"Say, you-all wasn' wantin' to buy a cow, was ye, Bob?" asked Pink.
"Got one to sell?"
"Yes, the muley cow."
"No, I don't guess I want her."
"You seemed so damn curious about my stock, Ah 'lowed ye were purchasin'."
"Oh, no. I just thought you must have an extra lot of cattle to be providing for, or you wouldn't have needed to hire this land and to make an extra big crop of corn."
A dull red showed on Pink's forehead above the tan-mark, and crowded into his pale-blue eyes, destitute of lashes. The two men looked steadily at each other. Then, as Melissa drew near, Pink broke into an ugly laugh.
"Give a dog a bad name, eh? You-all needn' be quite so bigoty now yo' fine friends have been at the same business."
He waved his hand towards the cabin, and Bob, in his turn, flushed as he shook hands with Melissa.
The girl gave scant greeting to Pressley. Her husband's new friendship with him was distasteful to her; it filled her with foreboding when she remembered his threats.