CHAPTER XII
A PEACE OFFERING
If there was one trait in Betty's character that bothered Calumet morethan another, it was her frankness. More than once during the daysthat followed Neal Taggart's visit Calumet was made to feel the absenceof guile in her treatment of him. The glances she gave him were asstraightforward and direct as her words, and it became plain to himthat with her there were no mental reservations. Her attitude towardhim had not changed; she still dealt with him as the school teacherdeals with the unruly scholar--with a personal aloofness that promisedan 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 enticeTaggart to the Lazy Y, and was convinced that it had been arousedthrough a desire to take some step to avenge his father. He toldhimself that if in the action there had been any desire to championBetty he had not been conscious of it. It angered him to think thatshe should presume to imagine such a thing. And yet he had felt athrob of emotion when she had thanked him--a reluctant, savage,resentful satisfaction which later changed to amusement. If shebelieved he had thrashed Taggart in defense of her, let her continue tobelieve that. It made no difference one way or another. But he wouldtake good care to see that she should have no occasion to thank himagain. She did not interfere with the work, which went steadily on.The ranchhouse began to take on a prosperous appearance. Within a weekafter the beginning of the work the sills were all in, the rottedbottoms of the studding had been replaced, and the outside wallspatched up. During the next week the old porches were torn down andnew ones built in their places. At the end of the third week the roofhad been repaired, and then there were some odds and ends that had tobe looked to, so that the fourth week was nearly gone when Dade andCalumet cleared up the debris. It was Dade who, in spite of Calumet'sremonstrances, went inside to announce the news to Betty, and she cameout with him and looked the work over with a critical, thoughapproving, eye. Calumet was watching her, and when she had concludedher 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 nothingelse to say. Her voice had a taunt in it; her attack was direct andmerciless. 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. "Youwere 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 moodsagain! Well, I am not going to quarrel with you." She turned abruptlyand entered the house, and Calumet fell to kicking savagely into ahummock with the toe of his boot. As in every clash he had had withher yet, he emerged feeling like a reproved school boy. What made itworse was that he was beginning to feel that there was no justificationfor his rage against her. As in the present case, he had been theaggressor and deserved all the scorn she had heaped upon him. But therage was with him, nevertheless, perhaps the more poignant because hefelt its impotency. He looked around at Dade. That young man wastrying to appear unconscious of the embarrassing predicament of hisfellow workman. He endeavored to lighten the load for him.
"She certainly does talk straight to the point," he said. "But Ireckon 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 forit. He returned after dark, and Bob, who was sitting in the kitchenwhere Betty was washing the dishes, hobbled out to greet him. Bob hadbeen outside only a few minutes when Betty heard his voice, raisedjoyously. She went to a rear window, but the darkness outside wasimpenetrable and she could see nothing. Presently, though, she heardBob's step on the porch, and almost instantly he appeared, holding inhis arm a three-month-old puppy of doubtful breed. He radiated delight.
"Calumet brought it!" he said, in answer to Betty's quickinterrogation. "He said it was to take the place of Lonesome. Ireckon he ain't so bad, after all--is he Betty?"
Betty patted the puppy's head, leaning over so that Bob did not see thestrange 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 disappointedvoice, "Uh-huh."
When Calumet came into the kitchen half an hour later, having stabledhis horses and washed his face and hands from the basin he found on theporch, he found his supper set out on the table; but Betty was nowhereto be seen.
"Where's Betty?" he demanded of Bob, who was romping delightedly withthe new dog, which showed its appreciation of its new friend by yelpingjoyously.
"I reckon she's gone to bed," returned the young man.
For a few minutes Calumet stood near the door, watching the dog and theboy. Several times he looked toward the other doors, disappointmentrevealed in his eyes. Was he to take Betty's departure before hisarrival as an indication that she had fled from him? He had seen herwhen she had pressed her face to the window some time before, and itnow appeared to him that she had deliberately left the room to avoidmeeting him. He frowned and walked to the table, looking down at thefood. She had thought of him, at any rate.
He sat at the table and took several bites of food before he spokeagain.
"Betty see the pup?" he asked.
"Yep."
"Like him?"
"Yep."
He hesitated, while Bob looked at him, intent for more questions. Hehad liked Calumet from the first, despite the killing of Lonesome. Hecould not forget the gruff words of consolation that had been spoken byCalumet on that occasion--they had been sincere, at any rate--his boy'sheart 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 hisfood. Bob suspended play with the puppy to watch him.
"Well," said Calumet finally, "that shows just what a woman knows aboutdogs--or anything. He ain't none nice, not at all, takin' dogs asdogs. He's nothin' but a fool yellow mongrel."
Bob contemplated his benefactor, sourly at first, for already he andthe dog were friends, and thus Calumet's derogatory words were in thenature of a base slander. But he reasoned that all was not wellbetween Betty and Calumet, and therefore perhaps Calumet had not meantthem 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 inthe sitting room, reading, as she was accustomed to doing. A lightcame through the sitting room door, and Calumet had been watching it,momentarily expecting to see Betty's shadow. "What's that?" herepeated. "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 onhis face as he watched the sitting room door, he raised his voice sothat if Betty were in the sitting room she could not help hearing it.
Apparently Bob had no answer to make to this, for he kept silent. ButCalumet saw a shadow cross the sitting room floor, and presently heheard a light footstep on the stairs. He smiled and went on eating.
The Boss of the Lazy Y Page 12