab his gun. +You do. Gun's empty. But you don't know it, an' you try to perforate +Denver. Then he pulls another gun an' salivates you. Self-defense." +He looked around with a cold grin. "Planted an empty on him myself," +he said. "The little guy fell for it. So did Denver. I reckon that's +all. You wantin' me for this?" he inquired of the sheriff. "You'll +find me at the Lazy Y. Taggart--" He hesitated and looked around. +Taggart was nowhere to be seen. "Sloped," added Calumet, with a laugh. + +"I don't reckon I'll want you," said Toban. "Clear case of +self-defense. I reckon most everybody saw the play. Some raw." + +Several men had moved; one of them was peering at the faces of Denver +and Garvey. He now looked up at the sheriff. + +"Nothing botherin' them any more," he said. + +Calumet stepped over to Denver's confederate and took up the pistol +from the floor near him, replacing it in his holster. By this time the +crowd in the saloon was standing near the two gunmen, commenting +gravely or humorously, according to its whim. + +"Surprise party for him," suggested one, pointing to Denver. + +"Didn't tickle him a heap, though," said another. "Seemed plumb +shocked an' disappointed, if you noticed his face." + +"Slick," said another, pointing to Calumet, who had turned his back and +was walking toward the door; "cool as ice water." + +Sudden death had no terrors for these men; there was no inclination in +their minds to blame Calumet, and so they watched with admiration for +his poise as he stepped out through the door. + +"Taggart'll be gettin' his," said a man. + +"Not tonight," laughed another. "I seen him hittin' the breeze out. +An' sundown's quite a considerable distance away yet, too." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE AMBUSH + +If Calumet had any regret over the outcome of his adventure in the Red +Dog, it was that Neal Taggart had given him no opportunity to square +the account between them. Calumet had lingered in town until dusk, for +he had given his word and would not break it, and then, it being +certain that his enemy had decided not to accept the challenge, he +hitched his horses and just after dusk pulled out for the Lazy Y. +Something had been added to the debt of hatred which he owed the +Taggarts. + +As he drove through the darkening land he yielded to a deep +satisfaction. He had struck one blow, a sudden and decisive one, and, +though it had not landed on either of the Taggarts, it had at least +shown them what they might expect. He intended to deliver other blows, +and he was rather glad now that he had not been so weak as to allow +Betty's dictatorial attitude to drive him from the ranch, for in that +case he would never have discovered the plot to cheat him of his +heritage--would not have been in a position to bring discomfiture and +confusion upon them all. That was what he was determined to do. There +was no plan in his mind; he was merely going to keep his eyes open, and +when opportunity came he was going to take advantage of it. + +The darkness deepened as he drove. When he reached the crest of the +slope from which that morning he had looked down upon Lazette, the +wagon entered a stretch of broken country through which the horses made +slow progress. After traversing this section he encountered a flat, +dull plain of sand, hard and smooth, which the horses appreciated, for +they traveled rapidly, straining willingly in the harness. + +It was about nine o'clock when the moon rose, a pale yellow disk above +the hills that rimmed the valley of the Lazy Y, and Calumet welcomed it +with a smile, lighting a cigarette and leaning back comfortably in the +seat, with the reins held between his knees. + +He presently thought of his weapons, drawing them out and reloading +them. They recalled the incident of the Red Dog, and for a long time +his thoughts dwelt on it, straight, grim lines in his face. + +He wondered what Betty would say when she heard of it. Would it affect +her future relations with Taggart? His thoughts were still of Betty +when the wagon careened out of the level and began to crawl up a slope +that led through some hills. The trail grew hazardous, and the horses +were forced to proceed slowly. It was near midnight when the wagon +dipped into a little gully about a mile and a half from the ranchhouse. +Calumet halted the horses at the bottom of the gully, allowing them to +drink from the shallow stream that trickled on its way to meet the +river which passed through the wood near the ranchhouse. + +After the animals had drunk their fill he urged them on again, for he +was weary of the ride and anxious to have it over with. It was a long +pull, however, and the horses made hard work of it, so that when they +reached the crest of the rise they halted of their own accord and stood +with their legs braced, breathing heavily. + +Calumet waited patiently. He was anxious to get to the Lazy Y, but his +sympathy was with the horses. He rolled and lighted another cigarette, +holding the match concealed in the palm of his hand so that the breeze +might not extinguish it. + +Sitting thus, a premonition of danger oppressed him with such force and +suddenness that it caused him to throw himself quickly backward. At +the exact instant that his back struck the lumber piled behind him he +heard the sharp, vicious crack of a rifle, and a bullet thudded dully +into one of the wooden stanchions of the wagon frame at the edge of the +seat. Another report followed it quickly, and Calumet flung himself +headlong toward the rear of the wagon, where he lay for a brief +instant, alert, rigid, too full of rage for utterance. + +But he was not too angry to think. The shots, he knew, had come from +the left of the wagon. They had been too close for comfort, and +whoever had shot at him was a good enough marksman, although, he +thought, with a bitter grin, a trifle too slow of movement to do any +damage to him. + +His present position was precarious and he did not stay long in it. +Close to the side of the wagon--the side opposite that from which the +shots had come--was a shallow gully, deep enough to conceal himself in +and fringed at the rear by several big boulders. It was an ideal +position and Calumet did not hesitate to take advantage of it. +Dropping from the rear of the wagon, he made a leap for the gully, +landing in its bottom upon all fours. He heard a crash, and a bullet +flattened itself against one of the rocks above his head. + +"He ain't so slow, after all," he admitted grudgingly, referring to the +concealed marksman. + +He kneeled in the gully and looked cautiously over its edge. The wagon +was directly in front of him; part of one of the rear wheels was in his +line of vision. The horses were standing quietly, undisturbed by the +shots. He resolved to keep them where they were, and, exercising the +greatest care, he found a good-sized rock and stuck it under the front +of the rear wheel nearest him, thus blocking the wagon against them +should they become restless. + +The moon was at his back, and he grinned with satisfaction as he noted +that the rocks behind him threw a deep shadow into the gully. He could +not help thinking that his enemy, whoever he was, had not made a happy +selection of a spot for an ambuscade, for the moonlight's glare +revealed every rock on the other side of the wagon, and the few trees +in the wood behind the rocks were far too slender to provide shelter +for a man of ordinary size. Calumet chuckled grimly as, with his head +slightly above the edge of the gully and concealed behind the felloes +of the wagon wheel, he made an examination of the rocks beyond the +wagon. + +There were four of the rocks which were of sufficient size to afford +concealment for a man. They varied in size and were ranged along the +side of the trail in an irregular line. All were about a hundred feet +distant. + +The smaller one, he decided, was not to be considered, though he looked +suspiciously at it before making his decision. Its neighbor was +larger, though he reasoned that if he were to make a selection for an +ambuscade he would not choose that one either. The other two rocks +were almost the same size and he watched them warily. To the right and +left of these rocks was a clear space, flat and open, with not a tree +or a bush large enough to conceal danger such as he was in search of. +The slope up which he had just driven the horses was likewise free from +obstruction, so that if his enemy was behind any of the rocks he was +doomed to stay there or offer himself as a target for Calumet's pistol. + +"Wise, I reckon," he sneered. "Figgered to plug me while the horses +was restin', knowin' I'd have to breathe them about here. Thought one +shot would get me. Missed his reckonin'. Must be a mite peeved by +this time." + +His gaze became intent again, but this time it was directed to some +underbrush about two hundred yards distant, back of the rocks. With +some difficulty he could make out the shape of a horse standing well +back in the brush, and again he grinned. + +"That's why he took that side," he said. "There's no place on this +side where he could hide his horse. It's plumb simple." + +From where he kneeled began another slope that descended to the Lazy Y +valley. It dipped gently down into the wood in front of the house, +where he had hitched his horse on the night of his home-coming, and +between the trees he could see a light flickering. The light came from +the kitchen window of the ranch-house; Betty had left it burning for +him, expecting him to return shortly after dusk. The house was not +more than a mile distant and he wondered at the hardihood of his enemy +in planning to ambush him so close to his home. He reflected, though, +that it was not likely that the shots could be heard from the house, +for the spot on which the wagon stood was several hundred feet above +the level of the valley, and then there was the intervening wood, which +would dull whatever sound might float in that direction. + +Who could his assailant be? Why, it was Taggart, of course. Taggart +had left town hours before him, he was a coward, and shooting from +ambush is a coward's game. + +Calumet's blood leaped a little faster in his veins. He would settle +for good with Neal Taggart. But he did not move except to draw one of +his six-shooters and push its muzzle over the edge of the gully. He +shoved his arm slowly forward so that it lay extended along the ground +the barrel of the pistol resting on the felloes of the wheel. + +In this position he remained for half an hour. No sound broke the +strained stillness of the place. The horses had sagged forward, their +heads hanging, their legs braced. There was no cloud in the sky and +the clear light of the moon poured down in a yellow flood. Calumet's +task would have been easier if he could have told which of the four +rocks concealed his enemy. As it was he was compelled to watch them +all. + +But presently, at the edge of one of the two larger rocks, the one +nearest the slope, he detected movement. A round object a foot in +diameter, came slowly into view from behind the rock, propelled by an +unseen force. It was shoved out about three quarters of its width, so +that it overlapped the big rock beside it, leaving an aperture between +the two of perhaps three or four inches. While Calumet watched a rifle +barrel was stuck into this aperture. Calumet waited until the muzzle +of the rifle became steady and then he took quick aim at the spot and +pulled the trigger of his six-shooter, ducking his head below the edge +of the gully as his weapon crashed. + +He heard a laugh, mocking, discordant, followed by a voice--Taggart's +voice. + +"Clean miss," it said. "You're nervous." + +"Like you was in town today," jeered Calumet. + +"Then you know me?" returned Taggart. "I ain't admittin' that I was +any nervous." + +"Scared of the dark, then," said Calumet. "You left town a whole lot +punctual." + +"Well," sneered Taggart; "mebbe I ain't much on the shoot. I don't +play any man's game but my own." + +"You're right," mocked Calumet; "you don't play no man's game. A man's +game--" + +He raised his head a trifle and a bullet sang past it, flattened itself +against the rock behind him, cutting short his speech and his humor at +the same instant. The gully was fully fifty feet long and he dropped +on his hands and knees and crawled to the upper end of it, away from +the slope. He saw one of Taggart's feet projecting from behind the +rock and he brought his six-shooter to a poise. The foot moved and +disappeared. Catching a glimpse of the rifle barrel coming into view +around the edge of the rock, Calumet sank back into the gully. Fifteen +minutes later when he again cautiously raised his head above the level +there was no sign of Taggart. He dropped down into the gully again and +scrambled to the other end of it, raising his head again. He saw +Taggart, twenty-five feet behind the rock, backing away toward the wood +where his horse stood, crouching, watchful, endeavoring to keep the +rock between him and Calumet while he retreated. Altogether, he was +fully a hundred and twenty-five feet away at the moment Calumet caught +sight of him, and he was looking toward the end of the gully that +Calumet had just vacated. Calumet stood erect and snapped a shot at +him, though the distance was so great that he had little expectation of +doing any damage. + +But Taggart staggered, dropped his rifle and dove headlong toward the +rock. In an instant he had resumed his position behind it, and Calumet +could tell from the rapidity of his movements that he had not been hit. +He saw the rifle lying where it had fallen, and he was meditating a +quick rush toward the rock when he saw Taggart's hand come out and +grasp the stock of the weapon, dragging it back to him. Calumet +whipped a bullet at the hand, but the only result was a small dust +cloud beside it. + +"In a hurry, Taggart?" he jeered. "Aw, don't be. This is the most fun +I've had since I've been back in the valley. An' you want to spoil it +by hittin' the breeze. Hang around a while till I get my hand in. I +reckon you ain't hurt?" he added, putting a little anxiety into his +voice. + +"Hurt nothin'," growled Taggart. "You hit the stock of the rifle." + +"I reckon that wouldn't be accounted bad shootin' at a hundred an' +twenty-five feet," said Calumet. "If you hadn't had the rifle in the +way you'd have got it plumb in your bread-basket. But don't be +down-hearted; that ain't nothin' to what I can do when I get my hand +in. I ain't had no practice." + +He had an immense advantage over Taggart. The latter was compelled to +remain concealed behind his rock, while Calumet had the freedom of the +gully. He did not anticipate that Taggart would again attempt to +retreat in the same way, nor did he think that he would risk charging +him, for he would not be certain at what point in the gully he would be +likely to find his enemy and thus a charge would probably result +disastrously for him. + +Taggart was apparently satisfied of the watchfulness of Calumet, for he +stayed discreetly behind his rock. Twice during the next hour his +rifle cracked when he caught a glimpse of Calumet's head, and each time +he knew he had missed, for Calumet's laugh followed the reports. Once, +after a long interval of silence, thinking that Calumet was at the +other end of the gully, he moved the small rock which he had pushed +beyond the edge of the large one, using his rifle barrel as a prod. A +bullet from Calumet's pistol struck the rock, glanced from it and +seared the back of his hand, bringing a curse to his lips. + +"Told you so," came Calumet's voice. "I hope it ain't nothin' serious. +But I'm gettin' my hand in." + +This odd duel continued with long lapses of silence while the moon grew +to a disk of pale, liquid silver in the west, enduring through the +bleak, chill time preceding the end of night, finally fading and +disappearing as the far eastern distance began to glow with the gray +light of dawn. + +Calumet's cold humor had not survived the night. He patrolled the +gully during the slow-dragging hours of the early morning with a +growing caution and determination, his lips setting always into harder +lines, his eyes beginning to blaze with a ferocity that promised ill +for Taggart. + +Shortly after dawn, kneeling in the gully at the end toward the +ranchhouse, he heard the wagon move. He looked up to see that the +horses had started, evidently with the intention of completing their +delayed journey to the stable, where they would find the food and water +which they no doubt craved. As the wagon bumped over the obstruction +which Calumet had placed in front of the rear wheel, he was on the +verge of shouting to the horses to halt, but thought better of it, +watching them in silence as they made their way slowly down the slope. + +It took them a long time to reach the level of the valley, and then +they passed slowly through the wood, going as steadily as though there +was a driver on the seat behind them, and finally they turned into the +ranchhouse yard and came to a halt near the kitchen door. + +Calumet watched them until they came to a stop and then he went to the +opposite end of the gully, peeping above it in order to learn of the +whereabouts of Taggart. He saw no signs of him and returned to the +other end of the gully. + +Taggart, he suspected, could not see where the wagon had gone and no +doubt was filled with curiosity. Neither could Taggart see the +ranchhouse, for there were intervening hills and the slope itself was a +ridge which effectually shut off Taggart's view. But neither hills or +ridge were in Calumet's line of vision. Kneeling in the gully he +watched the wagon. Presently he saw Betty come out and stand on the +porch. She looked at the wagon for a moment and then went toward +it--Calumet could see her peer around the canvas side at the seat. +After a moment she left the wagon and walked to the stable, looking +within. Then she took a turn around the ranchhouse yard, stopping at +the bunkhouse and looking over the corral fence. She returned to the +wagon and stood beside it as though pondering. Calumet grinned in +amusement. She was wondering what had become of him. His grin was cut +short by the crash of Taggart's rifle and he dodged down, realizing +that in his curiosity to see what Betty was doing he had inadvertently +exposed himself. A hole in his shirt sleeve near the shoulder +testified to his narrow escape. + +His rage against Taggart was furious and with a grimace at him he +turned again to the ranchhouse. Betty had left the wagon and had +walked several steps toward him, standing rigid, shading her eyes with +her hands. Apparently she had heard the report of the rifle and was +wondering what it meant. At that instant Calumet looked over the edge +of the gully to see Taggart shoving the muzzle of his rifle around the +side of the rock. Its report mingled with the roar of Calumet's pistol. + +Taggart yelled with pain and rage and flopped back out of sight, while +Calumet laid an investigating hand on his left shoulder, which felt as +though it had been seared by a red-hot iron. + +He kneeled in the gully and tore the cloth away. The wound was a +slight one and he sneered at it. He made his way to the other end of +the gully, expecting that Taggart, if injured only slightly, might +again attempt a retreat, but he did not see him and came back to the +end nearest the ranchhouse. Then he saw Betty running toward him, +carrying a rifle. + +At this evidence of meditated interference in his affairs a new rage +afflicted Calumet. He motioned violently for her to keep away, and +when he saw Dade run out of the house after her, also with a rifle in +hand, he motioned again. But it was evident that they took his motions +to mean that they were not to approach him in that direction, for they +changed their course and swung around toward the rocks at his rear. + +Furious at their obstinacy, or lack of perception, Calumet watched +their approach with glowering glances. When they came near enough for +him to make himself heard he yelled savagely at them. + +"Get out of here, you damned fools!" he said; "do you want to get hurt?" + +They continued to come on in spite of this warning, but when they +reached the foot of the little slope that led to the ridge at the edge +of which was Calumet's gully, they halted, looking up at Calumet +inquiringly. The ridge towered above their heads, and so they were in +no danger, but Betty halted only for a moment and then continued to +approach until she stood on the ridge, exposed to Taggart's fire. But, +of course, Taggart would not fire at her. + +"What's wrong?" she demanded of Calumet; "what were you shooting at?" + +"Friend of yours," he said brusquely. + +"Who?" + +"Neal Taggart. We've been picnicin' all night." + +Her face flooded with color, but paled instantly. Calumet thought +there was reproach in the glance she threw at him, but he did not have +time to make certain, for at the instant she looked at him she darted +toward a rock about ten feet distant, no doubt intending to conceal +herself behind it. + +Calumet watched her. When she gained the shelter of the rock she was +about to kneel in some fringing mesquite at its base when she heard +Calumet yell at her. She turned, hesitating in the act of kneeling, +and looked at Calumet. His face was ashen. His heavy pistol pointed +in her direction; it seemed that its muzzle menaced her. She +straightened, anger in her eyes, as the weapon crashed. + +Her knees shook, she covered her face with her hands to shut out the +reeling world, for she thought that in his rage he was shooting at her. +But in the next instant she felt his arms around her; she was squeezed +until she thought her bones were being crushed, and in the same instant +she was lifted, swung clear of the ground and set suddenly down again. +She opened her eyes, her whole body trembling with wrath, to look at +Calumet, within a foot of her. But he was not looking at her; his gaze +was fixed with sardonic satisfaction upon a huge rattler which was +writhing in the throes of death at the base of the rock where she had +been about to kneel. Its head had been partly severed from its body +and while she looked Calumet's pistol roared again and its destruction +was completed. + +She was suddenly faint; the world reeled again. But the sensation +passed quickly and she saw Calumet standing close to her, looking at +her with grim disapprobation. Apparently he had forgotten his danger +in his excitement over hers. + +"I told you not to come here," he said. + +But a startled light leaped into her eyes at the words. Calumet swung +around as he saw her rifle swing to her shoulder. He saw Taggart near +the edge of the wood, two hundred yards away, kneeling, his rifle +leveled at them. He yelled to Betty but she did not heed him. +Taggart's bullet sang over his head as the gun in Betty's hands +crashed. Taggart stood quickly erect, his rifle dropped from his hands +as he ran, staggering from side to side, to his horse. He mounted and +fled, his pony running desperately, accompanied by the music of a rifle +that suddenly began popping on the other side of Calumet--Dade's. But +the distance was great, the target elusive, and Dade's bullets sang +futilely. + +They watched Taggart until he vanished, his pony running steadily along +a far level, and then Betty turned to see Calumet looking at her with a +twisted, puzzled smile. + +"You plugged him, I reckon," he said, nodding toward the vast distance +into which his enemy was disappearing. "Why, it's plumb ridiculous. +If my girl would plug me that way, I'd sure feel--" + +His meaning was plain, though he did not finish. She looked at him +straight in the eyes though her face was crimson and her lips trembled +a little. + +"You are a brute!" she said. Turning swiftly she began to descend the +slope toward the ranchhouse. + +Calumet stood looking after her for a moment, his face working with +various emotions that struggled for expression. Then, ignoring Dade, +who stood near him, plainly puzzled over this enigma, he walked over to +the edge of the wood where Taggart's rifle lay, picked it up and made +his way to the ranchhouse. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MORE PROGRESS + +A strange thing was happening to Calumet. His character was in the +process of remaking. Slowly and surely Betty's good influence was +making itself felt. This in spite of his knowledge of her secret +meeting with Neal Taggart. To be sure, so far as his actions were +concerned, he was the Calumet of old, a man of violent temper and +vicious impulses, but there were growing governors that were +continually slowing his passions, strange, new thoughts that were +thrusting themselves insistently before him. He was strangely +uncertain of his attitude toward Betty, disturbed over his feelings +toward her. Despite his knowledge of her secret meeting with Taggart, +with a full consciousness of all the rage against her which that +knowledge aroused in him, he liked her. At the same time, he despised +her. She was not honest. He had no respect for any woman who would +sneak as she had sneaked. She was two-faced; she was trying to cheat +him out of his heritage. She had deceived his father, she was trying +to deceive him. She was unworthy of any admiration whatever, but +whenever he looked at her, whenever she was near him, he was conscious +of a longing that he could not fight down. + +And there was Dade. He often watched Dade while they were working +together on the bunkhouse in the days following the incident of the +ambush by Taggart. The feeling that came over him at these times was +indescribable and disquieting, as was his emotion whenever Dade smiled +at him. He had never experienced the deep, stirring spirit of +comradeship, the unselfish affection which sometimes unites the hearts +of men; he had had no "chum" during his youth. But this feeling that +came over him whenever he looked at Dade was strangely like that which +he had for his horse, Blackleg. It was deeper, perhaps, and disturbed +him more, yet it was the same. At the same time, it was different. +But he could not tell why. He liked to have Dade around him, and one +day when the latter went to Lazette on some errand for Betty he felt +queerly depressed and lonesome. That same night when Dade drove into +the ranchhouse yard Calumet had smiled at him, and a little later when +Dade had told Betty about it he had added: + +"When I seen him grin at me that cordial, I come near fallin' off my +horse. I was that flustered! Why, Betty, he's comin' around! The +durn cuss likes me!" + +"Do you like him?" inquired Betty. + +"Sure. Why, shucks! There ain't nothin' wrong with him exceptin' his +grouch. When he works that off so's it won't come back any more he'll +be plumb man, an' don't you forget it!" + +There was no mistaking Calumet's feeling toward Bob. He pitied the +youngster. He allowed him to ride Blackleg. He braided him a +half-sized lariat. He carried him long distances on his back and +waited upon him at the table. Bob became his champion; the boy +worshiped him. + +Betty was not unaware of all this, and yet she continued to hold +herself aloof from Calumet. She did not treat him indifferently, she +merely kept him at a distance. Several times when he spoke to her +about Neal Taggart she left him without answering, and so he knew that +she resented the implication that he had expressed on the morning +following the night on which he had discovered her talking in the +office. + +It was nearly three weeks after the killing of Denver and his +confederate that the details of the story reached Betty's ears, and +Calumet was as indifferent to her expressions of horror--though it was +a horror not unmixed with a queer note of satisfaction, over which he +wondered--as he was to Dade's words of congratulation: "You're sure +livin' up to your reputation of bein' a slick man with the six!" + +Nor did Calumet inquire who had brought the news. But when one day a +roaming puncher brought word from the Arrow that "young Taggart is +around ag'in after monkeyin' with the wrong end of a gun," he showed +interest. He was anxious to settle the question which had been in his +mind since the morning of the shooting. It was this: had Betty meant +to hit Taggart when she had shot at him? He thought not; she had +pretended hostility in order to mislead him. But if that had been her +plan she had failed to fool him, for he watched unceasingly, and many +nights when Betty thought him asleep he was secreted in the wood near +the ranchhouse. He increased his vigilance after receiving word that +Taggart had not been badly injured. More, he rarely allowed Betty to +get out of his sight, for he was determined to defeat the plan to rob +him. + +However, the days passed and Taggart did not put in an appearance. +Time removes the sting from many hurts and even jealousy's pangs are +assuaged by the flight of days. And so after a while Calumet's +vigilance relaxed, and he began to think that he had scared Taggart +away. He noted with satisfaction that Betty seemed to treat him less +coldly, and he felt a pulse of delight over the thought that perhaps +she had repented and had really tried to hit Taggart that morning. + +Once he seized upon this idea he could not dispel it. More, it grew on +him, became a foundation upon which he built a structure of defense for +Betty. Taggart had been trying to deceive her. She had discovered his +intentions and had broken with him. Perhaps she had seen the injustice +of her actions. He began to wish he had treated her a little less +cruelly, a little more civilly, began to wish that he had yielded to +those good impulses which he had felt occasionally of late. His +attitude toward Betty became almost gentle, and there were times when +she watched him with wondering curiosity, as though not quite +understanding the change that had come in him. + +But Dade understood. He had "sized" Calumet "up" in those first days +and his judgment had been unerring, as it was now when Betty asked his +opinion. + +"He's beginnin' to use his brain box," he told her. "He's been a +little shy an' backward, not knowin' what to expect, an' makin' +friend's bein' a little new to him. But he's the goods at bottom, an' +he's sighted a goal which he's thinkin' to make one of these days." + +"A goal?" said she, puzzled. + +"Aw, you female critters is deep ones," grinned Dade, "an' all smeared +over with honey an' innocence. You're the goal he's after. An' I'm +bettin' he'll get you." + +Her face reddened, and she looked at him plainly indignant. + +"He is a brute," she said. + +"Most all men is brutes if you scratch them deep enough," drawled Dade. +"The trouble with Calumet is that he's never had a chance to spread on +the soft stuff. He's the plain, unvarnished, dyed-in-the-wool, +original man. There's a word fits him, if I could think of it." He +looked at her inquiringly. + +"Primitive, I think you mean," she said. + +"That's it--primitive. That's him. He's the rough material; nobody's +ever helped him to get into shape. A lot of folks pride themselves on +what they call culture, forgettin' that it wasn't in them when they +came into the world, that it growed on them after they got here, was +put there by trainin' an' example. Not that I'm ag'in culture; it's a +mighty fine thing to have hangin' around a man. But if a man ain't got +it an' still measures up to man's size, he's goin' to be a humdinger +when he gets all the culture that's comin' to him. Mebbe Calumet'll +never get it. But he's losin' his grouch, an' if you--" + +"When do you think you will finish repairing the corral?" interrupted +Betty. + +Dade grinned. "Tomorrow, I reckon," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ANOTHER PEACE OFFERING + +Dade's prediction that the corral would be completed the next day was +fulfilled. It was a large enclosure, covering several acres, for in +the Lazy Y's prosperous days there had been a great many cattle to care +for, and a roomy corral is a convenience always arranged for by an +experienced cattleman. But it yawned emptily for more than a week +following its completion. + +During that time there had been little to do. Dade and Malcolm had +passed several days tinkering at the stable and the bunkhouse; Bob, at +Calumet's suggestion, was engaged in the humane task of erecting a +kennel for the new dog--which had grown large and ungainly, though +still retaining the admiration of his owner; and Calumet spent much of +his time roaming around the country on Blackleg. + +"Killin' time," he told Dade. + +But it was plain to Dade, as it was to Betty, who had spoken but little +to him in a week, that Calumet was filled with speculation and +impatience over the temporary inaction. The work of repairing the +buildings was all done. There was nothing now to do except to await +the appearance of some cattle. The repair work had all been done to +that end, and it was inevitable that Betty must be considering some +arrangement for the procuring of cattle, but for a week she had said +nothing and Calumet did not question her. + +But on the Monday morning following the period of inaction, Calumet +noted at the breakfast table that Betty seemed unusually eager to have +the meal over. As he was leaving the table she told him she wanted to +speak to him after her housework was done, and he went outside, where +he lingered, watching Dade and Malcolm and Bob. + +About an hour or so later Betty came out. Calumet was standing at the +corral fence near the stable when she stepped down from the porch, and +he gave a gasp of astonishment and then stood perfectly still, looking +at her. + +For the Betty that he saw was not the Betty he had grown accustomed to +seeing. Not once during the time he had been at the Lazy Y had he seen +her except in a house dress and her appearance now was in the nature of +a transformation. + +[Illustration: Her appearance now was in the nature of a +transformation.] + +She was arrayed in a riding habit of brown corduroy which consisted of +a divided skirt--a "doubled-barreled" one in the sarcastic phraseology +of the male cowpuncher, who affects to despise such an article of +feminine apparel--a brown woolen blouse with a low collar, above which +she had sensibly tied a neckerchief to keep the sun and sand from +blistering her neck; and a black felt hat with a wide brim. On her +hands were a pair of silver-spangled leather gauntlets; encasing her +feet were a pair of high-topped, high-heeled riding boots, ornamented +with a pair of long-roweled Mexican spurs, mounted with silver. She +was carrying a saddle which was also bedecked and bespangled with +silver. + +Illumination came instantly to Calumet. These things--the saddle, the +riding habit, the spurs--were material possessions that connected her +with the past. They were her personal belongings, kept and treasured +from the more prosperous days of her earlier life. + +At the first look he had felt a mean impulse to ridicule her because of +them, but this impulse was succeeded instantly by a queer feeling of +pity for her, and he kept silent. + +But even had he ridiculed her, his ridicule would have been merely a +mask behind which he could have hidden his surprise and admiration, for +though her riding habit suggested things effete and eastern, which are +always to be condemned on general principles, it certainly did fit her +well, was becoming, neat, and in it she made a figure whose attractions +were not to be denied. + +She knew how to wear her clothes, too, he noted that instantly. She +was at home in them; she graced them, gave them a subtle hint of +quality that carried far and sank deep. As she came toward him he +observed that her cheeks were a trifle flushed, her eyes a little +brighter than usual, but for all that she was at ease and natural. + +She stopped in front of him and smiled. + +"Do you mind going over to the Diamond K with me this morning?" she +asked. + +"What for?" he said gruffly, reddening as he thought she might see the +admiration which was slumbering in his eyes. + +"To buy some cattle," she returned. "Kelton, of the Diamond K, hasn't +been fortunate this season. Little Darby has been dry nearly all of +the time and there has been little good grass on his range. In the +first place, he had too much stock, even if conditions were right. I +have heard that Kelton offered to pay the Taggarts for the use of part +of their grass, but they have never been friends and the Taggarts +wanted to charge him an outrageous price for the privilege. Therefore, +Kelton is anxious to get rid of some of his stock. We need cattle and +we can get them from him at a reasonable figure. He has some white +Herefords that I would like to get." + +He cleared his throat and hesitated, frowning. + +"Why don't you take Dade--or Malcolm?" he suggested. + +She looked straight at him. "Don't be priggish," she said. "Dade and +Malcolm have nothing to do with the running of this ranch. I want you +to go with me, because I am going to buy some cattle and I want you to +confirm the deal." + +He laughed. "Do you reckon you need to go at all?" he said. "I figure +to know cattle some myself, an' I wouldn't let Kelton hornswoggle me." + +She straightened, her chin lifting a little. "Well," she said slowly, +"if that is the way you feel, I presume I shall have to go alone. I +had thought, though, that the prospective owner of the Lazy Y might +have enough interest in his property to put aside his likes and +dislikes long enough to care for his own interests. Also," she added, +"where I came from, no man would be ungentlemanly enough to refuse to +accompany a lady anywhere she might ask him to go." + +The flush on his face grew. But he refused to become disconcerted. "I +reckon to be as much of a gentleman as any Texas guy," he said. "But I +expect, though," he added; "to prove that to you I'll have to trail +along after you." + +"Of course," she said, the corners of her mouth dimpling a little. + +He went down to the corral, roped the most gentle and best appearing +one of the two horses he had bought in Lazette, caught up his own +horse, Blackleg, and brought them to the stable, where he saddled and +bridled them. Before putting the bridle on her horse, however, he +found an opportunity to work off part of the resentment which had +accumulated in him over her reference to his conduct. + +After adjusting the saddle, paying particular attention to the cinches, +he straightened and looked at her. + +"Do you reckon to have a bridle that belongs to that right pretty +saddle an' suit of yourn?" he asked. + +She cast a swift glance about her and blushed. "Oh," she said; "I have +forgotten it! It is in my room!" + +"I reckon I'd get it if I was thinkin' of goin' ridin'," he said. +"Some folks