In his day Kent had held himself a hard man, cold, unemotional; asking affection of none. But, as so often happens with men of his type, he gave when he least suspected it, and now that the tide had set the other way he knew his need. Often he had fooled himself into worshiping his money. His false god mocked him.
His hungry heart needed Molly, not money! And he swore that he would have her; that Johnny Dice should never see her again. Had the fool bewitched the girl? Wait until she heard how he had been caught skulking in her room. Yes, and his insolence at the Rock; she’d resent that. There was good steel in Molly. This Dice person would find that the Kents stuck together!
And, oh, how he hated Johnny! Anger surged through his brain in blinding waves until his withered old body trembled. Had he been at all apoplectic, Jackson Kent would have been stricken dead.
Poor Molly winced as she regarded him. She had insisted on fair play, but without intending to wound her father. What had got into folks lately to make them fly at each others’ throats in this fashion? Thoroughly distressed, she said:
“Father, I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to be impertinent.”
The old man unbent readily enough.
“No matter,” he said, opening his arms to her. “I’m not angry with you. This man here is the person I’ve got my quarrel with. You look tired, nervous. I’ll get you a room and you go and lie down for a spell. When you’re rested up we’ll go home. Anythin’ we’ve got to say to each other we can say when we’re alone.”
“Maybe that is best; but while the three of us are here, father, I want to ask you one question. Did you know Crosbie Traynor?”
The suddenness of the question startled Johnny. He thought he saw the old man sway and struggle for breath even as his head shook his denial of any knowledge of the dead man. The next instant there was a grim smile on Kent’s lips. It made Johnny, who knew not the cost of it, open his eyes still wider.
“Traynor?” Kent questioned. “Crosbie Traynor? No, I never heard of him. Is he a friend of this man?”