And Bruce Standing, regarding her fixedly, demanded sharply:
"Well, what is it?"
Well ... what should she say? Anything or nothing? If she kept her silence, would she in after-days know herself to blame for to-night's bloodshed in that, keeping shut lips, she allowed him to stumble upon all Taggart's crowd.
He was eying her sharply. She must make some answer, and so at last she prefaced her reply by asking him:
"You say that we are not on your land?"
"I did not say that. I said that this is not the cabin in which I had some years ago the pleasant experience of borrowing some money from Babe Deveril. He has never been here; has never heard of this place. No man other than myself, and until now no woman ever came here."
"That narrow end of a valley we crossed this afternoon ... that was the upper end of Buck Valley? And the creek which came next was Big Bear Creek? And, right near us somewhere is Grub Stake Cañon?"
"You know the country like a map!" He spoke carelessly enough and yet was puzzled to understand how she knew; of course Deveril could have told her something of it and yet Deveril's knowledge was restricted to the slim gleanings of one short excursion of years ago, and he did not believe that even Deveril had ever heard of Grub Stake Cañon.
"And," she ran on swiftly, "you were to meet Mexicali Joe to-night at that other cabin of yours? Is that it?"
"Witch, are you? Picker of thoughts from men's brains?" He laughed shortly and got to his feet. "And so you elect to go along and see what happens? Rather than rest here with Thor to keep you company?"