It was this: had Betty meant
to hit Taggart when she had shot at him? He thought not; she had
pretended hostility in order to mislead him. But if that had been her
plan she had failed to fool him, for he watched unceasingly, and many
nights when Betty thought him asleep he was secreted in the wood near
the ranchhouse. He increased his vigilance after receiving word that
Taggart had not been badly injured. More, he rarely allowed Betty to
get out of his sight, for he was determined to defeat the plan to rob
him.
However, the days passed and Taggart did not put in an appearance.
Time removes the sting from many hurts and even jealousy's pangs are
assuaged by the flight of days. And so after a while Calumet's
vigilance relaxed, and he began to think that he had scared Taggart
away. He noted with satisfaction that Betty seemed to treat him less
coldly, and he felt a pulse of delight over the thought that perhaps
she had repented and had really tried to hit Taggart that morning.
Once he seized upon this idea he could not dispel it. More, it grew on
him, became a foundation upon which he built a structure of defense for
Betty. Taggart had been trying to deceive her. She had discovered his
intentions and had broken with him. Perhaps she had seen the injustice
of her actions. He began to wish he had treated her a little less
cruelly, a little more civilly, began to wish that he had yielded to
those good impulses which he had felt occasionally of late.
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