"Thornton did not shuffle toward us and look down as he usually does," observed Donald to his father when they were alone. "He is different, somehow. What is it?"
"I am not sure, son, but I cannot help feeling that Thornton has come to his best self. The best is in all of us. It is not, however, always uppermost. Perhaps it is going to triumph in Thornton."
There unquestionably was a change in the big rough man.
That evening he got out the books and went over all the accounts with Mr. Clark, telling him just what supplies he had ordered; what they had cost; and how much he had paid out in wages. In dealing with financial matters Mr. Clark was on his native heath. He studied the columns of figures critically. The accounts were correct to a cent, and he could readily see that every reasonable economy had been practiced in the management of the ranch.
"You have done well, Thornton," he said after he had finished looking over the bills and papers. "I am greatly obliged to you for your faithful work."
Donald saw a flush of pleasure rise to the man's cheek.
"My work has not always been faithful, Mr. Clark," Thornton declared with sudden determination. "I want to tell you, sir, that I was not setting out to be faithful to you at all. I wanted to get Johnson's place, and then I meant to run Crescent Ranch to please myself. I am going to confess the whole thing; I want to confess it because your confidence in me has made me ashamed of myself. You must have known somehow that I was not running things as they ought to be run, else you would never have come out here. Sandy knew it—so did all the old herders. Yet, save about the permits, you never have spoken a word of reproof, but have gone on trusting me. When you looked me so kindly in the eye and went away leaving me in care of the whole home ranch I somehow felt that you expected me to do the square thing."
His voice faltered.
Donald, who had been an uncomfortable listener, now rose and tried to steal out of the room unnoticed, but Thornton called him back.
"Do not go, lad. You may be owning Crescent Ranch some day, and I want you to hear what I have to say. There is not much more to tell. After you and your father had gone to the range with Sandy I sat down and thought it all over. Here I was, alone! There was no getting away from myself. I reviewed all the plans I had made—how I was going to stock some of my friends at Glen City with provisions and charge it up to Clark & Sons; how I was going to pad the accounts and keep the money—I went over the whole thing, and I felt mean as a cur. It came to me that it was a pretty poor game. Then another plan came into my mind. You were giving me a chance to be decent—why didn't I take it? I did. I have been absolutely honest about running the ranch while you have been gone, Mr. Clark. I can look you and Donald in the eye just as Sandy, José, Bernardo, and the other men do who have been working for your interest all these years."