They rode steadily, talking little, for Calumet deliberately kept a considerable distance between them, thus showing her that though courtesy had forced him to accompany her it could not demand that he should also become a mark at which she could direct conversation.
It was noon when they came in sight of the Diamond K ranch buildings. They were on a wide plain near the river and what grass there was was sun-scorched and rustled dryly under the tread of their horses' hoofs. Then Calumet added a word to the few that he had already spoken during the ride.
"I reckon Kelton must have been loco to try to raise cattle in a God-forsaken hole like this," he said with a sneer.
"That he was foolish enough to do so will result to our advantage," she replied.
"Meanin' what?"
"That we will be able to buy what cattle we want more cheaply than we would were Kelton's range what it should be," she returned, watching his face.
He looked at her vindictively. "You're one of them kind of humans that like to take advantage of a man's misfortune," he said.
"That is all in the viewpoint," she defended. "I didn't bring misfortune to Kelton. And I consider that in buying his cattle I am doing him a favor. I am not gloating over the opportunity—it is merely business."
"Why didn't you offer Kelton the Lazy Y range?" he said with a twisting grin.
She could not keep the triumph out of her voice. "I did," she answered. "He wouldn't take it because he didn't like you—doesn't like you. He told me that he knew you when you were a boy and you weren't exactly his style."