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Page 44
"Why, what's the matter?" he asked anxiously. "You got my letter?
You knew I was coming?"
"Yes, yes, I know," lamely answered Jack. "But I expected
notice--you know you said--"
"I couldn't wait. Jack, I'm a rich man, thanks to you--"
"Yes, yes, that's all right," said Payson, disclaiming the praise
of the man he had so grievously wronged with a hurried
acknowledgment of his gratitude.
"And I hurried back for fear Echo--"
"Oh, yes. I'll tell her about it, when she's ready to hear it."
"What is the matter, Jack? Are you keeping something from me?
Where is she?"
"In there," said Payson feebly, pointing to the door.
Dick eagerly started toward the house, but Jack halted him,
saying: "No--you mustn't go in now. There's a party-you see, she
hasn't been well, doesn't expect you to-night. The shock might
be too much for her."
Jack grasped at the lame excuse. It was the first to come to his
mind. He must think quickly. This experience was tearing the
heart out of him. He could not save himself from betrayal much
longer.
"You're right," acquiesced Dick. "You tell her when you get a
chance. Jack, as I was saying, I've made quite a bit of money
out of my Bisbee holdings. I can pay back my stake to you now."
"Not now," said Jack nervously.
Would this torture never end? Here was his friend, whom he had
betrayed come back in the very hour of his marriage to the woman
who had promised first to marry him. Now he was offering him
money, which Jack needed badly, for his prospective mother-in-law
was complaining about his taking her daughter to a mortgaged
home.
"Sure, now," continued Dick, pulling a roll of bills from his
pocket. "It's three thousand dollars--here it is, all in one
bundle."
"Not now, let that wait," said Jack, pushing the money aside.
"It's waited long enough," cried Dick doggedly. "You put the
mortgage on your ranch to let me have the money, and it must be
about due now."
"Yes, it will be due, but let it wait."
"What's the use? I'm all right now. I brought the cash with me
on purpose. I wanted to square it with you on sight."
Dick pressed the money into Jack's hand, closing his fingers over
the roll of bills. With a sigh of relief, as if a disagreeable
task was completed, he questioned: "How's Bud?"
Jack replied shortly: "All right; he's inside."
"I didn't write to him," cheerfully resumed Dick. "I didn't want
the kid to know. He is so excitable, he would have blabbed it
right out. I'll sure be glad to see the boy again. He's
impulsive, but his heart's all right. I know you've kept a
lookout over him."
This trust in him was getting too much for Jack to bear, so the
voice of Polly crying to him to hurry up was music to his ears.
"I'm coming," he shouted. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he
told Dick. "I've something to tell you. I can't tell you now."
"Go in, then," answered Dick. "I'll wait yonder in the garden.
Don't keep me waiting any longer than you can help."
Dick turned and walked slowly toward the gate which lead to the
kitchen-garden, a part of every ranch home in Arizona. It was
cut off from the house by a straggling hedge, on which Echo had
spent many hours trying to keep it in shape.
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