ise back."

"Yes," snaps Jabez, "an' who did you promise it to? To a sneak who
didn't care a pin for you but was only after my money. If he was honest
why didn't he ask me, the same as Hawthorn did?"

"Of course I can't tell for sure," sez she, without raisin' her voice
or changin' her expression, "but I thought at the time that it was the
hand itself he wanted, an' not merely permission to set an' wish for
it. In this life a man generally gets what he asks for. Dick got the
hand."

"Seems to set a heap o' store by it," sez the ol' man, edgin' up his
voice cruel an' tantalizin'. "Where's this Dick now; when did you last
hear from this winner of hands?"

It was a fierce stab, an' Barbie went white as a sheet; but she faced
him cool an' steady. "I ain't never heard from him since the day he
left; but I trust him just the same. The hand will be his when he
chooses to claim it; or if he never comes back at all--why the hand
will still be his."

Cast Steel got on his hind legs an' struck the table till every dish on
it jumped, an' I rose a bit myself; but Barbie only curled her little
red lip. "Curse him," sez the ol' man, "curse him, wherever he is an'
wherever he goes. He has ruined my life an' he has ruined yours; an' if
he ever steps foot on this ranch again, I'll--"

"Stop!" sez Barbie, springin' to her feet. "You give me more sadness
every day I live than Dick has altogether; but for pity's sake don't
bind yourself by a threat. Wait till he comes back, an' be free to meet
him like a man, not like a thug pledged to murder."

"What do you know about him?" sez the ol' man, sittin' down. "For all
you know, he may be robbin' trains for a livin'. It would be right in
his line."

"For all I know, robbin' trains was where you got your start," sez
Barbie; an' the of man's face turned gray an' his eyes stuck out like
picture nails. He wasn't used to gettin' it quite so unpolluted, an' it
gave him a nasty jar.

"How do you know 'at he ain't livin' with the woman he kept over at
Laramie?" sez Jabez, tryin' to get the whip hand again. "How do you
know he ain't married?"

"An' how do I know 'at you ever was married--" she stopped short,
bitin' her lip an' turnin' red with shame. "I know it's well nigh
hopeless to plead with a natural bully," she sez in a new tone; "but I
do wish 'at you'd let me alone. You're destroyin' my respect for
everything. I can't stand this much longer. If I can't live here in
peace I'll have t