She no longer gave any thought to Taggart; the
struggle with him was an already fading nightmare in her recollection;
he had been eliminated, destroyed, by the man who stood before her--by
the man whose presence in the kitchen now stirred her to an emotion
that she had never before experienced--by the man who had come back to
her. And that was all that she had cared for--that he would come back.
With a short laugh he released her and stepped over to where Taggart
lay, looking down at him with a cold, satisfied smile.
"I reckon you won't bother nobody any more," he said.
He turned to Betty, the pale stiffness of his lips softening a little
as she smiled at him.
"I want to thank you," he said, "for sendin' Toban after me. He caught
me. I wasn't ridin' so fast an' I heard him comin'. I knowed who it
was, an' stopped to have it out with him. He yelled that he didn't
want me; that you'd sent him after me. We met Dade an' Malcolm--we'd
passed Double Fork an' nothin' was bogged down. So we knowed
somebody'd framed somethin' up. I come on ahead." He grinned.
"Toban's been braggin' some about his horse, but I reckon that don't go
any more. That black horse can run." He indicated Taggart. "I reckon
he come here just to bother you," he said.
She told him about the diagram and he started, stepping quickly to
where Taggart lay, searching in his pockets until he found the paper.
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