seem to think that when you're ridin' a horse a bridle is +right handy." + +"Well," she said, smiling at him as she went out the stable door; "it +has been a long time since I have had these things on, and perhaps I +was a little nervous." + +At this reference to her past the pulse of pity which he had felt for +her before again shot over him. He had seen a quick sadness in her +eyes, lurking behind the smile. + +"I reckon you've been stayin' in the house too much," he said gruffly. + +She hesitated, going out of the door, to look back at him, astonishment +and something more subtle glinting her eyes. He saw it and frowned. + +"It's twelve miles to the Diamond K," he suggested; "an' twelve back. +If you're figgerin' on ridin' that distance an' takin' time between to +look at any cattle mebbe you'd better get a move on." + +She was out of the door before he had ceased speaking and in an +incredibly short time was back, a little breathless, her face flushed +as though she had been running. + +He put the bridle on her horse, led it out, and condescended to hold +the stirrup for her, a service which she acknowledged with a flashing +smile that brought a reluctant grin to his face. + +Then, swinging into his own saddle, he urged Blackleg after her, for +she had not waited for him, riding down past the ranchhouse and out +into the little stretch of plain that reached to the river. + +They rode steadily, talking little, for Calumet deliberately kept a +considerable distance between them, thus showing her that though +courtesy had forced him to accompany her it could not demand that he +should also become a mark at which she could direct conversation. + +It was noon when they came in sight of the Diamond K ranch buildings. +They were on a wide plain near the river and what grass there was was +sun-scorched and rustled dryly under the tread of their horses' hoofs. +Then Calumet added a word to the few that he had already spoken during +the ride. + +"I reckon Kelton must have been loco to try to raise cattle in a +God-forsaken hole like this," he said with a sneer. + +"That he was foolish enough to do so will result to our advantage," she +replied. + +"Meanin' what?" + +"That we will be able to buy what cattle we want more cheaply than we +would were Kelton's range what it should be," she returned, watching +his face. + +He looked at her vindictively. "You're one of them kind of humans that +like to take advantage of a man's misfortune," he said. + +"That is all in the viewpoint," she defended. "I didn't bring +misfortune to Kelton. And I consider that in buying his cattle I am +doing him a favor. I am not gloating over the opportunity--it is +merely business." + +"Why didn't you offer Kelton the Lazy Y range?" he said with a twisting +grin. + +She could not keep the triumph out of her voice. "I did," she +answered. "He wouldn't take it because he didn't like you--doesn't +like you. He told me that he knew you when you were a boy and you +weren't exactly his style." + +Thus eliminated as a conversationalist, and defeated in his effort to +cast discredit upon her, Calumet maintained a sneering silence. + +But when they rode up to the Diamond K ranchhouse, he flung a parting +word at her. + +"I reckon you can go an' talk cattle to your man, Kelton," he said. +"I'm afraid that if he goes gassin' to me I'll smash his face in." + +He rode back to the horse corral, which they had passed, to look again +at a horse inside which had attracted his attention. + +The animal was glossy black except for a little patch of white above +the right fore-fetlock; he was tall, rangy, clean-limbed, +high-spirited, and as Calumet sat in the saddle near the corral gate +watching him he trotted impudently up to the bars and looked him over. +Then, after a moment, satisfying his curiosity, he wheeled, slashed at +the gate with both hoofs, and with a snort, that in the horse language +might have meant contempt or derision, cavorted away. + +Calumet's admiring glance followed him. He sat in the saddle for half +an hour, eyeing the horse critically, and at the end of that time, +noting that Betty had returned to the ranchhouse with Kelton, probably +having looked at some of the stock she had come to see--Calumet had +observed on his approach that the cattle corral was well filled with +white Herefords--he wheeled Blackleg and rode over to them. + +"Mr. Kelton has offered me four hundred head of cattle at a reasonable +figure," Betty told him on his approach. "All that remains is for you +to confirm it." + +"I reckon you're the boss," said Calumet. He looked at Kelton, and +evidently his fear that he would "smash" the tatter's face had +vanished--perhaps in a desire to possess the black horse, which had +seized him. + +"I reckon you ain't sellin' that black horse?" he said. + +"Cheap," said Kelton quickly. + +"How cheap?" + +"Fifty dollars." + +"I reckon he's my horse," said Calumet. "The boss of the Lazy Y will +pay for him when she hands you the coin for your cattle." He +scrutinized Kelton's face closely, having caught a note in his voice +which had interested him. "Why you wantin' to get rid of the black?" +he questioned. + +"He ain't been rode," said Kelton; "he won't be rode. You can back out +of that sale now, if you like. But I'm tellin' you the gospel truth. +There ain't no man in the Territory can ride him. Miskell, my regular +bronc-buster, is the slickest man that ever forked a horse, an' he's +layin' down in the bunkhouse right now, nursin' a leg which that black +devil busted last week. An' men is worth more to me than horses right +now. I reckon," he finished, eyeing Calumet with a certain +vindictiveness, which had undoubtedly lasted over from his acquaintance +with the latter in the old days; "that you ain't a heap smart at +breakin' broncs, an' you won't want the black now." + +"I'm reckonin' on ridin' him back to the Lazy Y," said Calumet. + +Kelton grinned incredulously, and Betty looked swiftly at Calumet. For +an instant she had half feared that this declaration had been made in a +spirit of bravado, and she was prepared to be disagreeably disappointed +in Calumet. She told herself when she saw his face, however, that she +ought to have known better, for whatever his other shortcomings she had +never heard him boast. + +And that he was not boasting now was plainly evident, both to her and +Kelton. His declaration had been merely a calm announcement of a +deliberate purpose. He was as natural now as he had been all along. +She saw Kelton's expression change--saw the incredulity go out of it, +observed his face whiten a little. + +But his former vindictiveness remained. "I reckon if you want to be a +damn fool I ain't interferin'. But I've warned you, an' it's your +funeral." + +Calumet did not reply, contenting himself with grinning. He swung down +from Blackleg, removed the saddle and bridle from the animal, and +holding the latter by the forelock turned to Betty. + +"I'd like you to ride Blackleg home. He's your horse now. Kelton will +lend you a halter to lead that skate you're on. While he's gettin' the +halter I'll put your saddle on Blackleg--if you'll get off." + +Betty dismounted and the change was made. She had admired +Blackleg--she was in love with him now that he belonged to her, but she +was afflicted with a sudden speechlessness over the abruptness with +which he had made the gift. She wanted to thank him, but she felt it +was not time. Besides, he had not waited for her thanks. He had +placed the halter on the horse she had ridden to the Diamond K, had +looked on saturninely while Kelton had helped her into the saddle, and +had then carried his own saddle to a point near the outside of the +corral fence, laying the bridle beside it. Then he uncoiled the +braided hair lariat that hung at the pommel of the saddle and walked to +the corral gate. + +With a little pulse of joy over her possession of the splendid animal +under her, and an impulse of curiosity, she urged him to the corral +fence and sat in the saddle, a little white of face, watching Calumet. + +The black horse was alone in the corral and as Calumet entered and +closed the gate behind him, not fastening it, the black came toward him +with mincing steps, its ears laid back. + +Calumet continued to approach him. The black backed away slowly until +Calumet was within fifty feet of him--it seemed to Betty that the horse +knew from previous experience the length of a rope--and then with a +snort of defiance it wheeled and raced to the opposite end of the +corral. + +"Watch the gate!" called Calumet to Kelton. + +He continued to approach the black. The beast retreated along the +fence, stepping high, watching Calumet over its shoulder. Plainly, it +divined Calumet's intention--which was to crowd it into a corner--and +when almost there it halted suddenly, made a feint to pass to Calumet's +left, wheeled just as suddenly and plunged back to his right. + +The ruse did not work. Calumet had been holding his rope low, with +seeming carelessness, but as the black whipped past he gave the rope a +quick flirt. Like a sudden snake it darted sinuously out, the loop +opened, rose, settled around the black's neck, tightened; the end in +Calumet's hand was flipped in a half hitch around a snubbing post +nearby, and the black tumbled headlong into the dust of the corral, +striking with a force that brought a grunt from him. + +For an instant he lay still. And in that instant Calumet was at his +side. While advancing toward the black, he had taken off his +neckerchief, and now he deftly knotted it around the black's head, +covering its eyes. A moment later he was leading it, unprotesting, out +of the corral gate. + +He halted near the fence and looked at Betty, who was watching +critically, though with a tenseness in her attitude that brought a +fugitive smile to Calumet's lips. + +"I reckon you'd better move a way an' give this here animal plenty of +room," he said. "If he's as much horse as Kelton says he is he'll want +a heap of it." + +He waited until in obedience to his suggestion Betty had withdrawn to a +safe distance toward the ranchhouse. Then with Kelton holding the +black's head he placed the saddle on, then the bridle, working with a +sure swiftness that brought an admiring glint into Betty's eyes. Then +he deliberately coiled his rope and fastened it to the pommel of the +saddle, taking extra care with it. This done he turned with a cold +grin to Kelton, nodding his head shortly. + +Kelton pulled the neckerchief from the black's eyes, let go of its +head, and scurried to the top of the corral fence. Before he could +reach it Calumet had vaulted into the saddle, and before the black +could realize what had happened, his feet were in the stirrups. + +For an instant the Black stood, its legs trembling, the muscles under +its glossy coat quivering, its ears laid flat, its nostrils distended, +its mouth open, its eyes wild and bloodshot. Then, tensed for +movement, but uncertain, waiting a brief instant before yielding to the +thousand impulses that flashed over him, he felt the rowels of +Calumet's spurs as they were driven viciously into his sides. + +He sprang wildly upward, screaming with the sudden pain, and came down, +his legs asprawl, surprised, enraged, outraged. Alighting, he +instantly lunged--forward, sideways, with an eccentric movement which +he felt must dislodge the tormentor on his back. It was futile, +attended with punishment, for again the sharp spurs sank in, were +jammed into his sides, held there--rolling, biting points of steel that +hurt him terribly. + +He halted for a moment, to gather his wits and his strength, for his +former experiences with this strange type of creature who clung so +tenaciously to his back had taught him that he must use all his craft, +all his strength, to dislodge him. To his relief, the spurs ceased to +bite. But he was not misled. There was that moment near the corral +fence when he had not moved, but still the spurs had sunk in anyway. +He would make certain this time that the creature with the spurs would +not have another opportunity to use them. And, gathering himself for a +supreme effort, he lunged again, shunting himself off toward a stretch +of plain back of the ranchhouse, bounding like a ball, his back arched, +his head between his forelegs, coming down from each rise with his +hoofs bunched so that they might have all landed in a dinner plate. + +It was fruitless. Calumet remained unshaken, tenacious as ever. The +black caught his breath again, and for the next five minutes practiced +his whole category of tricks, and in addition some that he invented in +the stress of the time. + +To Betty, watching from her distance, it seemed that he must certainly +unseat Calumet. She had watched bucking horses before, but never had +her interest in the antics of one been so intense; never had she been +so desperately eager for a rider's victory; never had she felt so +breathlessly fearful of one's defeat. For, glancing from the corners +of her eyes at Kelton, she saw a scornful, mocking smile on his face. +He was wishing, hoping, that the black would throw Calumet. + +At the risk of danger from the black's hoofs she urged Blackleg forward +to a more advantageous position. As she brought him to a halt, she +heard Kelton beside her. + +"Some sunfisher, that black," he remarked. + +She turned on him fiercely. "Keep still, can't you!" she said. + +Kelton reddened; she did not see his face though, for she was watching +Calumet and the black. + +The outlaw had not ceased his efforts. On the contrary, it appeared +that he was just beginning to warm to his work. Screaming with rage +and hate he sprang forward at a dead run, propelling himself with the +speed of a bullet for a hundred yards, only to come to a dizzying, +terrifying stop; standing on his hind legs; pawing furiously at the air +with his forehoofs; tearing impotently at the bit with his teeth, +slashing with terrific force in the fury of his endeavor. + +Calumet's hat had come off during the first series of bucks. The grin +that had been on his face when he had got into the saddle back near the +corral fence was gone, had been superseded by a grimness that Betty +could see even from the distance from which she watched. He was a +rider though, she saw that--had seen it from the first. She had seen +many cowboy breakers of wild horses; she knew the confident bearing of +them; the quickness with which they adjusted their muscles to the +eccentric movements of the horse under them, anticipating their every +action, so far as anyone was able to anticipate the actions of a +rage-maddened demon who has only one desire, to kill or maim its rider, +and she knew that Calumet was an expert. He was cool, first of all, in +spite of his grimness; he kept his temper, he was absolutely without +fear; he was implacable, inexorable in his determination to conquer. +Somehow the battle between horse and man, as it raged up and down +before her, sometimes shifting to the far end of the level, sometimes +coming so near that she could see the expression of Calumet's face +plainly, seemed to be a contest between kindred spirits. The analogy, +perhaps, might not have been perceived by anyone less intimately +acquainted with Calumet, or by anyone who understood a horse less, but +she saw it, and knowing Calumet's innate savagery, his primal +stubbornness, his passions, the naked soul of the man, she began to +feel that the black was waging a hopeless struggle. He could never win +unless some accident happened. + +And they were very near her when it seemed that an accident did happen. + +The black, his tongue now hanging out, the foam that issued from his +mouth flecked with blood; his sides in a lather; his flanks moist and +torn from the cruel spur-points: seemed to be losing his cunning and to +be trusting entirely to his strength and yielding to his rage. She +could hear his breath coming shrilly as he tore past her; the whites of +his eyes white no longer, but red with the murder lust. It seemed to +her that he must divine that defeat was imminent, and in a transport of +despair he was determined to stake all on a last reckless move. + +As he flashed past her she looked at Calumet also. His face was pale; +there was a splotch of blood on his lips which told of an internal +hemorrhage brought on by the terrific jarring that he had received, but +in his eyes was an expression of unalterable resolve; the grim, cold, +immutable calm of purpose. Oh, he would win, she knew. Nothing but +death could defeat him. That was his nature--his character. There was +no alternative. He saw none, would admit none. He found time, as he +went past her, to grin at her, and the grin, though a trifle wan, +contained much of its old mockery and contempt of her judgment of him. + +The black raced on for a hundred yards, and what ensued might have been +an accident, or it might have been the deliberate result of the black's +latest trick. He came to a sudden stop, rose on his hind legs and +threw himself backward, toppling, rigid, upon his back to the ground. + +As he rose for the fall Calumet slipped out of the saddle and leaped +sideways to escape being crushed. He succeeded in this effort, but as +he leaped the spur on his right heel caught in the hollow of the +black's hip near the flank, the foot refused to come free, it caught, +jammed, and Calumet fell heavily beside the horse, luckily a little to +one side, so that the black lay prone beside him. + +Betty's scream was sharp and shrill. But no one heard it--at least +Kelton seemed not to hear, for he was watching Calumet, his eyes wide, +his face white; nor did Calumet seem to hear, for he was sitting on the +ground, trying to work his foot out of the stirrup. Twice, as he +worked with the foot, Betty saw the black strike at him with its hoofs, +and once a hoof missed his head by the narrowest of margins. + +But the foot was free at last, and Calumet rose. He still held the +reins in his hands, and now, as he got to his feet, he jerked out the +quirt that he wore at his waist and lashed the black, vigorously, +savagely. + +The beast rose, snorting with rage and pain, still unsubdued. His hind +legs had not yet straightened when Calumet was again in the saddle. +The black screamed, with a voice almost human in its shrillness, and +leaped despairingly forward, shaking its head from side to side as +Calumet drove the spurs deep into its sides. It ran another hundred +yards, half-heartedly, the spring gone out of its stride; then wheeled +and came back, bucking doggedly, clumsily, to a point within fifty feet +of where Betty sat on Blackleg. Then, as it bucked again, it came down +with its forelegs unjointed, and rolled over on its side, with +Calumet's right leg beneath it. + +The black was tired and lay with its neck outstretched on the ground, +breathing heavily, its sides heaving. Calumet also, was not averse to +a rest and had straightened and lay, an arm under his head, waiting. + +Betty smiled, for though he appeared to be in a position which might +result in a crushed leg or foot, she knew that he was in no danger, +because the heavy ox-bow stirrup afforded protection for his foot, +while the wide seat of the saddle kept the upper part of his leg from +injury. She had seen the cowboys roll under their horses in this +manner many times, deliberately--it saved them the strenuous work of +alighting and remounting. They had done it, too, for