“And as for thinking of that girl—Great Scot! I’d make a fine figure asking any girl used to such luxury as this to come out and share a shack in Desert City or thereabout, while I punched cattle, or went to keeping store, or tried to match my wits in real estate with the sharks that exploit land out there.
“Forget it, Garford!” he advised himself, grimly. “If you can make an honest deal with this old major, make it and then clear out. This is no place for you.”
He had, therefore, braced himself for the interview. The major, eyeing him keenly as he walked down the long room beside Dorothy, made his own judgment—as he always did—instantly. When Dorothy had gone he said frankly to the young man:
“Mr. Knapp, I’m glad to see you. I have heard so much about you that I feel you and I are already friends.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Garry, quietly, eyeing the major with as much interest as the latter eyed him.
“When my daughter was talking one day about you and the land you had in the market adjoining the Hardin tract it struck me that perhaps it would be a good thing to buy,” went on the major, briskly. “So I set our lawyers on your trail.”
“So Miss Dorothy tells me, sir,” the young man said.
“Now, they know all about the offer made you by those sharpers, Stiffbold & Lightly. They advised me to risk a thousand dollar option on your ranch and I telegraphed them to make you the offer.”
“And you may believe I was struck all of a heap, sir,” said the young man, still eyeing the major closely. “I’ll tell you something: You’ve got me guessing.”
“How’s that?” asked the amused Major Dale.