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So I just got off my horse and climbed up here, to satisfy my curiosity." Leviatt's hand fell away from the holster, a guilty grin overspreading his face. "I reckon we wasn't rehearsin' any scene," he said, trying to make the words come easily. "I was just tellin' your sister that " Miss Radford laughed banteringly.
"Three in this game would make it odd, Tucson," he said quietly. "If there's goin' to be any shootin', let's have an even break, anyway." Tucson's hand fell away from his holster; he stepped back toward the door, away from the range boss and Ferguson. Leviatt's face had crimsoned. "Mebbe I was runnin' a little bit wild " he began. "That's comin' down right handsome," said Ferguson.
She had found her work interesting; she had become quite absorbed in it. Therefore she failed to appreciate Leviatt's sudden appearance, and with uptilted chin turned from him and pretended an interest in the rim of hills that surrounded the flat. For an instant Leviatt stood, a frown wrinkling his forehead. Then with a smile he stepped forward and seated himself beside her on the rock.
She's told me that she's goin' to make him a character in the book she's writing. Likely she's stringing him." "I reckon she ain't stringin' him," declared Leviatt. "A girl ain't doin' much stringin' when she's holdin' a man's hand an' blushin' when somebody ketches her at it." There was a slight sneer in Leviatt's voice which drew a sharp glance from Radford.
The story of how the stray-man had closed Leviatt's mouth was still fresh in his memory. He was wondering whether Leviatt knew that he had heard about the incident. "Suppose you try him?" he suggested. "That'd be as good a way as any to find out if he's got nerve." Leviatt's face bloated poisonously, but he made no answer. Apparently unaware that he had touched a tender spot Stafford continued.
"Because if he is," resumed Leviatt, before the manager could reply, "he ought to manage to be around where them thieves are workin'." Stafford stiffened. He had developed a liking for the stray-man and he caught a note of venom in Leviatt's voice. "I reckon the stray-man knows what he's doin'," he replied.
"An' now Leviatt's hangin' around over there," continued the youth. "He's claimin' to be goin' to see Ben Radford, but I reckon he's got the same kind of sickness as the rest of us." "An' you ain't sayin' a word about what she said to you," observed Miller. "She must have treated you awful gentle, seein' you won't tell." "Well," returned the young man, "I ain't layin' it all out to you.
"She was funnin' me," returned Leviatt, his face reddening. "I reckon she was," returned Ben dryly. "She's certainly some clever at handing it to a man." He smiled down into the flat, where Miss Radford could still be seen, riding toward the cabin. "Looks as though she wasn't quite ready to change her name to 'Leviatt'," he grinned. But there was no humor in Leviatt's reflections.
But now a sound was heard outside, and Leviatt came into the room. He nodded shortly and took his place at the end of the table. A certain reserve came into the atmosphere of the room. No further reference was made to the subject that had aroused laughter, but several of the men snickered into their plates over the recollection of Leviatt's connection with the incident.
But she's running her own game, and if she is stringing Ferguson that's her business, and if she thinks a good bit of him that's her business, too. If a man ain't jealous, he might be able to see that Ferguson ain't a half bad sort of a man." An evil light leaped into Leviatt's eyes. He turned and faced Radford, words coming from his lips coldly and incisively.
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