the opportunity +it afforded them to rest and to hurl impolite verbiage at their horses. + +But Calumet was silent. She rode a little closer to him, to look at +him, and when his eyes met hers; she saw that his spirit was in no way +touched; that his job of subduing the black was not yet finished and +that he purposed to finish it. + +"We're goin' in a minute," he said to her, his voice a little husky. +"I'd thank you to bring my hat. I don't reckon you'll be able to keep +up with us, but I reckon you'll excuse me for runnin' away from you." + +He had scarcely finished speaking before the black struggled to rise. +Calumet helped him by keeping a loose rein and lifting his own body. +And when the black swung over and got to its feet, Calumet settled +firmly into the saddle and instantly jammed his spurs home into its +flanks. The black reared, snorted, came down and began to run +desperately across the level, desiring nothing so much now as to do the +bidding of the will which he had discovered to be superior to his own. + +Betty watched in silence as horse and rider went over the level, +traveling in a dust cloud, and when they began to fade she turned to +Kelton. The latter was crestfallen, glum. + +"Shucks," he said; "if I'd have thought he'd break the black devil he +wouldn't have got him for twice fifty dollars. He's sure a slick, +don't-give-a-damn buster." + +Betty smiled mysteriously and went to look for Calumet's hat. Then, +riding Blackleg and leading the other horse, she went toward the Lazy Y. + +It was dusk when she arrived, to be greeted by Dade and Bob. She saw +the black horse in the corral and she knew that Calumet had won the +victory, for the black's head dropped dejectedly and she had never seen +an animal that seemed less spirited. It did not surprise her to find +that Calumet looked tired, and when she came down stairs from changing +her dress and got supper for them all, she did not mention the incident +of the breaking of the black. Nor would he talk, though she was +intensely curious as to the motive which had prompted him to make her a +present of Blackleg. Was it an indication that he was feeling more +friendly to her, or had he merely grown tired of Blackleg? + +The answer came to her late that night, after Calumet had retired. +Betty and Dade were in the kitchen; Malcolm and Bob were in the +sitting-room. Betty had taken Dade into her confidence and had related +to him the happenings of the day--so far as she could without +acquainting him with the state of her feelings toward Calumet. + +"So he can ride some?" commented Dade, after she had told him about the +black. "I reckon he'd bust that horse or break his neck. But he was +in bad shape when he rode in--almost fell out of the saddle, an' +staggered scandalous when he walked. All in. Didn't make a whimper, +though. Clear grit. He grinned at me when he turned the black into +the corral. + +"'Does that cayuse look busted?' he said. + +"I allowed he had that appearance, an' he laughed. + +"'I've give Betty Blackleg,' he said. 'I've got tired of him.'" + +Betty's disappointment showed in her eyes; she had suspected that +Calumet had had another reason. She had hoped-- + +"I reckon, though, that that wasn't his real reason," continued Dade; +"he wasn't showin' all of his hand there." + +"What makes you think that?" asked Betty, trying not to blush. + +"Well," said Dade, "I was walkin' round the stable a while ago, just +nosin' around without any purpose, an' walkin' slow. When I got to the +corner, not makin' any noise, I saw Calumet standin' in front of the +stable door, talkin'. There was nobody around him--nothin' but +Blackleg, an' so I reckon he was talkin' to Blackleg. Sure enough he +was. He puts his head up against Blackleg's head, an' he said, soft +an' low, kinda: + +"'Blackleg,' he said; 'I've give you away. I hated like poison to do +it, but I reckon Betty'll look a heap better on you than she does on +that skate she rode today. Damn that black devil!' he said, 'I +wouldn't have took the job of breakin' him for any other woman in the +world.' + +"I come away then," concluded Dade; "for somehow I didn't want him to +know there was anybody around to hear him." + +Betty got up quickly and went out on the porch. She stood there, +looking out into the darkness for a long, long time, and presently Dade +grew tired of waiting for her and went to his room. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A TRAGEDY IN THE TIMBER GROVE + +The black was undoubtedly broken. His subsequent actions proved that. +He did not become docile by any means, but he was tractable, which is +to say that he did as he was bidden with a minimum of urging; he was +intelligent, divining, and learned quickly. Also, he respected his +conqueror. If Dade or Malcolm came near him he gave unmistakable +evidence of hostility; he even shied at sight of Betty, who was his +most sincere admirer, for had not his coming to the Lazy Y been +attended with a sentiment not the less satisfying because concealed? + +But the black suffered Calumet's advances, his authority, his +autocratic commands, with a patience that indicated that his +subjugation was to be complete and lasting. + +When, toward the middle of the week, Kelton's men--two bepistoled, +capable punchers--drove the cattle comprising the Lazy Y purchase into +the valley, Calumet immediately set to work to train the black to +observe the various niceties of the etiquette of cow-punching. He soon +learned, that when the rope whistled past his ears he was to watch its +progress, and if its loop encircled a neck or a leg he was to brace +himself for the inevitable shock. If the loop failed--which it rarely +did--he discovered that he was to note at which particular steer it had +been hurled, and was to follow that steer's progress, no matter where +it went, until the rope went true. He discovered that it was +imperative for him to stand without moving when his master trailed the +reins over his head; he early learned that the bit was a terrible +instrument of torture, and that it were better to answer to the +pressure of Calumet's knee than to be subjected to the pain it caused +him. + +He was taught these things, and many more, while the work of rebranding +the Diamond K cattle went forward. + +This work was no sinecure. Dade and Malcolm, and even Bob, assisted in +it--Malcolm and Bob attending to the heating of the branding irons +while Calumet roped the steers and dragged them to the fire where Dade +pressed the white-hot irons to their hips. But the work was done +finally, and the cattle turned out into the valley. + +On the night that saw the finish of the branding, Calumet, Dade, and +Malcolm retired early. Betty and Bob remained in the kitchen for some +time, but finally they, too, went to bed. + +At one second before midnight Calumet was sleeping soundly--as soundly +as it is possible for a man to sleep who has been working out of doors +and is physically tired. At exactly midnight he was wide awake, lying +on his back, looking with unblinking eyes at the ceiling, all his +senses aroused and alert, his nerves and muscles at a tension. + +He did not know what had awakened him, though he was convinced that it +had been something strange and unusual. It had happened to him before; +several times when cattle had stampeded; once when a Mexican freighter +at a cow camp had rose in the night to slip his knife into a puncher +with whom he had had trouble during the day. Incidentally, except for +Calumet, the Mexican would have made his escape. It had happened to +him again when a band of horse thieves had attempted to run off some +stock; it had never happened unless something unusual was going on. +And so he was certain that something unusual was going on now, and he +lay still, looking around him, to make sure that what was happening was +not happening in his room. He turned his head and looked at Dade. +That young man was breathing heavily and regularly. He turned toward +the door of the room. The door was closed. A flood of moonlight +entered the window; objects in the room were clearly distinguishable, +and nothing seemed wrong here. But something was wrong--he was certain +of that. And so he got carefully out of bed and looked out of the +window, listening, peering intently in all directions within the limits +of his vision. No sound greeted his ears, no moving object caught his +gaze. But he was not satisfied. + +He put on his clothes, buckled his cartridge belt around his waist, +took his six-shooter from beneath his pillow, and stuck it into the +holster, and in his stockinged feet opened the door of the room and +stepped out into the hall. He was of the opinion that something had +gone wrong with the horses, and he intended to make the rounds of the +stable and corrals to satisfy his curiosity. Strangely, he did not +think of the possibility of Betty meeting Taggart again, until he had +reached the bottom of the stairs. Even then he was half-way across the +dining-room, stepping carefully and noiselessly for fear he might +awaken someone, when he glanced back with a sudden suspicion, toward +the door of the office. As in that other time there shone a streak of +light through the crevice between the bottom of the door and the +threshold. + +He stood still, his muscles contracting, his lips curling, a black, +jealous anger in his heart. Taggart was there again. + +But he would not escape this time. He would take care to make no noise +which would scare him away. He listened at the door, but he heard no +voices. They were in there, though, he could distinguish slight +movements. He left the door and stole softly up the stairs to his +room, getting his boots and carrying them in his hand. As before, he +intended putting them on at the kitchen door. But Bob's dog would not +betray him this time, for since the other accident he had contrived to +persuade Bob to keep the dog outside at night. Nor would there occur +any other accident--he would take care of that. And so it took him a +long time to descend the stairs and make his way to the kitchen door. +Once outside, he drew on his boots and stole silently and swiftly to +the front door of the house. + +To his astonishment, when he arrived at the door, there was no light, +no sound to indicate that anybody was in the room. He tried the +door--it was barred. He stepped to the window. If there was a light +within it would show through the cracks and holes in the shade, for the +latter was old and well worn. + +But no light appeared. If there was anyone inside they must have heard +him in spite of his carefulness, and had put out the light. He cursed. +He could not watch both the back and the front door, but he could watch +the outside of the house, could go a little distance away from it and +thus see anybody who would leave it. + +He walked away toward the timber clump, looking around him. As his +gaze swept the wood near the river he caught a glimpse of a horse and +rider as they passed through a clearing and went slowly away from him. + +They had tricked him again! Probably by this time Betty was in her +room, laughing at him. Taggart was laughing, too, no doubt. The +thought maddened him. He cursed bitterly as he ran to the stable. He +was inside in a flash, saddling Blackleg, jamming a bit into his mouth. +He would follow Taggart to the Arrow, to hell--anywhere, but he would +catch him. Blackleg could do it; he would make him do it, if he killed +him in the end. + +In three minutes Blackleg shot out of the stable door--a flash in the +night. The swift turn that was required of him he made on his hind +legs, and then, with a plunge and a snort of delight, he was away over +the level toward the wood. + +Calumet guided Blackleg toward the spot where he had seen the rider, +certain that he could not have gone far during the interval that had +elapsed, but when he reached the spot there was no sign of a horse and +rider in any direction. + +For an instant only Calumet halted Blackleg, and then he spurred him +down the river trail. One mile, two, three, he rode at a breakneck +pace, and then suddenly he was out of the timber and facing a plain +that stretched into an interminable distance. The trail lay straight +and clear; there was no sign of a horse and rider on it. Taggart had +not come in this direction, though in this direction lay the Arrow. + +He wheeled Blackleg and, with glowering eyes and straightened lips, +rode him back the way he had come, halting often and peering into +shadows. By the time he arrived at the spot where he had first seen +the horse and rider he had become convinced that Taggart had secreted +himself until he had passed him and had then ridden over the back +trail, later to return to the Arrow by a circuitous route. + +Calumet determined to cut across the country and intercept him, and he +drove the spurs into Blackleg and raced him through the wood. His +trail took him into a section which led to the slope which the horses +drawing the wagon had taken on the night of the ambush. He was tearing +through this when he broke through the edge of a clearing about a +quarter of a mile from the ranchhouse. At about the center of the +clearing Blackleg came to a jarring, dizzying stop, rearing high on his +hind legs. When he came down he whinnied and backed, and, peering over +his shoulder to see what had frightened him, Calumet saw the body of a +man lying at the edge of a mesquite clump. + +With his six-shooter in hand, Calumet dismounted and walked to the man. +The latter was prone in the dust, on his face, and as Calumet leaned +over him the better to peer into his face--for he thought the man might +be Taggart--he heard a groan escape his lips. Sheathing his weapon, +Calumet turned the man over on his back. Another groan escaped him; +his eyes opened, though they closed again immediately. It was not +Taggart. + +"Got me," he said. He groaned again. + +"Who got you?" Calumet bent over to catch the reply. None came; the +man had lost consciousness. + +Calumet stood up and looked around. He could see nothing of the rider +for whom he was searching. He could not leave this wounded man to +pursue his search for Taggart; there might be something he could do for +the man. + +But he left the man's side for an instant while he looked around him. +Some dense undergrowth rose on his right, black shadows surrounding it, +and he walked along its edge, his forty-five in hand, trying to peer +into it. He saw nothing, heard nothing. Then, catching another groan +from the man, he returned to him. The man's eyes were open; they +gleamed brightly and wildly. + +"Got me," he said as he saw Calumet. + +"Who got you?" repeated Calumet. + +"Telza." + +"Telza?" Calumet bent over him again; the name sounded foreign. "Talk +sense," he said shortly; "who's Telza?" + +"A Toltec Indian," said the man. "He's been hangin' around here--for a +month. Around the Arrow, too. Mebbe two months. Nobody knows. He's +like a shadow. Now you see him an' now you don't," he added with a +grim attempt at a joke. "Taggart's had me trailin' him, lookin' for a +diagram he's got." + +"Diagram of what?" demanded Calumet. His interest was intense. A +Toltec! Telza was of the race from whom his father and Taggart had +stolen the idol. He leaned closer to the man. + +"Are Telza an' Taggart friends?" he asked. + +"Friends!" The man's weak laugh was full of scorn. "Taggart's +stringin' him. Telza's lookin' for an idol--all gold an' diamonds, an' +such. Worth thousands. Taggart set Telza on Betty Clayton." The man +choked; his breath came thickly; red stained his lips. "Hell!" he +said, "what you chinnin' me for? Get that damned toad-sticker out of +me, can't you. It's in my side, near the back--I can't reach it." + +Calumet felt where the man indicated, and his hand struck the handle of +a knife. It had a large, queerly-shaped handle and a long, thin blade +like a stiletto. It had been driven into the man's left side just +under the fleshy part of the shoulder, and it was plain that its point +had found a vital spot--probably through the lung and near the heart, +for the man was limp and helpless, his breath coughed in his throat, +and it was certain that he had not many minutes to live. Calumet +carefully withdrew the weapon, and the man settled back with a sigh of +relief. + +"You're Marston, ain't you?" he said, slowly and painfully, gasping +with every breath. "I've heard the Taggart's talk about you. Old +Tom's developed a yellow streak in his old age an' he's leavin' all his +dirty work to Neal. Neal's got a yellow streak, too, for that matter, +but he's young an' ain't got no sense. I reckon I'm goin' somewhere +now, an' so I can say what I like. Taggart ain't no friend of +mine--neither of them. They've played me dirt--more than once. My +name's Al Sharp. You know that Tom Taggart was as deep in that idol +business as your dad was. He told me. But he's got Telza soft-soaped +into thinkin' that Betty Clayton's folks snaked it from Telza's people. +Taggart's got evidence that your dad planted the idol around here +somewheres--seems to know that your dad drawed a diagram of the place +an' left it with Betty. He set Telza to huntin' for it. Telza got it +tonight--it was hid somewhere. I was with him--waitin' for him. If he +got the diagram I was to knife him and take it away from him. Taggart +an' his dad is somewhere around here--I was to meet them down the river +a piece. Telza double-crossed me; tried to sneak over here an' hunt +the idol himself. I found him--he had the diagram. I tried to get it +from him--he stuck his toad-sticker in me, . . . the little +copper-skinned devil. He--" He hesitated and choked, raising himself +as though to get a long breath. But a dark flood again stained his +lips, he strangled and stretched out limply. + +Calumet turned him over on his back and covered his face with a +handkerchief. Then he stood up, looking around at the edge of the +clearing. Ten feet in front of him, curled around the edge of a bit of +sagebrush, was a dirty white object. He walked over, kicked the +sagebrush violently, that a concealed rattler might not spring on him, +and took up the object. It was a piece of paper about six inches +square, and in the dim moonlight Calumet could see that it contained +writing of some sort and a crude sketch. He looked closer at it, saw a +spot marked "Idol is here," and then folded it quickly and placed it, +crumpled into a ball, into a pocket of his trousers. + +He was now certain that Taggart had been merely deceiving Betty; there +had been no other significance to his visits. The visits were merely +part of a plan to get possession of the idol. While he had been +talking to Betty in the office tonight Telza had stolen the diagram. + +There was more than triumph in Calumet's eyes as he turned his +pony--there was joy and savage exultation. The idol was his; he would +get the money, too. After that he would drive Betty and all of them-- + +But would he? A curious indecision mingled with his other emotions at +this thought. His face grew serious. Lately he was developing a +vacillating will; whenever he meditated any action with regard to Betty +he had an inclination to defer it. He postponed a decision now; he +would think it over again. Before he made up his mind on that question +he wanted to enjoy her discomfiture and confusion over the loss of the +diagram. + +He had lost all thought of pursuing Taggart. Sharp had