h? 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