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 re
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