said that +Taggart was somewhere in the vicinity, but it was just possible that +Sharp had been so deeply engaged with Telza about the time Taggart had +made his escape that he had not seen him. There was time for him to +settle with Taggart. + +He took up the bridle rein, wheeled, placed one foot into the stirrup, +intending to mount, when he became aware of a shadow looming near him. +He pulled the foot out of the stirrup, dropped the reins with the same +movement, and turned in a flash. + +Neal Taggart, sitting on a horse at the edge of the clearing, not over +twenty feet from him, was looking at him from behind the muzzle of a +six-shooter. At a trifling distance from Taggart was another man, also +bestride a horse. A rifle was at this man's shoulder; his cheek was +nuzzling its stock, and Calumet saw that the weapon was aimed at his +chest. + +He rapidly noted the positions of the two, estimated the distance, +decided that the risk of resistance was too great, and slowly raised +his hands above his head. + +"Surprise party, eh?" he said. "Well," he added in a self-accusing +voice, "I reckon I was dreamin' some." + +Neal Taggart dismounted, moving quickly aside so that the man with the +rifle had an unobstructed view of Calumet. He went close to the latter. + +"So it's you, eh?" he said. "We saw you tearin' up an' down the river +trail, when we was back in the timber a piece. Racin' your fool head +off. Nothin' in sight. Saw you come in here ten minutes ago. What +you doin' here?" + +"Exercisin'," said Calumet; "takin' my midnight constitutional." He +looked at the man with the rifle. + +The latter was hatless. Long gray hair, unkempt, touched his +shoulders; a white beard, scraggly, dirty, hid all of his face except +the beak-like, awry nose. Beady, viciously glowing eyes gleamed out of +the grotesque mask. + +"Who's your friend?" questioned Calumet, with a derisive grin. "If I +was a sheep-man now, I'd try an' find time, next shearin'--" + +"My father," growled Neal. + +"Excuse me," said Calumet with a short laugh, though his eyes shone +with a sudden hardness; "I thought it was a--" + +"You're Calumet Marston, I reckon," interrupted the bearded man. +"You're an impertinent pup, like your father was. Get his guns!" he +commanded gruffly. + +Neal hesitated and then took a step toward Calumet. The latter +crouched, his eyes narrowing to glittering pin points. In his attitude +was a threat, a menace, of volcanic, destroying action. Neal stopped a +step off, uncertain. + +Calumet's lips sneered. "Take my guns, eh?" he said. "Reach out an' +grab them. But say your prayers before you do--you an' that sufferin' +monolith with the underbrush scattered all over his mug. Come an' take +them!" He jeered as he saw Neal Taggart's face whiten. "Hell!" he +added as he saw the elder Taggart make a negative motion toward his +son, "you ain't got no clear thoughts just at this minute, eh?" + +"We ain't aimin' to force trouble," growled the older man. "We're just +curious, that's what. Also, there's a chance that we can settle this +thing peaceable. We want to palaver. If you'll give your word that +there won't be no gun-play until after the peace meetin' is over, you +can take your hands down." + +"No shootin' goes right now," agreed Calumet. "But after this peace +meetin'--" + +"We ought to come to terms," said Taggart, placing his rifle in the +saddle holster as Calumet's hands came down. "There hadn't ought to be +any bad blood between us. Me an' your dad was a heap friendly until we +had a fallin' out over that she-devil which he lived with--Ezela." +There was an insincere grin on his face. + +It was plain to Calumet that the elder Taggart had some ulterior motive +in suggesting a peace conference. He noted that while Taggart talked +his eyes kept roving around the clearing as though in search of +something. That something, Calumet divined, was Sharp and Telza. He +suspected that Calumet had seen Telza and Sharp, or one of them, enter +the clearing, and had followed them. Neal had said that they had seen +Calumet when he had been racing up and down the river trail; they had +suspected he had been after Sharp or Telza, and had followed him. No +doubt they were afflicted with a great curiosity. They were playing +for time in order to discover his errand. + +"I reckon we'll get along without mushin'," suggested Calumet. "What +terms are you talkin' about?" + +Taggart climbed down from his pony and stood beside it. + +"Half-an'-half on the idol," he said. "That's square, ain't it?" He +looked at Calumet with the beginning of a bland smile, which instantly +faded and turned into a grimace of fear as he found himself looking +into the gaping muzzles of Calumet's pistols, which had appeared with +magic ease and quickness. + +"I'm runnin' a little surprise party of my own," declared Calumet. +"Was you thinkin' I was fool enough to go to gassin' with you, trustin' +that you wouldn't take your chance to perforate me? You've got another +guess comin'." + +The disappointed gleam in Taggart's eyes showed that such had been his +intention. "There wasn't to be no shootin' until after we'd held our +peace meetin'," he complained. + +"Correct," said Calumet. "But the peace meetin' is now over. Get your +sky-hooks clawin' at the clouds!" he warned coldly as Neal hesitated. +When both had raised their hands above their heads he deftly plucked +their weapons from their holsters. Then, alert and watchful, he drew +the elder Taggart's rifle from its sling on the saddle and threw it a +dozen feet away. + +"Now just step over to that bunch of mesquite," he ordered; "there's +somethin' there that I want to show you." + +In obedience to his command they went forward. Both came to a halt +when around the edge of the mesquite clump they saw the dead body of +Sharp, with the handkerchief over his face. Neither recognized the man +until Calumet drew the handkerchief away, and then both started back. + +"Know him, eh?" said Calumet, watching them narrowly. "Well, he done +his duty--done what you wanted him to do. But your man, Telza, +double-crossed him--knifed him." He took up the rapier-like blade that +he had drawn from Sharp's side and held it before their eyes. Again +they started, and Calumet laughed. + +"Know the knife, too!" he jeered. "An' after what you've done you've +got the nerve to ask me to divvy with you." + +The elder Taggart was the first to recover his composure. + +"Telza?" he said. "Why, I reckon you've got me; there ain't no one of +that name--" + +But Calumet was close to him, his eyes blazing. "Shut your dirty +mouth, or I'll tear you apart!" he threatened. "You're a liar, an' you +know it. Sharp told me about you settin' the Toltec on Betty. I know +the rest. I know you tried to make a monkey out of my dad, you damned +old ossified scarecrow! If you open your trap again, I'll just +naturally pulverize you! I reckon that's all I've got to say to you." + +He walked over to Neal, and the latter shrank from the bitter +malignance of his gaze. + +"Can you tell me why I ain't lettin' daylight through you?" he said as +he shoved the muzzle of his six-shooter deep into Neal's stomach, +holding it there with savage steadiness as he leaned forward and looked +into the other's eyes. "It's because I ain't a sneak an' a murderer. +I ain't ambushin' nobody. I've done some killin' in my time, but I +ain't never plugged no man who didn't have the same chance I had. I'm +givin' you a chance." + +He drew out one of the weapons he had taken from the two men, holding +it by the muzzle and thrusting it under Neal's nose. The terrible, +suppressed rage in his eyes caused a shiver to run over Neal, his face +turned a dull white, his eyes stared fearfully. He made no move to +grasp the weapon. + +"I ain't fightin'," he said with trembling lips. + +Calumet reversed the gun and stepped back, laughing harshly, without +mirth. + +"Of course you ain't fightin'," he said. "That's the reason it's goin' +to be hard for me to kill you. I'd feel like a cur if I was to +perforate you now--you or your scarecrow dad. But I'm tellin' you +this: You've sneaked around the Lazy Y for the last time. I'm layin' +for you after this, an' if I ketch you maverickin' around here again +I'll perforate you so plenty that it'll make you dizzy. That's all. +Get out of here before I change my mind!" + +Shrinking from his awe-inspiring wrath, they retreated from him, +watching him fearfully as they backed toward their horses. They had +almost reached them when Calumet's voice brought them to a halt. + +His lips were wreathed in a cold grin, his eyes alight with a satanic +humor. But the rage had gone from his voice; it was mocking, derisive. + +"Goin' to ride?" he said. "Oh, don't! Them horses look dead tired. +Leave them here; they need a rest. Besides, a man can't do any +thinkin' to amount to anything when he's forkin' a horse, an' I reckon +you two coyotes will be doin' a heap of thinkin' on your way back to +the Arrow." + +"Good Lord!" said the elder Taggart; "you don't mean that? Why, it's +fifteen miles to the Arrow!" + +"Shucks," said Calumet; "so it is! An' it's after midnight, too. But +you wouldn't want them poor, respectable critters to be gallivantin' +around at this time of the night, when they ought to be in bed dreamin' +of the horse-heaven which they're goin' to one of these days when the +Taggarts don't own them any more. You can send a man over after them +when you get back, an' if they want to go home, why, I'll let them." +His voice changed again; it rang with a menacing command. + +"Walkin' is good!" he said; "get goin'! You've got three minutes to +get to that bend in the trail over by the crick. It's about half a +mile. I'm turnin' my back. If I see you when I turn around I'm +workin' that rifle there." + +There was a silence which might have lasted a second. Only this small +space of time was required by the Taggarts to convince them that +Calumet was in deadly earnest. Then, with Neal leading, they began to +run toward the bend in the trail. + +Shortly Calumet turned. The Taggarts had almost reached the bend, and +while he watched they vanished behind it. + +Calumet picked up the rifle which he had taken from the elder Taggart, +mounted his horse, and drove the Taggart animals into the corral. He +decided that he would keep them there for an hour or so, to give the +Taggarts time to get well on their way toward the Arrow. Had he turned +them loose immediately they no doubt would have overtaken their masters +before the latter had gone very far. + +Remounting, Calumet rode to the bend in the trail. He carried +Taggart's rifle. About a mile out on the plain that stretched away +toward the Arrow he saw the two men. They seemed to be walking rapidly. + +Calumet returned to the ranchhouse, got a pick and shovel, and went +back to the timber clump. An hour later he was again at the corral. +He led the Taggart horses out, took them to the bend in the trail, and +turned them loose, for he anticipated that the Taggarts would make a +complaint to the sheriff about them, and if they were found in the Lazy +Y corral trouble would be sure to result. + +He watched them until they were well on their way toward the Arrow, and +then he returned to the ranchhouse and went to bed. No one had heard +him, he told himself with a grin as he stretched out on the bed beside +Dade to sleep the hour that would elapse before daylight. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BETTY TALKS FRANKLY + +Betty, however, had not been asleep. After seeking her room she had +heard the rapid beat of hoofs, and, looking out of her window, she had +seen Calumet when he had raced from the ranchhouse in search of +Taggart. Still watching at the window, she had seen him returning; saw +him disappear into the timber clump. + +Some time later she had observed the Taggarts emerge and run as though +their lives depended on haste. She watched Calumet as he rode by her +window to take the two horses to the corral, stared at him with +fascinated eyes, holding her breath with horror as he walked from the +ranchhouse to the timber clump with the pick and shovel on his +shoulder; stood at the window with a great fear gripping her until he +came back, still carrying the pick and shovel; watched him as he +released the Taggart horses, drove them to the bend in the trail, and +returned to the house. His movements had been stealthy, but she heard +him when he came into the house and mounted the stairs. Then she heard +him no more. + +But a great dread was upon her. What meant that journey to the timber +clump with the pick and shovel, and what had been done there during the +hour that he had remained there? The idol she knew, was buried in a +clearing in the timber clump; she did not know just where, for she had +looked at the diagram only once, when Calumet's father had shown it to +her. She had a superstitious dread of the idol and would not, under +any circumstances, have examined the diagram again. But she did not +connect Calumet's visit to the timber clump with the diagram, for the +latter was concealed in a safe place, under a board in the closet that +led off her room; she had looked at it only once since Calumet had +returned, and that only hastily, to make sure that it was still there, +and she was certain that Calumet had no knowledge of its whereabouts. + +Could Calumet have-- She pressed her hands tightly over her breast at +this thought. She did not want to think that! But he had a violent +temper, and there were those men in Lazette, Denver and the other man, +whom he had-- She shuddered. That must be the explanation for his +strange actions. But still she had heard no shot, and there was a +chance that the diagram-- + +Tremblingly she made her way to the closet and removed the loose board. +A tin box met her eyes, the box in which she had placed the diagram, +and she lifted the box out, her fingers shaking as she fumbled at the +fastening and raised the lid. + +The box was empty. + +For a long time she sat there looking at it, anger and resentment +fighting within her for the mastery. + +Of course, the idol really belonged to Calumet; she would have given it +to him in time, but that thought did not lessen her resentment against +him. Somehow, though, she was conscious of a feeling of gratefulness +that his visit to the timber clump had no significance beyond the +recovery of the idol, and, despite his offense against her privacy, she +began after a while to view the matter with greater calm. And though +she did not close her eyes during the remainder of the night, lying on +her back in bed and wondering how he had discovered the hiding place of +the diagram, she came downstairs shortly after daylight and proceeded +calmly about her duties. + +She managed, though, to be near the kitchen door when Calumet came +down, and, without appearing to do so, she watched his face closely as +he prepared himself for breakfast. But without result. If he had +gained possession of the idol his face did not betray him. But once +during the meal she looked up unexpectedly, to see him looking at her +with amused, speculative eyes. Then she knew he was gloating over her. + +With an appearance of grave concern, and not a little well-simulated +excitement, she approached him during the morning where he was working +at the corral fence. She was determined to discover the truth. + +"I have some bad news for you," she said. + +"Shucks," he returned, with a grin that almost disarmed her; "you don't +say!" + +"Yes," she continued. "When your father left his other papers with me +he also left a diagram of a place in the timber clump where the idol is +hidden. Some time yesterday the diagram was stolen." + +"You don't say?" he said. + +His voice had not been convincing enough; there had been a note of +mockery in it, and she knew he was guilty of the theft. + +She looked at him fairly. "You took it," she accused. + +"I didn't take it," he denied, returning her gaze. "But I've got it. +What are you goin' to do about it?" + +"Nothing," she replied. "But do you think that was a gentleman's +action--to enter my room, to search it--even for something that +belonged to you?" + +"No gentleman took it," he grinned; "therefore it couldn't have been +me. I told you I had it; I didn't take it." + +"Who did, then?" + +"Do you know Telza?" + +"Telza?" + +"Toltec," he said; "a Toltec from Yucatan. He got it yesterday--last +night--while you was gassin' to your friend, Neal Taggart." + +She started, recollection filling her eyes. "A Toltec!" she said in an +awed voice. "I have heard that they are fanatics where their religion +is concerned; your father told me that his--that woman--Ezela--told +him. She said that the tribe would never give up the search for the +idol. He laughed at her; he laughed at me when he told me about it." +She drew a deep breath. "And so one of them has come," she said. "I +thought I heard a noise upstairs last night," she added. "It must have +been then." + +"An'," he jeered, "you was so busy about that time that you couldn't go +to investigate. That's how you guarded it--how you filled your trust." + +She gazed fixedly at him and his gaze dropped. "You are determined to +continue your insults," she said coldly. + +He reddened. "I reckon you deserve them," he said sneeringly. +"Taggart's makin' a fool of you. I heard him palaverin' to you last +night. I followed him, but lost him. Then I got into the clearin' in +the timber. I run into a man named Al Sharp, who'd been knifed by the +Toltec. Him an' the Toltec had been detailed by Taggart to get the +diagram. Sharp said Taggart knowed my dad had drawed one. Telza got +it last night while you was talkin' to Taggart. Frame-up. Sharp tried +to take it away from Telza, an' Telza knifed him. Sharp's dead. I +buried him last night. Telza dropped the diagram. I got it. I reckon +Telza has sloped. Then I met Taggart an' his dad. They reckoned they +didn't like my company overmuch an' they walked home. Didn't even wait +to take their horses." + +She drew a breath which sounded strangely like relief. + +"Well," she said; "it was fortunate that you happened to be there to +get the idol." + +"Yes," he drawled, with a suspicious grin; "I reckon you feel a whole +lot like congratulatin' me." + +"I do," she said. "Of course you were not to have the idol just yet, +but it is better for you to have it before the time than that the +Taggarts should get hold of it." + +"Do you know where the idol is hid?" he asked. + +She told him no, that she had never consulted the diagram. + +"I reckon," he said, looking into her steady eyes, "that you're tellin' +the truth. In that case it will be safe where it is, for a while. +I'll be lookin' it up when I get hold of the money." + +Her chin raised triumphantly. "You will not get that so easily," she +said. "But," she added, interestedly, "now that you know where the +idol is, why don't you get it and convert it into cash?" + +He reddened and eyed her with a decidedly crestfallen air. "I ain't so +much stuck on monkeyin' with them religious things," he admitted. + +Again a doubt arose in his mind concerning her relations with Neal +Taggart. The fact that she had not divulged the hiding place of the +idol to him was proof that if he had been trying to deceive her he had +not succeeded. This thought filled him with a sudden elation. + +"Lately," he said, "it begins to look as though you was gettin' some +sense. You're