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His interest was intense. A Toltec! Telza was of the race from whom his father and Taggart had stolen the idol. He leaned closer to the man. "Are Telza an' Taggart friends?" he asked. "Friends!" The man's weak laugh was full of scorn. "Taggart's stringin' him. Telza's lookin' for an idol all gold an' diamonds, an' such. Worth thousands. Taggart set Telza on Betty Clayton."
I was getting so tired that I could scarce drag my feet and was having another fit of the shivers thinking about the outlaws, when suddenly, as I stood in front of Taggart's, something popped into my head which I had not thought of for almost three months. This was the big can of powder inside the store. I forgot my shivers and ran to the hotel for the lantern.
I started two more fires, one in Townsend's store, at the south end of the street, and the other in Joyce's store, at the north end of town and nearly opposite the harness shop. I made another visit to Taggart's, and found some barrels of kerosene, which I needed, and more ammunition.
It had been done cleverly, too, so cleverly that it had convinced him. When he remembered the cold, disdainful treatment that Betty had accorded Taggart that afternoon, he almost smiled though the smile was not good to see. He had championed her he knew now that it had been a serious championship and by doing so he had exposed himself to ridicule; to Betty's and Taggart's secret humor.
With a swish his right hand went forward to Taggart's face, one hundred and eighty pounds of vengeful, malignant muscle behind it. There was the dull, strange sound of impacting bone and flesh. Taggart's head shot backward, he crumpled oddly, his legs wabbled and doubled under him and he sank in his tracks, sprawling on his hands and knees in the sand.
Calumet grinned in amusement. She was wondering what had become of him. His grin was cut short by the crash of Taggart's rifle and he dodged down, realizing that in his curiosity to see what Betty was doing he had inadvertently exposed himself. A hole in his shirt sleeve near the shoulder testified to his narrow escape.
Then I brought an auger from Taggart's and bored a hole a little above the floor through the side of the building, and right on through the side of the building to the south, which stood so close that it almost touched the bank. There was nothing to either except a one-inch board and a thickness of lath and plastering.
Calumet carefully withdrew the weapon, and the man settled back with a sigh of relief. "You're Marston, ain't you?" he said, slowly and painfully, gasping with every breath. "I've heard the Taggart's talk about you. Old Tom's developed a yellow streak in his old age an' he's leavin' all his dirty work to Neal. Neal's got a yellow streak, too, for that matter, but he's young an' ain't got no sense.
The ridge towered above their heads, and so they were in no danger, but Betty halted only for a moment and then continued to approach until she stood on the ridge, exposed to Taggart's fire. But, of course, Taggart would not fire at her. "What's wrong?" she demanded of Calumet; "what were you shooting at?" "Friend of yours," he said brusquely. "Who?" "Neal Taggart. We've been picnicin' all night."
He had been under the spell of her influence; he had been allowing her to shape his character to her will; he was, or had been, in danger of becoming a puppet which she could control by merely pulling some strings. She had been working on his better nature with selfish aims. Who was the man? Malcolm? Dade? He thought not; the voice sounded strangely like Neal Taggart's.
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