If there had been a twinkle of hope for his comfort in her attitude of reliance on him after he had arrived at Skulltree, there was none at that moment, for she had become distinctly dignified and distant. He swung back to that bitter conclusion which he had made a part of his convictions when he had pondered on the matter in his little room in New York—her frantically pledged affection had been only a part of her campaign of sacrifice. He was not blaming her for the pretense—he was not calling it deceit. She had fought for her own with such weapons as she could command in a time of stress.
He followed her meekly when she hurried down from the cliff.
On the path which led back to the Flagg camp a breathless cookee met them. “A team is here from Adonia, miss. It’s the big bays—Mr. Flagg’s horses.”
Instinctively she turned to Ward, making him her prop as she had done previously on that day.
“I’ve been expecting it,” he told her. “It’s just what your grandfather would do after he got word that Craig had gone through Adonia with his roughnecks. Mr. Flagg wouldn’t leave you here to face what was threatened.”
“I didn’t tell my grandfather who I was. Dick promised to keep the secret,” she faltered.
“Remember! Words have wings up in this region! I explained to you once, Miss Kennard, and you know what happened when I let loose that flock of them at Adonia—like a fool. I don’t dare to think about it!”
He paced away from her; then he returned, calm again. “Mr. Flagg must have heard—he would keep in touch with what has been going on up here—and after he knew, it would be his style to let you go ahead and win out. He would understand what it is you’re trying to do. His sending that team, now that he is afraid of danger, proves that he knows.”
When she ran on ahead Latisan did not try to keep up with her; he was once again the drive boss of Flagg’s crew, a hired man; he had no excuse for meddling in the family affairs of his employers, he reflected, and in his new humility he was avoiding anything which might savor of inquisitive surveillance.
The man who had put the horses to the jumper in Adonia, the man whom she knew as Jeff, was the deputy whom Flagg had sent. He had come in haste—that was plain to her; he was mopping the flanks of the sweating bays.