"Well, that's what you told me when we had the Willie Meena, and now already they say it's worked out--and I know Mr. Eells isn't rich. He had to send to Los Angeles to get the money for this first payment----" "What, have you accepted his _money_?" shouted Wunpost accusingly, and Wilhelmina rose to her feet. "Mr. Calhoun," she said, "I'll have you to understand that I own this mine myself. And I'm not going to sit here and be yelled at like a Mexican--not by you or anybody else." "Oh, it's yours, is it?" he jeered. "Well, excuse me for living; but who came across it in the first place?" "Well, you did," she conceded, "and if you hadn't been always bragging about it you might be owning it yet. But you were always showing off, and making fun of my father, and saying we were all such _fools_--so I thought I'd just _show_ you, and it's no use talking now, because I've agreed to sell it to Eells." "That's all right, kid," he nodded, after a long minute of silence. "I reckon I had it coming to me. But, by grab, I never thought that little Billy Campbell would throw the hooks into me like this." "No, and I wouldn't," she returned, "only you just treated us like dirt. I'm glad, and I'd do it again." "Well, I've learned one thing," he muttered gloomily; "I'll never trust a woman again." "Now isn't that just like a man!" exclaimed Wilhelmina indignantly. "You know you never trusted anybody. I asked you one time where you got all that ore and you looked smart and said: 'That's a question. If I'd tell you, you'd know the answer.' Those were the very words you said. And now you'll never trust a woman again!" She laughed, and Wunpost rose slowly to his feet, but he did not get out of the door. "What's the matter?" she taunted; "did 'them Los Angeles girls' fool you, too? Or am I the only one?" "You're the only one," he answered ambiguously, and stood looking at her queerly. "Well, cheer up!" she dimpled, for her mood was gay. "You'll find another one, somewhere." "No I won't," he said; "you're the only one, Billy. But I never looked for nothing like this." "Well, you told me to get onto myself and learn to play the game, and finally I took you at your word." "Yes," he agreed, "I can't say a word. But these Blackwater stiffs will sure throw it into me when they find I've been trimmed by a girl. The best thing I can do is to drift." He put his hand on the door-knob, but she knew he would not go, and he turned back with a sheepish grin. "What do the folks think about this?" he inquired casually, and Wilhelmina made a face. "They think I'm just _awful_!" she confessed. "But I don't care--I'm tired of being poor." "Don't reckon there'll be another cloudburst, do you, about the time you get your road built?" She grew sober at that and then her eyes gleamed. "I don't care!" she repeated, "and besides, I didn't steal this. You told me I could have it, you know."