o 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 de