From the chair old Jake Harper watched him with terrible, intent eyes.
“Give me your word to act gentle, and I’ll loose you, Jake,” said Buck.
“I’ll give you my word,” said Jake, his voice deadly, “that all I want is to git my hands on a gun, and I’ll fill ye full o’ lead, ye mis’able coyote!”
So Jake Harper remained where he was. Buck continued his steady pacing back and forth, then suddenly came to a pause before his captive and shot out a remark:
“Where I made a mistake was in killing Cervantes. I should have given him a chance.”
Jake Harper swore at him angrily.
“Where you done made your mistake, Buck, was in tryin’ to covet the Shumway place. You stole the Lazy S cattle, and you should ha’ stopped there.”
Silence again. Buck went on with his uneasy stride. It was a difficult decision which faced him.
At this moment, while he stood on the brink of disaster, Templeton Buck for the first time saw clearly how things had come to this pass. He was rich in money and land. He did not need the Shumway land added to his own. He was powerful.
Being rich and powerful, he had thought himself secure, had determined to get both Stella and the Lazy S, and had been careless as to his methods. Back in the old days, when Frank Shumway had knocked him down, he had revenged himself by sending young Shumway to the penitentiary—deliberately framing him.