Sudden Plays a Hand by Oliver Strange

Author:Oliver Strange [Strange, Oliver]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XI

THAT same evening the nester and his wife discussed, for the first time, the impending change. He had given her a brief account of the proceedings at Midway, but without revealing the gravity of the peril to which he had been exposed. Drait did not conceal that Cullin had taken his part.

“So you were wrong about him?’ she said.

Not any,’ Nick replied. “He was grand-snandin’. Towler was givin’ the game away, an’ the boys were getting wise. It was a smart move, but it don’t razzle-dazzle me. I’d bet a blue stack he’s behind the whole dirty business.’

His apparent ingratitude appeared unnatural, but she said no more. The news that he would remain in the valley, Ieaving her free to go to the S P, came as a relief, and produced no protest. If her evident eagerness to get away from him hurt, he did not show it.

“You’ll need a woman in the place,’ he remarked. “Better take Lindy.’

“Isn’t there a cook at the ranch?’

“Yeah, one o’ Sam’s riders who got too old for the saddle, but he’ll be no good alone.’

She gave in. Truth to tell, she did want the Negress, but would have died rather than ask for her; the prospect of going to the S P lacking a friendly face had been more than daunting.

“Then there’s a foreman,’ Nick went on. “I can spare Quilt—for a time, anyway.’

“No,’ she said sharply, and when his eyebrows went up, “I prefer to give orders, not take them. I can find someone; if he knows his work, that’s all I require.’

“Gilman knew that much,’ he reminded. “Trouble was, he didn’t do it.’

“There was no-one in charge,’ she argued. “Men are all alike—they only need the opportunity to go off the rails.’

This bit of wisdom—a blow at himself—brought a smile.

“Shore, it’s a wicked world,’ he said. The men are devils an’ the women saints—mebbe. I’ll trail along with you to the S P.’

“There is no necessity,’ she replied coldly. “Mister Seale will be able to explain everything.’

“Seale knows little about the cattle business; don’t trust him too much; yore appearance was a disappointment, remember.’

Instead, she recalled what Cullin had told her, and shrugged impatiently. “Is there anyone you do not suspect?’

“Mighty few,’ he agreed. “We’ll take Lindy with us—one o’ the boys can drive her over; she’ll see what is wanted to make the place comfortable.’

Mary knew she was being unreasonable, that the arrangements were sensible and for her welfare, but they chafed. Unconsciously, she thought aloud:

“Thank Heaven, I shall soon be able to do as I please.’

The stark exultation in her voice, coupled with an utter absence of gratitude, roused within him a fierce impatience. “No matter where you are, you’ll still be my wife,’ he said sternly. “If ever you forget that

“You will shoot me, of course,’ she retorted hardily.

The spirit of anger had passed, leaving a cold grimness infinitely more sinister. “You wouldn’t be worth the cost of a cartridge,’ he said deliberately. “But I should shorely kill the man.

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