. "Was you
all asleep?" he inquired in a voice of cold mockery. Even at that
distance he saw Betty redden, and he laughed shortly.

"A foxy snake," he said; "one of them kind which goes roamin' around at
night. Lookin' for a mate, mebbe." He turned abruptly, with a last
sneering look at Betty, and made his way around the house.

CHAPTER XIV

JEALOUSY

Dade was asleep when Calumet got into bed, and he was still asleep when
Calumet awoke the next morning. Calumet descended to the kitchen. When
he opened the kitchen door Bob's dog ran between his legs and received a
kick that sent him, whining with pain and surprise, off the porch.

Dominating everything in Calumet's mind this morning was the bitter
conviction that Betty had deceived him. There had been ground for
Taggart's talk in the Red Dog--he saw that now. Taggart and Betty were
leagued against him. When he had brought Taggart face to face with Betty
that morning more than a month ago the Arrow man had pretended insolence
toward Betty in order to allay any suspicion that Calumet might have
concerning the real relations between them. It had been done cleverly,
too, so cleverly that it had convinced him. When he remembered the cold,
disdainful treatment that Betty had accorded Taggart that afternoon, he
almost smiled--though the smile was not good to see. He had championed
her--he knew now that it had been a serious championship--and by doing so
he had exposed himself to ridicule; to Betty's and Taggart's secret humor.

He discovered an explanation for Betty's conduct while he fed and watered
Blackleg. It was all perfectly plain to him. Neither Betty nor Taggart
had expected him to return to the Lazy Y. Betty's actions on the night
of his arrival proved that. She had exhibited emotion entirely out of
reason. Undoubtedly she and Taggart had expected to wait the year
specified in the will, certain that he would not appear to claim the
money or the idol, or they might have planned to leave before he could
return. But since he had surprised them by returning unexpectedly, it
followed that they must reconstruct their plans; they would have to make
it impossible for him to comply with his father's wishes. They could
easily do that, or thought they could, by making life at the ranch
unbearable for him. That, he was convinced, was the reason that Betty
had adopted her cold, severe, and contemptuous attitude toward him. She
expected he would find