He rose erect and made room for Dick. The latter gazed in silence for a few moments. When he turned to Mr. Robles he said:
“It’s really wonderful—it is the most wonderful glass I ever looked through.”
There was the glimmer of an exultant smile on the face of Ricardo Robles.
“I saw you at the round-up across the valley the other day,” he remarked. “You were much nearer to me than is the store. And while I do not invite any confidence, Mr. Willoughby, you certainly engaged in a very spirited conversation, to say the least, with young Marshall Thurston. Indeed, I half expected to see you come to blows.”
“What was that?” asked Merle in some trepidation.
Willoughby had reddened.
“Nothing of consequence,” he responded, almost curtly. “I had to tell the young cub to mind his own business. That was all.”
“You certainly have the whole valley under observation,” remarked Munson, considerately diverting the conversation.
“Yes,” assented Mr. Robles, with an almost grim smile of satisfaction. “The telescope teaches one not merely to observe, but to reason from the facts observed. Tia Teresa evidently thought that she should have come along today to play duenna, eh, Merle?”
“You don’t say you guessed that?” exclaimed Merle in great astonishment.