General laughter greeted this.
"That's all right!" cried Joe furiously from the door. "I'll get you yet!" He went out.
The others now began to crowd around Sam, congratulating him a little sheepishly, slapping his back. A great, sweet calm filled Sam. This was the moment he had dreamed of during his long days on the trail and his lonely nights at Grier's Point.
He had made good. He was a man among men. They acknowledged it. It was like a song inside him. The hideous wound that Bela had dealt him was healed.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. From her corner she was gazing at him as at a young god. Calm filled her breast, too. Joe was gone, and her secret still safe. Surely after to-night, she thought, there would be no need of keeping it.
They heard Joe climb into his wagon outside and curse at his horses. Instead of turning into the road, he drove back to the door and pulled up. Bela turned pale again.
Joe shouted through the doorway: "Anyhow, no woman keeps me!"
"Damn you! What do you mean?" cried Sam.
"You owe the clothes you wear to her, and the gun you carry! The horses you drive are hers!"
"You lie!" cried Sam, springing toward the door.