`Blaynes has got orders to give Ginger, Dirty, an' Simple their time,' he said. `Mebbe yu ain't heard?'
The girl stared at him in astonishment. `Orders? From whom?' she asked.
`Tarman, I s'pose; I'm bettin' high the Old Man never give 'em,' said Lunt.
`I should think not,' the girl cried indignantly. `What have those boys done to be turned off?'
`They were friendly to Green, an' they ain't made any secret of it.'
`They are not to go--I will speak to Mr. Tarman. Have you any idea where Green is now, Snap?'
`I ain't, Miss Norry, I wish I had. Tonk an' his posse have
combed the country an' ain't seen a trace of him; he seems to have vanished complete, but I'm dead shore he's around.' He watched her walk back to the house, his face set grimly. `An' he'll stay around too, as long as yu need him, or I'm a gopher,' he muttered. `An' if he don't, I will.'
Noreen found Tarman in the office, which had been resnored to a state of neatness again. The sight of him sitting at her father's desk drove discretion to the wind and she plunged at once into her business.
`I understand that you are dismissing some of the men,' she began. `Is my father aware of it?'
Tarman looked at her in surprise; this was a different Noreen, and he suddenly realised that instead of a chattel to be disposed of at his will, she had become a factor to be considered, and one requiring careful handling.
`It wasn't worth while botherin' yore father,' he explained. `Blaynes complained to me that the men were insubordinate an' I told him to get rid of 'em. This isn't a time no carry men who are not loyal to the ranch.'
`These men are,' she replied shortly.
`Then you don't trust yore foreman's judgment,' he argued.
`I prefer to rely on my own, and my father would agree with me,' she retorted. `I will not have them sent away.'
There was no mistaking the note of determination in her voice and Tarman hesitated for a moment, pondering the best course to pursue. Her opposition enraged him, but he fought down his anger and smiled instead.
`Guess it ain't worth quarrellin' about--a man oughtta give into a girl, specially when it's the girl,' he said indulgently, and then, noting her look, he added, `I'm presumin' that Simon told yu what we was both hopin'--that yu an' me would tie up?'
`You certainly are presuming, Mr. Tarman,' Noreen told him. The question of "tying up"--to you or anyone else--is one I have not yet considered.'
Despite his hardihood, the man flushed. `I'm clumsy--ought not to have put it just that way,' he excused. `I ain't no ladies' man, Miss Noreen, an' I can't make pretty speeches. The straight of it is, I want yu--want yu bad. Will you have me?'
The girl was silent, studying this, her first real lover. Big, handsome, virile, many a woman would have asked no more; but Noreen, inexperienced in the world as she was, had seen beneath the surface and she profoundly distrusted Tarman. Besides--but that was a reason she would not admit, even to herself. She shook her head. `I'm sorry, Mr. Tarman,' she said.
`Think again, girl,' he urged. `I've got money an' I'll make more. We needn't stay here; after a spell we can sell out an' travel; see the world an' see it in style. I'm buildin' big an' as my wife you'll be somebody. Who else around here can offer yu as much?'
"And the Devil took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the cities of the world and the glories thereof," ' the girl quoted softly, and again she said, `No, Mr. Tarman.'
This time there was a finality in her tone which even his egotism could not ignore; he saw that she was not to be persuaded and a black anger welled up in him. Was he, Tarman, who had broken men and brushed them out of his way like flies, to be bested by a chit of a girl? A hard look came into his eyes as they rested on her.
`Yu are takin' a high hand, girl, but there's one or two points yu are overlookin',' he sneered. `First off, I'm part owner o' the Y Z.'
The purchase price is not paid, nor the agreement signed.' `Shucks ! Mere formalities. It's all settled an' Simon ain't the man to go back on his word, even if he dared. Besides which'--and here he grinned in savage anticipation of the blow he was about to deal--'what's it gotta do with yu? Yu was talkin' about presumin' a while ago. Well, yu are presumin' yo're Simon's daughter an' all the time yu ain't no relation to him.'
For a moment she stared at him in utter amazement, and then she laughed contemptuously. `You must be mad,' she said. 'Perhaps you can tell me whose daughter I am?'
`Shore thing,' came the reply. 'Yo're Mina, short for Wilhelmina, only child of Bill Evesham, who used to have a ranch on Crawlin' Creek, Texas. A man named Peterson stole yu when yu were a kid an' brought yu here; he now calls himself Simon Petter.'
Though the girl's eyes were incredulous, her brain was telling her that the man was speaking the truth.
`Evesham was the chap who befriended Sudden, an' set him on the hunt for Peterson--an' he got him,' Tarman went on. Almost she cried out that it was a lie, that he himself had shot Simon, but with an effort she restrained herself; after all, she was not sure. Her mind in a whirl, she was conscious of one recurring thought--that for years Green had been searching for her--with a vengeful motive, doubtless, but still, searching for her. In some intangible way the knowledge gave her courage.
Tarman watched her gloatingly, well aware of the effect of the blow so ruthlessly dealt. His eyes roamed over the slim, rounded, youthful figure lustfully, and the girl's attitude of despair gave him only a sensation of savage triumph. He wanted her--he meant that she should oe his, but first he would crush her to the very earth.
`So now yu know where yu get off,' he continued harshly. `If the old fool cashes--an' by the look of him he's due to--I'm yore best bet. I can turn yu adrift without a dollar if I like, an' if yu are cherishin' any notions about that feller Sudden, yu better lose 'em; he'll be stretchin' a good rope before long.'
The girl straightened herself up and said stormily, `I'd sooner starve than be beholden to you for anything.'
`Starvin' is none so easy, 'specially for folks who have lived soft an' had all they wanted,' he sneered. `Reckon yu will change yore tune when the pinch comes. 'Nother thing yu gotta keep in mind, if Simon does get well he's liable to be sent to the pen for abduction, if the' boys at Hatchett's don't lynch him first.'
She had not thought of this and her face paled at the possibility, for what she had learned could not obliterate the affection of years and the old man was very dear to her. More than ever she realised how completely she was in the power of the leering ruffian before her. But she would not let him see it.
`Have you anything else to say?' she asked, and when he did not reply, she swept from the room.
The man watched her go with narrowed, squinting eyes and a clamped jaw.
`Guess that'll hold yu for a bit, my girl,' he grated. `Later on we'll take some o' the stiff enin' out o' yu. Dunno, though, seem' we've come to a showdown, it wouldn't be as well to--'
He paused, and after a moment's consideration, got up and went in search of Laban.
Noreen meanwhile, in the seclusion of her bedroom, was pondering on her strange position. Save for the sick man and the old Indian housekeeper she had no one to turn to, and both of these were helpless. Then she thought of Leeming and decided to go and see him. She went to make sure that Simon was comfortable, but said nothing of her purpose, nor of what she had learned, not wishing to give him more cause for worry. The ranch appeared to be deserted when she went to the corral and saddled Blue. She wondered if the three punchers had already been sent packing and peeped into the bunkhouse, only to find it empty, even the cook being absent. So she rode away, unaware that cunning eyes were watching her every movement.