There was nobody around him--nothin' but
Blackleg, an' so I reckon he was talkin' to Blackleg. Sure enough he
was. He puts his head up against Blackleg's head, an' he said, soft
an' low, kinda:
"'Blackleg,' he said; 'I've give you away. I hated like poison to do
it, but I reckon Betty'll look a heap better on you than she does on
that skate she rode today. Damn that black devil!' he said, 'I
wouldn't have took the job of breakin' him for any other woman in the
world.'
"I come away then," concluded Dade; "for somehow I didn't want him to
know there was anybody around to hear him."
Betty got up quickly and went out on the porch. She stood there,
looking out into the darkness for a long, long time, and presently Dade
grew tired of waiting for her and went to his room.
CHAPTER XIX
A TRAGEDY IN THE TIMBER GROVE
The black was undoubtedly broken. His subsequent actions proved that.
He did not become docile by any means, but he was tractable, which is
to say that he did as he was bidden with a minimum of urging; he was
intelligent, divining, and learned quickly. Also, he respected his
conqueror. If Dade or Malcolm came near him he gave unmistakable
evidence of hostility; he even shied at sight of Betty, who was his
most sincere admirer, for had not his coming to the Lazy Y been
attended with a sentiment not the less satisfying because concealed?
But the black suffered Calumet's advances, his authority, his
autocratic commands, with a patience that indicated that his
subjugation was to be complete and lasting.
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