He discovered an explanation for Betty's conduct while he fed and watered
Blackleg. It was all perfectly plain to him. Neither Betty nor Taggart
had expected him to return to the Lazy Y. Betty's actions on the night
of his arrival proved that. She had exhibited emotion entirely out of
reason. Undoubtedly she and Taggart had expected to wait the year
specified in the will, certain that he would not appear to claim the
money or the idol, or they might have planned to leave before he could
return. But since he had surprised them by returning unexpectedly, it
followed that they must reconstruct their plans; they would have to make
it impossible for him to comply with his father's wishes. They could
easily do that, or thought they could, by making life at the ranch
unbearable for him. That, he was convinced, was the reason that Betty
had adopted her cold, severe, and contemptuous attitude toward him. She
expected he would find her nagging and bossing intolerable, that he would
leave in a rage and allow her and Taggart to come into possession of the
property. Neither she nor Taggart would dare make off with the money and
the idol as long as he was at the ranch, for they would fear his
vengeance.
He thought his manner had already forced Betty to give him his father's
letters and admit the existence of the idol--she had been afraid to lie
to him about them.
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