He returned to his meal and the Widow surveyed him appraisingly with her bold, inquisitive eyes. She was a big, strapping woman, and handsome in a way; but the corners of her mouth were drawn down sharply in a sulky, lawless pout.
“Aw, tell me the truth,” she burst out at last. “What have you got against the property?”
A somber glow came into his eyes as he opened 16his lips to speak, and then he veiled his smouldering hate behind a crafty smile.
“The parties that I represent,” he said deliberately, “are looking for a mine. But the man that puts his money into the Paymaster property is simply buying a lawsuit.”
“What do you mean?” demanded the Widow, rousing up indignantly in response to this sudden thrust.
“I mean, no matter how rich the Paymaster may be–and I hear the whole district is worked out–I wouldn’t even go up the hill to look at it until you showed me the title was good.”
The Widow sat and glowered as she meditated a fitting response and then she rose to her feet.
“Well, all right, then,” she sulked, “if you don’t want to consider it–but you’re missing the chance of your life.”
“Very likely,” he muttered and reached for his hat. “Much obliged for cooking my dinner.”
He started for the door, but she flew swiftly after him and snatched him back into the room.