gettin' reasonable. I reckon you'll be a bang-up girl, +give you time." + +Her lips curled, but there was a flash of something in her eyes that he +could not analyze. But he was sure that it wasn't anger or +disapproval. Neither was it scorn. It seemed to him that it might +have been mockery, mingled with satisfaction. Certainly there was +mockery in her voice when she answered him. + +"Indeed!" she said. "I presume I am to take that as a compliment?" + +"But you will be a fool if you cotton up to Neal Taggart," he +continued, paying no attention to her question. "I know men. +Taggart's a no good fourflusher, an' no woman can be anything if she +takes up with him." + +She looked at him with a dazzling smile. In the smile were those +qualities that he had noticed during his other conversations with her +when he had accused her of meeting Taggart secretly--mirth, tempered +with doubt. Also, just now there was enjoyment. + +"I feel flattered to think that you are taking that much interest in +me," she said. "But when I am in need of someone to lay down rules of +conduct for me I shall let you know. At present I feel quite competent +to take care of myself. But if you are very much worried, I don't mind +telling you that I have not 'cottoned up' to Neal Taggart." + +"What you meetin' him for, then?" he asked suspiciously. + +"I have not met Neal Taggart since the day you made him apologize to +me," she said slowly. + +"Who are you meetin', then?" he demanded. + +She looked straight at him. "I cannot answer that," she said. + +His lips curled with disbelief, and her cheeks flushed a little. + +"Can't you trust anybody?" she said. + +"Why," she continued as he kept silent, "don't you think that if I had +intended, as you said once before, to cheat you, to take _anything_ +that belongs to you, that I could have done so long ago? I had the +diagram; I could have kept the idol, the money, the ranch. What could +you have done; what could you do now? Don't you think it is about time +for you to realize that you are hurting no one but yourself by +harboring such black, dismal thoughts. Nobody is trying to cheat +you--except probably the Taggarts. Everybody here is trying their best +to be friendly to you, trying to aid in making those reforms which your +father mentioned. Dade likes you; Bob loves you. And even my +grandfather said the other day that you are not a bad fellow. You have +been making progress, more than I expected you to make. But you must +make more." + +The mirth had died out of her eyes; she was deeply in earnest. Calumet +could see that, and the knowledge kept him silent, hushed the +half-formed sarcastic replies that were on his lips, made his +suspicions seem brutal, preposterous, ridiculous. There was much +feeling in her voice; he was astonished and awed at the change in her; +he had not seen her like this before. Her reserve was gone, the +disdain with it; there was naked sincerity in her glowing eyes, in her +words, in her manner. He watched her, fascinated, as she continued: + +"I think you can see now that if I had wanted to be dishonest you could +not have stopped me. My honesty proven, what must have been my motive +in staying here to take your insults, to submit to your boorishness? I +will tell you; you may believe me or not, as you please. I was +grateful to your father. I gave him my promise. He wanted me to make +a man of you. + +"When you first came here, and I saw what a burden I had assumed, I was +afraid. But I saw that you did not intend to take advantage of me; +that you weren't like a good many men--brutes who prey on unprotected +women; that only your temper was wanton. And instead of fearing you I +began to pity you. I saw promise in you; you had manly impulses, but +you hadn't had your chance. I had faith in you. To a certain extent +you have justified that faith. You have shown flashes of goodness of +heart; you have exhibited generous, manly sympathies--to everybody but +me. But I do not care [there was a suspicious moisture in her eyes and +a queer tightening of the lips that gave the lie to this declaration] +how you treat me. I intend to keep my promise to your father, no +matter what you do. But I want to make you understand that I am not +the kind of woman you take me to be--that I am not being made a fool of +by Neal Taggart--or by any man!" + +Calumet did not reply; the effect of this passionate defense of herself +on him was deep and poignant, and words would not come to his lips. +Truth had spoken to him--he knew it. At a stroke she had subdued him, +humbled him. It was as though a light had suddenly been turned on him, +showing him the mean, despicable side of him, contrasting it with the +little good which had come into being--good which had been placed +there, fostered, and cultivated into promise. Then the light had been +as suddenly turned off, leaving him with a gnawing, impotent longing to +be what she wanted him to be. Involuntarily, he took his hat off to +her and bowed respectfully. Then he reached a swift hand into an inner +pocket of his vest and withdrew it, holding out a paper to her. She +took it and looked wonderingly at it. It was the diagram of the +clearing in the timber clump showing where the idol was buried. + +Her face paled, for she knew that his action in restoring the diagram +to her was his tribute to her honesty, an evidence of his trust in her, +despite his uttered suspicions. Also, it was his surrender. + +She looked up, intending to thank him. He was walking away, and did +not look around at her call. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +HIS FATHER'S FRIEND + +Betty did not see Calumet again that day, and only at mealtime on the +day following. He had nothing to say to her at these times, though it +was plain from the expression on his face when she covertly looked at +him that he was thinking deeply. She hoped this were true; it was a +good sign. On the morning of the third day he saddled the black horse +and rode away, telling Bob, who happened to be near him when he +departed, that he was going to Lazette. + +It was fully two hours after supper when he returned. Malcolm, Dade, +and Bob had gone to bed. In the kitchen, sitting beside the table, on +which was a spotlessly clean tablecloth, with dishes set for one--she +had saved Calumet's supper, and it was steaming in the warming-closet +of the stove--Betty sat. She was mending Bob's stockings, and thinking +of her life during the past few months--and Calumet. And when she +heard the black come into the ranchhouse yard--she knew the black's +gait already--she trembled a little, put aside her mending, and went to +the window. + +The moon threw a white light in the yard, and she saw Calumet dismount. +When he did not turn the black into the corral, hitching him, instead, +to one of the rails, without even removing the saddle, she suspected +that something unusual had happened. + +She was certain of it when she heard Calumet cross the porch with a +rapid step, and if in her certainty there had been the slightest doubt, +it disappeared when he opened the kitchen door. + +He looked tired; he had evidently ridden hard, for the alkali dust was +thick on his clothing; he was breathing fast, his eyes were burning +with some deep emotion, his lips were grim and hard. + +He closed the door and stood with his back against it, looking at her. +Something had wrought a wonderful change in him. He was not the +Calumet she had known--brutal, vicious, domineering, sneering; though +he was laboring under some great excitement, suppressing it, so that to +an eye less keen than hers it might have seemed that he had been +undergoing some great physical exertion and was just recovering from +it. It seemed to her that he had found himself; that that regeneration +for which she had hoped had come--had taken place between the time he +had left that morning and now. + +She did not know that it had been a mighty struggle of three days' +duration; that the transformation had been a slow, tortuous thing to +him. She only knew that a great change had come over him; that, in +spite of the evident strain which was upon him, there was something +gentle, respectful, considerate, in his face, back of Its exterior +hardness--a slumbering, triumphant something that made an instant +appeal to her, lighting her eyes, coloring her face, making her heart +beat with an unaccountable gladness. + +"Oh," she said; "what has happened to you?" + +"Nothin'," he answered, with a grave smile. "That is, nothin'--yet. +Except that I've found out what a fool I've been. But I've found it +out too late." + +"No," she said, reaching the quick conclusion that he meant it was too +late for him to complete his reformation; "it is never too late." + +"I think I know what you mean," he answered. "But you've got it wrong. +It's somethin' else. I've got to get out of here--got to hit the +breeze out of the country. The sheriff is after me." + +She took a step backward. "What for?" she asked breathlessly. + +"For killin' Al Sharp." + +"Al Sharp!" she exclaimed, staring at him in amazement. "Why, you told +me that an Indian named Telza killed him!" + +"That's what Sharp told me. The Taggarts claim I done it. They've +swore out a warrant. I got wind of it an' I'm gettin' out. There's no +use tryin' to fight the law in a case like this." + +"But you didn't kill him!" she cried, stiffening defiantly. "You said +you didn't, and I know you wouldn't lie. They can't prove that you did +it!" + +He laughed. "You're the only one that would believe me. Do you reckon +I could prove that I didn't do it? There's two against one. The +evidence is against me. The Taggarts found me in the clearing with +Sharp. I had the knife. No one else was around. I buried Sharp. The +Taggarts will swear against me. Where's my chance?" + +She was silent, and he laughed again. "They've got me, I reckon--the +Taggarts have. I fancied I was secure. I didn't think they'd try to +pull off anything like this. Shows how much dependence a man can put +in anything. They don't look like they had sense enough to think of +such a thing." + +He stepped away from the door and went to the table, looking down at +the dishes she had set out for him, then at her, with a regretful smile +which brought a quick pang to her. + +"Shucks," he said, more to himself than to her; "if this had happened +three months ago I'd have been plumb amused, an' I'd have had a heap of +fun with somebody before it could be got over with. Somehow, it don't +seem to be so damned funny now. + +"It's your fault, too," he went on, regarding her with a direct, level +gaze. "Not that you got me into this mix-up, you understand--you're +not to blame for a thing--but it's your fault that it don't seem funny +to me. You've made me see things different." + +"I am so sorry," she said, standing pale and rigid before him. + +"Sorry that I'm seein' things different?" he said. "No?" at her quick, +reproachful negative. "Well, then, sorry that this had to happen. +Well, I'm sorry, too. You see," he added, the color reaching his face, +"it struck me while I was ridin' over here that I wasn't goin' to be +exactly tickled over leavin'. It's been seemin' like home to me +for--well, for a longer time than I would have admitted three days ago, +when I had that talk with you. Or, rather," he corrected, with a +smile, "when you had that talk with me. There's a difference, ain't +there? Anyways, there's a lot of things that I wouldn't have admitted +three days ago. But I've got sense now--I've got a new viewpoint. An' +somehow, what I'm goin' to tell you don't seem to come hard. Because +it's the truth, I reckon. I've knowed it right along, but kept holdin' +it back. + +"Dade had me sized up right. He said I was a false alarm; that I'd +been thinkin' of myself too much; that I'd forgot that there was other +people in the world. He was right; I'd forgot that other people had +feelings. But if he hadn't told me that them was your views I'd have +salivated him. But I couldn't blame him for repeatin' things you'd +said, because about that time I'd begun to do some thinkin' myself. + +"In the first place, I found that I wasn't a whole lot proud of myself +for guzzlin' your grandad, but I'd made a mistake an' I wasn't goin' to +give you a chance to crow over me. I expect there's a lot of people do +that, but they're on the wrong trail--it don't bring no peace to a +man's mind. Then, I thought you was like all the rest of the women I'd +known, an' when I found out that you wasn't, I thought you had the +swelled head an' I figgered to take you down a peg. When I couldn't do +that it made me sore. It made me feel some cheap when you showed me +you trusted me, with me treatin' you like I did; but if it's any +satisfaction to you, I'm tellin' you that all the time I was treatin' +you mean I felt like kickin' myself. + +"I reckon that's all. Don't get the idea that I'm doin' any mushin'. +It's just the plain truth, an' I've had to tell you. That's why I came +over here--I wanted to square things with you before I leave. I reckon +if I'd stay here you'd never know how I feel about it." + +She was staring at the floor, her face crimson, an emotion of deep +gratitude and satisfaction filling her, though mingled with it was a +queer sensation of regret. Her judgment of him had been vindicated; +she had known all along that this moment would come, but, now that it +had come, it was not as she had pictured it--there was discord where +there should be harmony; something was lacking to make the situation +perfect--he was going away. + +She stood nervously tapping the floor with the toe of her shoe, hardly +hearing his last words, almost forgetting that he was in the room until +she saw his hand extended toward her. Then she looked up at him. +There was a grave smile on his face. + +"I reckon you'll shake hands with me," he said, "just to show that you +ain't holdin' much against me. Well, that right," he said when she +hesitated; "I don't deserve it." + +Her hand went out; he looked at it, with a start, and then seized it +quickly in both of his, squeezed it hard, his eyes aflame. He dropped +it as quickly, and turned to the door, saying: "You're a brave little +girl." + +She stood silent until his hands were on the fastenings of the door. + +"Wait!" she said. She attempted to smile, but some emotion stiffened +her lips, stifling it. "You haven't had your supper," she said; "won't +you eat if I get it ready?" + +"No time," he said. "The law don't advertise its movements, as a usual +thing, an' Toban's liable to be here any minute. An'," he added, a +glint of the old hardness in his eyes, "I ain't lettin' him take me. +It's only twenty miles to the line, an' the way I'm intendin' to travel +I'll be over it before Toban can ketch me. I don't want him to ketch +me--he was a friend of my dad's, an' puttin' him out of business +wouldn't help me none." + +"Will you be safe, then?" she asked fearfully. + +"I reckon. But I won't be stoppin' at the line. I'm through here; +there's nothin' here to hold me. I reckon I'll never come back this +way. Shucks!" he added, leaving the door and coming back a little way +into the room; "I expect I'm excited. I come near forgettin'. It's +about the idol an' the money an' the ranch. I don't want any of them. +They're yours. You've earned them an' you deserve them. Go to Las +Vegas an' petition the court to turn the property over to you; tell the +judge I flunked on the specifications." + +"I don't want your property," she said in a strange voice. + +"You've got to take it," he returned, with a quick look at her. +"Here"--he drew a piece of paper and a short pencil from an inside +pocket of his vest, and, walking to the table, wrote quickly, giving +her the paper. + +"I herewith renounce all claim to my father's property," it read; "I +refuse the conditions of the will." + +It was signed with his name. While he stood watching her, she tore the +paper to small bits, scattering them on the floor. + +"I think," she said, regarding him fixedly, "that you are not exactly +chivalrous in leaving me this way; that you are more concerned over +your own safety than over mine. What do you suppose will happen when +the Taggarts discover that you have gone and that I am here alone?" + +His eyes glinted with hatred. "The Taggarts," he laughed. "Did you +think I was going to let them off so easy? I'm charged with one +murder, ain't I? Well, after tonight there won't be any Taggarts to +bother anybody." + +"You mean to--" Her eyes widened with horror. + +"I reckon," he said. "Did you think I was runnin' away without +squarin' things with them?" There was a threat of death in his cold +laugh. + +While she stood with clenched hands, evidently moved by the threat in +his manner and words, he said "So-long," shortly, and swung the door +open. + +She followed three or four steps, again calling upon him to "wait." He +turned in the doorway and went slowly back to her. She was nervous, +breathless, and he looked wonderingly at her. + +"Wait just a minute," she said; "I have something to give you." + +She darted into the sitting-room; he could hear her running up the +stairs. She was gone a long time, so long a time that he grew +impatient and paced the floor with long, hasty strides. He was certain +that it was fully five minutes before she reappeared, and then her +manner was more nervous than ever. + +"You act," he said suspiciously, "as though you wanted to keep me here." + +"No, no," she denied breathlessly, her eyes bright and her cheeks +aflame. "How can you think that? I have brought you some money; you +will need it." She had a leather bag in her hands, and she seized it +by the bottom and turned out its contents--a score or more of +twenty-dollar gold pieces. + +"Take them," she said as he hesitated. And, not waiting for him to +act, she began to gather them up. She was nervous, though, and dropped +many of them several times, so that he felt that time would have been +gained if she had not touched them. He returned them to the bag, with +her help, and placed the bag in a pocket of his trousers. Then once +more he said good-by to her. + +This time, however, she stood between him and the door, and when he +tried to step around her she changed her position so as to be always in +front of him. + +"Tell me where you are going?" she said. + +"What do you want to know for?" he demanded. + +"Just because," she said; "because I want to know." + +His eyes lighted with a deep fire as he looked at her. She was very +close to him; he felt her warm breath; saw her bosom heave rapidly, and +a strange intoxication seized him. + +"Shall I tell you?" he said, with sudden hoarseness, as though asking +himself the question. He grasped her by the shoulders and looked +closely at her, his eyes boring, probing, as though searching for some +evidence of duplicity in hers. For an instant his gaze held. Then he +laughed, softly, self-accusingly. + +"I thought you was stringin' me--just for a minute," he said. "But +you're true blue, an' I'll tell you. I'm goin' first to the Arrow to +hand the Taggarts their pass-out checks. Then I'm hittin' the breeze +to Durango. If you ever want me, send for me there, an' I'll come back +to you, sheriff or no sheriff." + +She put out a hand to detain him, but he seized it and pressed it to +her side, the other with it. Then his arms went around her shoulders, +she was crushed against him, and his lips met