Evening star., 1941-05-18

uuCCIiy SOily IOt niiIl II was Ill iilS
voice, too, under the sneeriness.
Pretty slick, the way you played
it onto me-" He laughed. Mighty
long headed, waiting for me to buy
you off free SOS you could go running
off with Farnham! Don't grudge the
money, neither. Worth sight more'n
fifty dollars to me to get my eyes
opened up to the kind you are"
"I'll pay you back" Kathy said.
81 don't know how long it'll take me,
but you'll get it, every cent. soon
as"
Hell get it right now"
Matt's bed-tick purse was out of his
pocket. and he was counting out five
of the six gold pieces in it into Folders
hand, and laughing at the part of his
brain that was trying to tell him he
was crazy, instead OF driving the best
bargain man could want.
Polder was Laughing, too, as he let
the money chink down into his pocket,
Ook IL dioit I cootto lihC Cdi
to Matt. Even the sneeriness in it
didn't sound real. And when Folder
had swung up into the saddle and
turned to look past Matt at Kathy.
there was still something under the
cruelness and meanness in his face
that made Matt sorry for him.
f1E WAS sorrier than ever for him
when he turned around towards
Kathy. No matter how hard you
hated him, you couldn't help being
sorry for man who was riding away
from a woman with that look in her
face. Again, right in the middle of all
the other things there we're for him to
think about, Matt was trying to re-
member where he'd seen that self
same look before.
"You gave him all your money,
almostp' She said it under her breath.
looking down at the empty ticking bag
and the one gold piece that was left.
1t was a queer thing, but somehow
she sounded glad and sorry. both at
once, almost crying and yet almost
laughing. too. "All the money you
was going. to - to get married with
Matt could only stare at her. 1t was
a bad shock to him to find out that
he'd clean forgotten what he'd been
aiming to do with that money. but
it was a worse one to find out that
kathy had guessed.
She was laughing again, in the same
queer fashion that was right on the
edge of crying.
you didn't think knew. did
your" She sounded almost angry, but
somehow he could tell she wasn't.
you never figured anybody might
see through you, everlastingly egging
Dorcas Burden into talking about her
women kin back yonder to Dunbar
ton, pricking up your ears whenever
she talked about the ones that wasn't
married.! Never supposed a body
might guess what you we're up to,
getting that letter from Dorcas to her
folks and heading for Dumbarton
with led horse that you couldn't
have any need for unless you we're
aiming for somebody to ride it back!'
If she'd been angry she'd gotten
over it. From the way she was laugh
ing at him. Matt guessed he must be
looking pretty sheepfaced, but he did
MT seem to mind. He could feel his
mouth grinning back at her
'If you been figuring | was that
desperate set on finding me wife,
it's a wonder you came after me,
scared as you be of getting welded"
Il amt scared of that" There was
a sudden color under the sunbrown of
her cheeks, but her eyes looked
straight into his. "All | ever was
scared of, seems as though. was not
catching up to you afore you got to
Dumbarton."
1t was terribly queer thing, Matt
thought, considering all the times he'd
looked at the picture woman in his
mind, that he'd never rightly seen
her till now. That he should ever have
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