"I guess you think that's funny, don't you?" "I confess, at the moment I did. But now I realise it's probably a bitter truth." He was too much for her, she saw, and the knowledge only served to fan her indignation and suspicions. "You're making a mistake," she snapped. "Father can't pay you nothing." "He'll pay me all I'm worth," said Duncan meekly. She glared at him an instant longer, then mute for lack of a sufficiently scornful retort, turned and ran back up the steps, slamming the door behind her. Duncan drew a rueful face, contemplating the place where she had been. "I didn't think this was going to be a bed of roses--and it isn't," he concluded. X ROLAND BARNETTE'S FRIEND Nat had a busy day or two after that, trying to set things to rights in the store for the better reception and display of the new stock. Sperry dropped him a line saying that the goods would arrive on the third day, and there was much to do to make way for it. He managed to get the shop cleaned up thoroughly with Betty's not unwilling but distinctly suspicious aid; the girl was apparently convinced that Duncan meant business, and that this would ostensibly work for her father's benefit, but she was distinctly dubious as to the _deus ex machina_. Duncan now and again would catch her watching him, her eyes dark with speculation; but when she detected his gaze her look would change instantly to one of hostility and defiance. He suspected that only her father's wishes prevented an open break with her; as it was he was conscious that there was no more than an armed truce between them. And he did not like it; it made him uncomfortable. He wasn't hardened enough to have an easy conscience, and Betty's open doubts as to the reason for his coming to Radville disturbed Duncan more than he would have cared to own.