"Loves me? Are you drunk, man, or crazy? Loves me and leaves me for you; leads you and your crowd to the Gulch, trying to stake on Joe's claim, trying to...."
"She did not leave you for me! I took Taggart and Gallup to her, and Taggart put her under arrest ... for shooting you! And she did not lead us to the spot where she knew Joe's claim was; she made fools of us and led us to the Red Cliffs, miles away!"
Standing's face was suddenly as tense as Deveril's, almost as white.
"She left a note; saying that she was going back to you...."
Deveril strode by him to a table on which lay some letter paper and wrote slowly and with great care, laboring over each letter:
I am going back to Babe Deveril.
Lynette.
And then he threw the pencil down and stood looking at Standing. And he saw an expression of bewilderment, and then one of amazement wiping it out, and then a great light leaping into Standing's eyes.
"You made her go! You dragged her away! And you wrote that!"
Deveril turned toward the door.