You got the whole accumulation. Taggart
and Ezela bribed my men to watch me. I had to discharge them. After
Ezela died I thought Taggart would leave me alone. But he didn't--he
wanted the image. One day he and his boy Neal came over and ambushed
me. They shot me in the shoulder. I was in the house, defending
myself as best I could, when Malcolm Clayton came. By this time Betty
has told you the rest and you know just what you can expect from the
Taggarts.
"That is the whole history of the Toltec idol. I am not proud of my
part in the affair, but Tom Taggart must never have the idol. Remember
that! I don't want him to have it! Neither do I want you to have it,
or the money I leave, unless you can show that you forgive me. As I
have said, I don't take your word for it--you must prove it.
"I know you are coming home, and I wish I could live to see you. But I
know I won't. Don't be too hard on me. Your father,
"JAMES MARSTON."
CHAPTER IX
RESPONSIBILITY
For a long time after he had completed the reading of the letter,
Calumet was silent, staring straight ahead of him. The information
contained in the account of his father's adventures was soothing--the
termagant who had presided over his boyhood destinies had not been his
real mother, and his father had left him a score to settle.
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