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Updated: June 25, 2025
Randerson and Owen started toward the gunman, to determine how badly he had been hit; they were met by Blair. There was amazement and incredulity in the man's eyes. "He's goin' to cash in quick," he said. "You got him, pretty nearly proper just over the heart. But, but, he says he's Watt Kelso! An' that that eastern dude, Masten, sent him over here payin' him five hundred cold, to perforate you!"
He flashed a smile at Aunt Martha; it broadened as he met Uncle Jepson's eyes; it turned to a grin of derision as he looked at Masten. And then he was splashing his pony across the river. They watched him as he rode up the slope on the opposite side; they held their breath as pony and rider climbed the steeper slope to the mesa.
But they did not know what was holding him back that deep in his heart lurked a hope that one day he might still make his dreams come true, and that if he killed Masten, Ruth's abhorrence of him and his deeds, already strong, could never be driven from her. If he lost this hope, Masten was doomed. And during the second week following his latest talk with Ruth, the girl unconsciously killed it.
When he was certain there was no chance of his being seen or heard by Masten and Hagar, he mounted, urged Patches forward and made a wide detour which brought him at length to the path which had been followed by Masten and Hagar in reaching the grass plot.
The discovery that Masten was not armed seemed to drive his cold rage from him, and when he spoke again his voice was steely and contemptuous: "You can hit the breeze, I reckon I ain't murderin' anybody. You're safe right now. But I'm tellin' you this: I'm lookin' for you, an' you don't run no blazer in on me no more! After this, you go heeled or you hit the breeze out of the country.
She had been weak for an instant as life is measured and she would make it up to Masten by ceasing to be irritated by his moods, through paying no attention to his faults, which, she now saw, were infinitely less grave than those of the man who had impressed her for an instant and by yielding to his suggestion that she marry him before the fall round-up.
Masten seemed to be doing a great deal of thinking, too, for he was silent during long periods, reclining easily in a big rocker, well-groomed and immaculate as usual, looking decidedly out of place in this country, where extravagant personal adornment was considered an indication of effeminacy.
He heard Randerson speaking to Hagar, and so gentle was his voice that it startled him, so great was the contrast between it and the slumbering threat in his eyes and manner: "Me an' Masten is goin' to make a short cut over to where his horse is, Hagar; we've changed our minds about goin' to the shack with you.
He had chosen this punishment for Masten, and he would see that it was sufficient. But, as Randerson had well known, Masten was no mean opponent. He stepped in and out rapidly, his blows lacking something in force through his inability to set himself.
As the days passed, it became plain to Ruth, as it did to everyone else on the ranch Chavis, Pickett, and Masten included that Vickers had not talked extravagantly in recommending Randerson. Uncle Jepson declared that "he took right a-hold," and Aunt Martha beamed proudly upon him whenever he came within range of her vision. There was no hitch; he did his work smoothly.
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