“Jeanne,” he asked, “did that beast dare to—make love to you?”
“He tried to,” she faltered, “but I—I drove him away!”
“Good God!” His arms dropped to his side. “If I had known that this afternoon, I would have smashed his leering face to pulp!”
She placed a small, strong hand on his arm.
“Rand, for my sake, and father’s, you must not do anything like that! Any trouble now might—take him away from me. I’m hoping we’ll be able to manage till things get better here. And, in the meanwhile, we’re just—being careful!”
He walked up and down for several moments in silence. Then he turned a controlled face to her.
“Perhaps in time we’ll find a solution,” he said. “In the meanwhile, don’t worry, Jeanne. Above all, don’t worry any more about that creature you call Wasp Williams. There isn’t a drop of courage in his entire body!”
“That is why we should fear him!” she said quickly, “If he was a decent man, he would move in the open, and there would not be so much to be alarmed about. But he is a—a snake, Rand! You have not been here long enough to realize what a nest this place has become.”
As if to prove her words, at that very moment a volley of shots rang out from the direction of the village. A sharp cry, a chorus of hoarse laughter, and then the usual low hum of the night-life in the little town!
The girl trembled. “It is happening like that every day and every night. I’m afraid poor papa won’t be able to stand it much longer! And I have gotten to love this place so, Rand—these mountains and rivers and cañons! I love them in spite of—this!” Her arm swept in a wide semicircle which took in the entire town. “It would break my heart to leave Red Valley!”