They had found the mine, worked it, and had taken considerable gold out
of it, when one day a huge rock had fallen on Harlan. Taylor had done
what he could, rigging up a drag with which to take Harlan to town and a
doctor, but Harlan had died before town could be reached.
That had been the extent of Taylor’s friendship for the man. But he had
followed Harlan’s directions.
Sitting in the smoking-compartment, he again drew out Harlan’s note to
him and read further:
Marion will have considerable money, and I don’t want no sneak to
get hold of it—like the sneak that got hold of the money my wife
had, that I saved. There’s a lot of them around. If Marion is going
to fall in love with one of that kind, I’d rather she wouldn’t get
what I leave—the man would get it away from her.
Use your own judgment, and I’ll be satisfied.
It was not difficult for Taylor to divine what had happened to Harlan,
nor was it difficult to understand that the man’s distrust of other men
amounted to an obsession. However, Taylor had no choice but to assume
the trust and no course but to obey Harlan’s wishes in the matter.
Taylor’s trip eastward to Kansas City had been for the purpose of
attending to his own financial interests, and incidentally to conclude
the deal for the sale of the mine. He had deposited the money in his own
name, but he intended—or had intended—after returning to the Arrow to
make arrangements for his absence, to go to Westwood to find Marion
Harlan. The presence of the girl on the train and the certain conviction
that she was bound for Dawes made the trip to Westwood unnecessary.
For Taylor had no doubt that the girl was the daughter of Larry Harlan.
That troublesome resemblance of hers to someone of his acquaintance
bothered him no longer, for the girl was the living image of Larry
Harlan.
Taylor had not anticipated the coming of Carrington into his scheme of
things. For the first time since Larry Harlan’s letter had come into his
possession he realized that deep in his heart was a fugitive desire for
the coming of the girl to the Arrow. He had liked Larry Harlan, and he
had drawn mental pictures of what the daughter would be like; and,
though she was not exactly as he had pictured her, she was near enough
to the ideal he had visualized. He wanted, now more than ever, to
faithfully fulfil his obligation to Larry Harlan.
The presence of Carrington on the train, coupled with the inference that
Carrington was a close friend of the girl’s, irritated Taylor. For at
the first glance he had felt a subtle antagonism for the man. Yet he was
more disturbed over the mockery in the girl’s eyes when she had looked
directly at him when she had caught him listening to her talk with
Carrington and the older man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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