hers. + +Then she was suddenly released, and he was at the door. + +"Good-by," he said as he stood in the opening, the glare of light from +the lamp showing his face, pale, the eyes illumined with a fire that +she had never seen in them; "I'm sorry it has to end this way--I was +hopin' for somethin' different. You've made me almost a man." + +Then the door closed and he was gone. She stood by the table for a few +minutes, holding tightly to it for support, her eyes wide from +excitement. + +"Oh," she said, "if I could only have kept him here a few minutes +longer!" + +She walked to the door and stood in the opening, shading her eyes with +her hands. He had not been gone long, but already he was riding the +river trail; she saw him outlined in the moonlight, leaning a little +forward in the saddle, the black running with a long, swift, sure +stride. She watched them until a bend in the trail shut them from +view, and then with a sob she bowed her head in her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NEAL TAGGART VISITS + +When a little later Betty heard hoof-beats in the ranchhouse yard--the +sounds of a horseman making a leisurely approach--she left the door and +went out upon the porch. + +She knew who the horseman was; she had seen him from the window of her +room when she had gone upstairs to get the money for Calumet. More +than once she had seen the sheriff coming over the hill--the same hill +upon which Calumet and Neal Taggart had fought their duel--and she +recognized the familiar figure. On his previous visits to the +ranchhouse, however, Toban had left his horse in the timber clump near +the house. She was not surprised, though, to hear him coming into the +ranchhouse yard tonight, for his errand now was different. + +Toban had evidently intended to hitch his pony to the corral fence, for +it was toward it that he was directing the animal, when he caught sight +of Betty on the porch and rode up beside her. + +"What's up?" he inquired, leaning over in the saddle and peering +closely at her; "you look flustered. Where's Marston?" + +"Gone," she told him. + +He straightened. "Gone where?" he demanded. + +"Away--forever," she said weakly. "He heard you were after him +for--for killing that man Sharp--and he left." + +Toban cursed. "So he got wind of it, did he? The Taggarts must have +gassed about it. Marston told you, did he? Why didn't you keep him +here? He didn't kill Sharp!" + +"I know it," she said; "he told me he didn't, and I believed him. He +said you had a warrant for his arrest; that you were coming for him, +and I was afraid that if you met him out on the range somewhere there +would be shooting. I knew if I could keep him here until you came you +would be able to fix it up some way--to prove his innocence. I was so +glad, when I ran upstairs to get some money for him and looked out of +the window. For you were coming. But he wouldn't stay." + +Toban dismounted and stood in front of her, his eyes probing into hers. +"I've got evidence that he didn't kill Sharp," he said; "I saw the +whole deal. But I reckon," he added, a subtle gleam in his eyes, "that +it's just as well that he's gone--he was a heap of trouble while he was +here, anyway, wasn't he?" + +"No," she said quickly, defiantly; "he--" She broke off and looked at +him with wide eyes. "Oh," she said with a quavering laugh; "you are +poking fun at me. You liked him, too; you told me you did!" + +"I reckon I like him," said Toban, his lips grimming; "I like him well +enough not to let him pull his freight on account of the Taggarts. +Why, damn it!" he added explosively; "I was his father's friend, an' I +ain't seein' him lose everything he's got here when he's innocent. +Which way did he go?" + +There was a wild hope in her eyes; she was breathing fast. "Oh," she +said; "are you going after him? He went to the Arrow--first. He told +me he was going to kill the Taggarts. Then he is going to get out of +the Territory. Oh, Toban, catch him--please! I--" + +Toban laughed. "I ain't been blind, girl," he said; "the talks I've +had with you in old Marston's office have wised me up to how things +stand between you an' him. I'll ketch him, don't worry about that. +That black horse of his is some horse, but he ain't got nothin' on my +old dust-thrower, an' I reckon that in fifteen miles--" + +He was climbing into the saddle while talking, and at his last word he +gave the spurs to his horse, a strong, clean-limbed bay, and was away +in a cloud of dust. + +Betty watched him, her hands clasped over her breast, her body rigid +and tense, her eyes straining, until she saw him vanish around the bend +in the trail; and then for a long time she stood on the porch, scanning +the distant horizon, in the hope that she might again see Toban and be +assured that nothing had happened to him. And when at last she saw a +speck moving swiftly along a distant rise, she murmured a prayer and +went into the house. + +When she closed the kitchen door and stood against it, looking around +the room, she was afflicted with a depressing sense of loss, and she +realized fully how Calumet had grown into her life, and what it would +mean to her if she lost him. He had been mean, cruel, and vicious, but +he had awakened at last to a sense of his shortcomings; he was like a +boy who had had no training, who had grown wild and ungovernable, but +who, before it had become too late, had awakened to the futility, the +absurdity, the falseness of it all, and was determined to begin anew. +And she felt--as she had felt all along--even when she had seen him at +his worst--that she must mother him, must help him to build up a new +structure of self, must lift him, must give him what the world had so +far denied him--his chance. And she sat at the table and leaned her +head in her arms and prayed that Toban might overtake him before he +reached the Arrow. For she did not want him to come back to her with +the stain of their blood on his hands. + +She was startled while sitting at the table, for she heard a sound from +the sitting-room, and she got up to investigate. But it was only Bob, +who, hearing the sounds made by Toban and herself, had come to +investigate. She urged him to return to his room and to bed, and +kissed him when he started up the stairs, so warmly that he looked at +her in surprise. + +She returned to the kitchen, sitting at the table and watching the +clock. A half hour had elapsed since Toban's departure when she heard +the faint beat of hoofs in the distance, and with wildly beating heart +got up and went out on the porch. + +For a moment she could not determine the direction from which the +sounds came, but presently she saw a rider approaching from the +direction of the river, and she stepped down from the porch and +advanced to meet him. She feared at first that it was Toban returning +alone, and she halted and stood with clenched hands, but as the rider +came closer she saw it was not Toban but an entire stranger. She +retreated to the porch and watched his approach. + +He was a cowboy and he rode up to the edge of the porch confidently, +calling to her when he came close enough to make himself heard. + +"My name's Miller," he said, taking his hat off and showing her the +face of a man of thirty--"Harvey Miller. Me an' my side-kicker was +drivin' a bunch of Three Bar beeves to Lazette an' we was fools enough +to run afoul of that quicksand at Double Fork, about five miles down +the crick. We've bogged down about forty head an' I've come for help. +You got any men around here?" + +"Oh," she said; "how careless you were! Didn't you know the quicksand +was there?" + +"I ain't been runnin' this range a whole lot," said the puncher +uneasily; "but I reckon even then I ought to be able to nose out a +quicksand. But I didn't, an' there's forty beeves that's goin' to +cow-heaven pretty soon if somethin' ain't done. If you've got any men +around here which could give us a lift, we'd be pleased to thank you." + +"Of course," she said. "Wait!" + +She went into the house and to the stairs where she called to Dade and +Malcolm, and presently, rubbing their eyes, the two came down. They +were eager to assist the puncher in his trouble and without delay they +caught up the two horses that Calumet had bought soon after his coming +to the ranch, saddled and bridled them and rode out of the yard. + +The unfortunate puncher did not wait for them. When they had announced +their intention of helping him, he had told them that he would ride on +ahead to help his partner, leaving them to follow as soon as they could. + +"I reckon you know where it is," was his parting word to them. "Double +Fork. I reckon I'll know it again when I see it," he added, grimly +joking. + +Betty watched Dade and Malcolm as they rode away. From the porch she +could follow their movements until they traveled about a mile of the +distance toward Double Fork. She saw them vanish into the wood, and +when she could see them no longer she turned and went into the house. + +She went to the chair in which she had previously been sitting, resting +her arms on the table, but she was too nervous, too excited, to sit and +she presently got up and stood, looking anxiously at the face of the +clock on a shelf in a corner. + +Toban had been gone a full hour, and she wondered if by this time he +had overtaken Calumet, or whether Calumet was racing ahead of him on +his way to execute vengeance upon the Taggarts. She was praying mutely +that Toban might overtake him before this could happen when she heard a +slight sound behind her and turned swiftly to see Neal Taggart standing +in the doorway, grinning at her. + +The room darkened before her eyes as she swayed weakly and caught at +the table to support herself, and when she finally regained control of +herself she forced herself to stand erect. There was a great fear in +her heart, but she fought it down and faced Taggart with some semblance +of dignity and composure. + +"What are you doing here?" she demanded; "what do you want?" + +Taggart's face wore an evil smile. Before answering her he fastened +the door behind him, left it and went to the sitting-room door, peered +quickly into the room and swung the door shut, barring it. Betty stood +beside the table, watching him with a sort of fascination, a little +color now in her face, though she lacked the power to speak or to +interfere with Taggart's movements. + +When he had barred the sitting-room door he came and stood beside the +table, and there was a repulsive, insulting leer on his face as he +looked down at her. + +"Do you know what I came here for?" he said. + +"No," she answered. + +He reached out suddenly and grasped her hands, pulling her roughly over +to him. She gave a startled cry and then stood silent before him, +slender and white, a subdued little figure dwarfed by his huge bulk, +seemingly helpless. + +"I'll tell you," he said, the strange hoarseness of deep passion in his +voice. "Me an' my dad are leavin' the country tonight. We sold the +Arrow today, an' by this time tomorrow we'll be among the missin' in +this section of the country. But there's some things to be done before +we pull our freight. You think you've been damned slick about the +idol--you an' that mule-kickin' shorthorn, Calumet Marston! But we've +fooled you," he continued with a short, ugly laugh; "fooled you clean! +Mebbe you know this, an' mebbe you don't. But I'm tellin' you. We set +Telza, the Toltec, an' Sharp to get the diagram of the place where the +idol is. They didn't get it because the clearin' ain't dug up any. +Telza knifed Sharp an' he's sloped, likely figgerin' that this country +ain't healthy for him any more. You've got the diagram an' I want it. +I'm goin' to get it if I have to kill you to get it! Understand! + +"You've got no chance," he sneered, as she looked around the room +furtively, hopelessly. "We framed up a murder charge on Calumet and +we've been in the timber since dark waitin' for the sheriff to come an' +get him. We saw him hit the breeze toward the Arrow, an' we saw the +sheriff go after him. Neither of them can be back here for hours yet, +an' when they do get back I'll have done what I've set out to do." + +He laughed again, harshly, triumphantly. "Dade an' Malcolm bothered +me a bit until I thought of sendin' Harvey Miller here with that fairy +tale about the forty beeves bogged down in Double Fork, but I reckon +now--" + +She gasped, comprehending the trap he had set for her, and his grip on +her hands tightened. + +"Dade an' Malcolm can't get back for an hour yet," he gloated, "an' by +that time we'll be miles away." His voice changed from mockery to +savage determination. "I want that diagram, an' I want it right now, +or I'll tear you to pieces. Do you understand? I'll beat you up so's +your own mother wouldn't know you." His grip tightened on her arms, +they were twisted until she screamed with agony. + +In this extremity her thoughts went to Calumet; she remembered vividly +what he had said about the idol when she had asked him why he did not +get it and convert it into cash. "I ain't so much stuck on monkeyin' +with them religious things," he had said. And she was certain that if +Calumet knew of her danger he would not have had her hesitate an +instant in relinquishing the diagram to Taggart. + +The idol had brought him nothing but evil, anyway, and she was certain +that Calumet would not mourn its loss, even if Taggart were to be the +gainer by it, if its possession were to entail punishment, death, +perhaps, to her. + +"Wait!" she cried as Taggart gave her arms an extra vicious twitch; +"you may have it!" + +He released her with a greedy, satisfied grin and stood crouching and +alert while she turned her back to him and fumbled in her bodice, where +she had kept the diagram since the discovery of its former hiding place +by Telza. + +She turned presently and gave him the paper, and he seized it eagerly +and examined it, gloating over it. + +"That's it," he said; "that's the clearing!" + +She was holding her arms, where he had squeezed them, her face flushed +with rage at the indignity he had offered her. She stood rigid, +defiant. + +"If that is all you came for, you may go," she said; "go instantly!" + +He jammed the paper into his pocket and grinned at her. + +"It ain't all," he said. "I owe you somethin' for the way you've +treated me. I'm goin' to pay it. You've been too much of a lady to +talk to me, but you'll live here with that--" + +He reached suddenly out and seized her hands again, attempting to throw +an arm around her. She evaded the arm and wrenched herself free, +slipping past him and darting to the other side of the table. He stood +opposite her, his hands on the table as he leaned toward her, grinning +at her, brutally and bestially, and pausing so as to prolong his +enjoyment of her predicament. + +"I'll get you, damn you!" he said; "I've got the time and you can't get +out." He seized the kerosene lamp on the table and walking backward, +placed it on a shelf at the side of the wall near the stove. Then with +a chuckle of satisfaction and mockery he again went to the table +seizing its edge in his hands and shoving it against her so that she +was forced to retreat from its advance. + +She divined instantly that he intended to force her against one of the +walls and thus corner her, and she opposed her strength to his, pushing +with all her power against the table in an effort to retard its advance. + +It was to no purpose, for he was a strong man and his passions were +aroused, and in spite of her brave struggle the table continued to move +and she to retreat before it. + +"Oh!" she said, in a panic of fear and dread, her face flushed, her +eyes wide and bright, her breath coming in great panting sobs; "Oh! you +beast! You beast!" + +He did not answer. His eyes were burning with a wanton fire, they +glowed with the fierce, fell purpose of animal desire; he breathed +shrilly, rapidly, gaspingly, though the strength that he had been +compelled to use to overmatch hers had not been great. + +She did not succeed in retarding the advance of the table, but she did +succeed in directing its course a little, so that instead of backing +her against the wall, as he no doubt intended to do, she brought up +finally against the stove in the corner. + +There was a fire in the stove--she had kept it going to keep Calumet's +supper warm--and when she felt her body against it she reached around +and secured a flat iron. The handle burned her hand, but she lifted it +and hurled it with all her force at his head. He dodged, laughing +derisively. She seized another and threw it, and this he dodged also. +She was reaching for the teakettle when he shoved the table aside and +lunged at her, and she dropped the kettle with a scream of horror and +slipped around the stove to the wall near the sitting-room door, +reaching the latter and trying frantically to unbar it. + +She heard Bob's voice on the other side of the door; he was calling, +"Betty! Betty!" in shrill, scared accents, and when Taggart leaped at +her, seizing her by the shoulders as she worked with the fastenings of +the door, she screamed to Bob to get the rifle from Malcolm's room, +directing him to go out the front way, go around to the kitchen and +shoot Taggart through one of the windows. + +How long she struggled with Taggart there by the door she did not know. +It might have been an hour or merely a minute. But she fought him, +clawing at his face with her hands, biting him, kicking him. And she +remembered that he was getting the better of her, that his breath was +in her face and that he was dragging her toward the lamp on the shelf, +evidently intending to extinguish it--that he had almost reached it, +was, indeed, reaching a hand out to grasp it, when there came a flash +from the window, the crash of breaking glass, and the roar of an +exploding firearm. + +She also remembered thinking that Bob had taken a desperate chance in +shooting at Taggart when she was so close to him, and she had a vivid +recollection of Taggart releasing her and staggering back without +uttering a sound. She caught a glimpse of his face as he sank to the +floor; there was a gaping hole in his forehead and his eyes were set +and staring with an expression of awful horror and astonishment. Then +the kitchen darkened, she felt the floor rising to meet her, and she +knew no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +FOR THE ALTARS OF HIS TRIBE + +The first sound that Betty heard when consciousness began to return to +her was a loud pounding at the kitchen door. + +She had fallen to the floor just beneath the shelf on which the lamp +sat, and she raised herself on an elbow and looked around. At first +she did not remember what had happened, and then she saw Taggart, lying +face upward on the floor near her, the frightful hole in his forehead, +and she shuddered as recollection in a sickening flood came to her. +Bob, dear Bob, had not failed her. + +She got up, trembling a little, breathing a prayer of thankfulness, +shrinking from the Thing that lay on the floor at her feet with its +horror-stricken eyes staring straight up at the ceiling, making her way +to the kitchen door, for the pounding had grown louder and more +insistent, and she could hear a voice calling hoarsely to her. + +But it did not seem to be Bob's voice; it was deeper and more resonant, +and vibrated clearly, strongly, and with passion. It was strangely +familiar, though, and she shook a little with a nameless anxiety and +anticipation as she fumbled at the fastenings of the door and swung it +open. + +It was not Bob, but Calumet, who stepped in. One of his heavy pistols +was in his right hand; with the left he had helped her to swing the +door open, and he stood, for the first brief instant following his +entrance, his arms extended, gazing sharply at Taggart. Then, quickly, +apparently satisfied that he need have no concern for his enemy, he +turned to Betty, placed both hands on her shoulders--the heavy pistol +in his right resting on her--she felt the warmth of the barrel as it +touched the thin material of her dress and knew then that it had been +he who had fired the shot that had been the undoing of her +assailant--and holding her away from him a little peered searchingly at +her. + +[Illustration: Calumet stepped in.] + +His face was pale, his lips stiff and white, and his eyes were alight +with the wanton fire that she had seen in them many times, though now +there was something added to their expression--concern and thankfulness. + +"God!" he said, after a little space, during which she looked at him +with shining eyes. She no longer gave any thought to Taggart; the +struggle with him was an already fading nightmare in her recollection; +he had been eliminated, destroyed, by the man who stood before her--by +the man whose presence in the kitchen now stirred her to an emotion +that she had never before experienced--by the man who had come back to +her. And that was all that she had cared for--that he would come back. + +With a short laugh he released her and stepped over to where Taggart +lay, looking down at him with a cold, satisfied smile. + +"I reckon you won't bother nobody any more," he said. + +He turned to Betty, the pale stiffness of his lips softening a little +as she smiled at him. + +"I want to thank you," he said, "for sendin' Toban after me. He caught +me. I wasn't ridin' so fast an' I heard him comin'. I knowed who it +was, an' stopped to have it out with him. He yelled that he didn't +want me; that you'd sent him after me. We met Dade an' Malcolm--we'd +passed Double Fork an' nothin' was bogged down. So we knowed +somebody'd framed somethin' up. I come on ahead." He grinned. +"Toban's been braggin' some about his horse, but I reckon that don't go +any more. That black horse can run." He indicated Taggart. "I reckon +he come here just to bother you," he said. + +She told him about the diagram and he started, stepping quickly to +where Taggart lay, searching in his pockets until he found the paper. + +Then he went to the door. Standing in it, he looked as he had looked +that day when he had humiliated Neal Taggart in her presence. The +gentleness which she had seen in him some hours before--and which she +had welcomed--had disappeared; his lips had become stiff and pale +again, his eyes were narrowed and brilliant with the old destroying +fire. She grew rigid and drew a deep, quivering breath, for she saw +that the pistol was still in his hand. + +"What are you going to do?" she asked. + +"I reckon old Taggart will still be waitin' in the timber grove," he +said with a short, grim laugh. "They've bothered me enough. I'm goin' +to send him where I sent his coyote son." + +At that word she was close to him, her hands on his shoulders. + +"Don't!" she pleaded; "please don't!" She shuddered and cast a quick, +shrinking glance at the man on the floor. "There has been enough +trouble tonight," she said. "You stay here!" she commanded, trying to +pull him away from the door, but not succeeding. + +He seized her face with his hands in much the same manner in which he +had seized it in his father's office on the night of his return to the +Lazy Y--she felt the cold stock of the pistol against her cheek and +shuddered again. A new light had leaped into his eyes--the suspicion +that she had seen there many times before. + +"Are you wantin' old Taggart to get away with the idol?" he demanded. + +"He can't!" she denied. "He hasn't the diagram, has he? You have just +put it in your pocket!" + +A quick embarrassment swept over him; he dropped his hands from her +face. "I reckon that's right," he admitted. "But I'm goin' to' send +him over the divide, idol or no idol." + +"He won't be in the timber grove," she persisted; "he must have heard +the shooting and he wouldn't stay." + +"I reckon he won't be able to run away from that black horse," he +laughed. "I'll ketch him before he gets very far." + +"You shan't go!" she declared, making a gesture of impotence. "Don't +you see?" she added. "It isn't Taggart that I care about--it's you. I +don't want you to be shot--killed. I won't have it! If Taggart hasn't +gone by this time he will be hidden somewhere over there and when he +sees you he will shoot you!" + +"Well," he said, watching her face with a curious smile; "I'm takin' a +look, anyway." In spite of her efforts to prevent him he stepped over +the threshold. She was about to follow him when she saw him wheel +swiftly, his pistol at a poise as his gaze fell upon something outside +the ranchhouse. And then she saw him smile. + +"It's Bob," he said; "with a rifle." And he helped the boy, white of +face and trembling, though with the light of stern resolution in his +eyes, into the kitchen. + +"Bob'll watch you," he said; "so's nothin' will happen to you. +Besides--" he leaned forward in a listening attitude; "Toban an' the +boys are comin'. I reckon what I'm goin' to do won't take me long--if +Taggart's in the timber." + +He stepped down and vanished around the corner of the ranchhouse. + +He had scarcely gone before there was a clatter of hoofs in the +ranchhouse yard, a horse dashed up to the edge of the porch, came to a +sliding halt and the lank figure of Toban appeared before the door in +which Betty was standing. + +He looked at her, noted her white face, and peered over her shoulder at +Bob, with the rifle, at Taggart on the floor. + +"Holy smoke!" he said; "what's happened?" + +She told him quickly, in short, brief sentences; her eyes glowing with +fear. He tried to squeeze past her to get into the kitchen, but she +prevented him, blocking the doorway, pushing hysterically against him +with her hands. + +"Calumet has gone to the timber grove--to the clearing--to look for Tom +Taggart. Taggart will ambush him, will kill him! I don't want him +killed! Go to him, Toban--get him to come back!" + +"Shucks," said Toban, grinning; "I reckon you don't need to worry none. +If Taggart's over in the timber an' he sees Calumet he'll just +naturally forget he's got a gun. But if it'll ease your mind any, I'll +go after him. Damn his hide, anyway!" he chuckled. "I was braggin' up +my cayuse to him, an' after we met Dade an' Malcolm he run plumb away +from me. Ride! Holy smoke!" + +He crossed the porch, leaped into the saddle and disappeared amid a +clatter of hoofs. + +Betty stood rigid in the doorway, listening--dreading to hear that +which she expected to hear--the sound of a pistol shot which would tell +her that Calumet and Taggart had met. + +But no sound reached her ears from the direction of the timber grove. +She heard another sound presently--the faint beat of hoofs that grew +more distinct each second. It was Dade and Malcolm coming, she knew, +and when they finally rode up and Dade flung himself from the saddle +and darted to her side she was paler than at any time since her first +surprise of the night. + +Again she was forced to tell her story. And after it was finished, and +she had watched Dade and Malcolm carry Neal Taggart from the room, she +went over to where Bob sat, took him by the shoulder and led him to one +of the kitchen windows, and there, holding him close to her, her face +white, she stared with dreading, anxious eyes through the glass toward +the timber clump. She would have gone out to see for herself, but she +knew that she could do nothing. If he did not come back she knew that +she would not want to stay at the Lazy Y any longer; she knew that +without him-- + +She no longer weighed him in the balances of her affection as she stood +there by the window, she did not critically array his good qualities +against the bad. She had passed that point now. She merely wanted +him. That was all--she just wanted him. And when at last she saw him +coming; heard his voice, she hugged Bob closer to her, and with her +face against his sobbed silently. + + +A few minutes after he left the ranchhouse Calumet was in the clearing +in the timber grove, standing over the body of a man who lay face +upward beside a freshly-dug hole at the edge of a mesquite clump. He +was still standing there when a few minutes later Toban came clattering +up on his horse. The sheriff dismounted and stood beside him. + +Calumet gave Toban one look and then spoke shortly: + +"Taggart," he said. + +"Lord!" said Toban, in an awed voice; "what in blazes did you do to +him? I didn't hear no shootin'! Is he dead?" + +Both kneeled over the prone figure and Calumet pointed to the haft of a +knife that was buried deep in the body near the heart. + +"Telza's," said Calumet, as he examined the handle. "I dropped it here +the other night; the night Sharp was killed." + +"Correct," said Toban; "I saw you drop it." He smiled at the quick, +inquiring glance Calumet gave him. + +"I was comin' through here after tendin' to some business an' I saw +Telza knife Sharp. I piled onto Telza an' beat him up a little. +Lordy, how that little copper-skinned devil did fight! But I squelched +him. I heard some one comin', thought it was one of Taggarts, an' +dragged Telza behind that scrub brush over there. I saw you come, but +I wasn't figgerin' on makin' any explanations for my bein' around the +Lazy Y at that time of the night, an' besides I saw the Taggarts +sneakin' up on you. While they was gassin' to you I had one knee on +Telza's windpipe an' my rifle pointin' in the general direction of the +Taggarts, figgerin' that if they tried to start anything I'd beat them +to it. But as it turned out it wasn't necessary. I sure appreciated +your tender-heartedness toward them poor dumb brutes of the Taggarts. + +"After you set the Taggarts to walkin' home, I took Telza to Lazette +an' locked him up for murderin' Sharp." + +"I reckon, then," said Calumet, a puzzled frown wrinkling his forehead +as he looked from Taggart to the freshly dug hole; "that somebody else +killed Taggart. It was someone who knew where the idol was, too--he'd +been diggin' for it." + +"I reckon you've got me," said Toban. "Sharp an' Telza an' you an' +Betty is the only one's that ever saw the diagram. I saw you pick it +up from where Telza dropped it when I was maulin' him. I know you +didn't do any diggin' for the idol; I know Betty wouldn't; an' Sharp's +dead, an' Telza's in jail--" + +There was a clatter of hoofs from the direction of the ranchhouse. +Both men turned to confront a horseman who was coming rapidly toward +them, and as he came closer Toban cried out in surprise: + +"Ed Bernse!" he said; "what in thunder are you doin' here?" + +"Trailin' a jail breaker!" said the latter. "That copper-skinned +weazel we had in there slipped out some way. He stole a horse an' come +in this direction. Got an hour's start of me!" + +Calumet laughed shortly and turned to the new-made excavation, making a +thorough examination of it. + +At its bottom was a square impression, a mold such as would be left by +the removal of a box. Calumet stood up and grinned at Toban. + +"The idol's gone," he said. "Telza's got it. You go back to Lazette," +he said to Bernse, "an' tell the man who owns the horse that Calumet +Marston will be glad to pay for it--he's that damned glad he's got rid +of the idol." + +Followed by Bernse, Calumet and Toban returned to the ranchhouse. When +they neared it they were met by Dade and Malcolm, bearing between them +the body of Neal Taggart. Calumet directed them to the clearing, +telling them briefly what they would find there, and then, with Toban +and Bernse, continued on to the ranchhouse. + +Bernse hesitated at the door. "I reckon I'll be lightin' out for +town," he said to the sheriff. + +"Wait," said the sheriff; "I'll be goin' that way myself, directly." + +Calumet had preceded Toban. As the latter was speaking to Bernse, +Calumet stood before Betty, who, with Bob, had moved to the +sitting-room door and was standing, pale, her eyes moist and brilliant +with the depth of her emotions. + +Briefly, he told her what he had found in the clearing. + +"And the idol's gone," he concluded. "Telza's got it." + +"Thank God!" she exclaimed, devoutly. + +"I reckon," came Toban's voice, as he stepped across the kitchen floor +toward them, "that we'd better bring this here idol business to an end. +Mebbe it's bothered you folks a heap, but it's had me sorta uneasy, +too." He grinned at Betty. "Mebbe you'd better show him his dad's +last letter," he suggested. "I reckon it'll let me out of this deal. +An' I'm sure wantin' to go back home." + +Betty vanished into the sitting-room in an instant, and presently +returned bearing an envelope of the shape and size which had contained +all of the elder Marston's previous communications to Calumet. She +passed it over to the latter and she and the sheriff watched him while +he read. + + +"MY DEAR SON: If you receive this you will understand that by this time +Betty is satisfied that you have qualified for your heritage. I thank +you and wish I were there to shake your hand, to look into your eyes +and tell you how glad I am for your sake. + +"As soon as you have your affairs in shape I want you to marry +Betty--if she will have you. I think she will, for she is in love with +your picture. + +"By this time you will know that I didn't leave Betty alone to cope +with the Taggarts. If Dave Toban has kept his word--and I know he +has--he has visited the Lazy Y pretty often. I didn't want you to know +that he was back of Betty, and so I have told him to visit her +secretly. He will give you what money is left in the bank at Las +Vegas--we thought it would be safer over there. + +"I want to thank you again. God bless you. + +"Your father, + +"JAMES MARSTON." + + +Calumet slowly folded the letter and placed it into a pocket. He +looked at Toban, a glint of reproach in his eyes. + +"So, it was you that I kept hearin' in the office--nights," he said. + +"I reckon," said Toban. He looked at Betty and grinned. + +Calumet also looked at her. His face was sober. + +"I reckon I've been some fool," he said. "But I was more than a fool +when I thought--" + +"I didn't blame you much for that," smiled Betty. "You see, both times +you heard us talking it happened that Taggart was somewhere in the +vicinity, and--" + +"Well," interrupted Toban with a grin; "I reckon you two will be able +to get along without any outside interference, now." + +They both watched in silence as he went to the door and stepped +outside. He halted and looked at them, whereat they both reddened. +Then he grinned widely and was gone. + +Betty stood at one side of the sitting-room door, Calumet at the other. +Both were in the kitchen. Bob, also, was in the kitchen, though +Calumet and Betty did not see him; so it appeared to Bob. Having some +recollection of a certain light in Betty's eyes on the night that +Calumet had brought home the puppy, Bob's wisdom impelled him to +compare it with the light that was in them now, and he suspected--he +knew-- + +And so, very gently, very quietly, with infinite care and patience, +lest they become aware of his presence, he edged toward the kitchen +door, his rifle in hand. Still they did not seem to notice him, and so +he passed through the door, into the dining-room, backed to the stairs, +and so left them. + +The silence between Betty and Calumet continued, and they still stood +where they had stood when Bob had stolen away, for they heard sounds +outside that warned them of the approach of Dade and Malcolm. + +But it seemed they did not see Dade and Malcolm stop at one of the +kitchen windows, and certainly they did not hear the whispered +conversation that was carried on between the two. + +"Shucks," said Dade; "it begins to look like Cal an' Betty's quarrel +is--" + +"I reckon we won't go in," decided Malcolm; "not right now. Mebbe in +an hour, or so. Let's go down to the bunkhouse and play a little +pitch." + +They were all alone now. And Love had not been blind to the stealthy +activities that had been carried on around it. + +Betty turned her head and looked at Calumet. He smiled at her--it was +the smile of a man who has won a battle with something more than the +material things; it was the smile of a man who has conquered self--the +smile of the ruler who knows the weakness of the citadel he has taken +and plans its strengthening. It was the smile of the master who +realizes the potent influence of the ally who has aided in his +exaltation and who meditates reward through the simple method of +bestowing upon the ally without reservation that citadel which she has +helped to take and which, needless to say, she prizes. But it was +something more, too, that smile. It was the smile of the mere Man--the +man, repentant, humble, petitioning to the woman he has selected as his +mate. + +"I reckon," he said; "that they all thought we wanted to be alone." + +But the ally was not prepared for this precipitate bestowal of reward, +and as she blushed and looked down at the toe of her shoe, sticking out +from beneath the hem of her skirt, she looked little like a person who +had conducted a bitter war for the master who stood near her. + +"Oh," she said; "did you hear them?" + +"I reckon I heard them," he said. He went closer to her. "They're +wise--Dade an' Malcolm. Bob, too. Wiser than me. But I'm gettin' +sense, an' I'll come pretty close to bein' a man--give me time. All I +need is a boss. An' if you--" + +"I reckon," said Dade, stretching himself an hour later, "that we'll +turn in. That brandin' today, an' that ridin' tonight has bushed +me--kinda." + +Malcolm agreed and they stepped to the bunkhouse door. + +The moonlight threw a mellow glare upon the porch of the ranchhouse +near the kitchen door. It bathed in its effulgent flood two figures, +the boss and the master, who were sitting close together--very close +together--on the porch. + +The two figures came into instant focus in Dade's vision. He stepped +back with a amused growl and gave place to Malcolm, who also looked. + +Silently they went back into the bunkhouse. + +"I reckon," suggested Dade, from the darkness, "that if we're figgerin' +to go to bed we'll have to bunk right here. There's no tellin' when +them two will get through mushin'. An' it's been too hard a tussle for +them to have us disturbin' them now." + +From the porch there came a low protest from the ally. + +"Don't, Cal," she said; "don't you see that Dade and Malcolm are +watching us?" + +"Jealous, I guess," he laughed. "Well, let them watch. I reckon, if +they're around here for any time, after this, they'll see me kissin' +you plenty more." + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Boss of the Lazy Y, by Charles Alden Seltzer + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOSS OF THE LAZY Y *** + +***** This file should be named 19026.txt or 19026.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/0/2/19026/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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