"But the note?" he gasped. "It was in your handwriting? And the ring?
You sent back the ring!"
"Yes, I wrote the letter because father commanded me to write it, and I sent back the ring for the same reason. You ought to have known that!"
The change in his feelings was so great and sudden that he could hardly repress a shout.
"I reckon I"m the biggest idiot unhung!" he confessed, as he took her in his arms. "But when I saw that the writing was yours, I fancied your father had by threats, or in some way, induced you to change your mind, and that you really thought, in duty to him, you ought not to see me any more. Say, I"m too happy to think! I"m----"
"You are just a silly fellow!"
"You never shot straighter! I"m a roaring idiot!"
He kissed her and held her face toward the light in a rather vain effort to see its outline.
"I"ve been crazier since I got that note than any locoed cowboy that ever tore up the ranges. I"ve simply been wild!"
"I am very sorry, Buck. Yet I think I must have suffered as much. Last night father obtained from me a confession that I had met you in the grounds here. He asked me if I had met you, and my confused looks made my denials useless. Then he ordered me to write that note and to send back the ring. He mailed them himself. And he made me promise that I wouldn"t meet you again. But when I made it, I realized that I couldn"t keep it."
"You"re an angel!"
"I never heard that angels were disobedient."
"Some of them."
"And they were punished for it. Oh, Buck, I hope we will never regret this--that there will be no punishment for this!"
"There won"t be!" he grimly declared.
"Father is gone," she said. "Out of the city!"
"And I wanted Merry to see him here this evening," in a tone of regret, "Merry is to have a talk with him and try to get him to see that I am not such a soaking Piute as I"ve been painted!"
"I"m sorry, too, Buck--though I was glad."
"Glad?"
"I intended to ask you into the house. Is it very wrong?"
"I don"t think so!" he whispered, joy and triumph in his voice. "Where you lead I will follow. By and by I hope we will walk abreast."
CHAPTER XX.
INTO A TRAP.
When Buck and Winnie walked into the house, they walked into a trap, though the laying of a trap for them was not contemplated by Mr. Lee.
Encountering none of the servants, Winnie conducted Badger into the parlor.
"Merriwell will be here soon, I allow."
"We"re not afraid of Merriwell!"
"Only thinking that you and I want to have this meeting all to ourselves. Then the servant that shows Merriwell up, if one does, may see us, and I calculate that I ain"t hankering to meet up with any of your servants on this trip. None whatever!"
But Winnie was not disturbed.
"Father is going over to Hartford to-night on business," she laughed, laying aside the scarf and jacket. "I heard him say to the cook that he wouldn"t return before to-morrow."
There was a certain exultant defiance in Badger"s bearing that made him, in spite of his bulky, heavy shoulders and modern clothing, somewhat resemble some ancient knight ready to do battle for his "ladye fair."
Winnie Lee observed it, and was pleased. The Westerner"s devotion was so true that she felt rather proud of it And, indeed, Badger, in spite of his many faults, failings, and weaknesses, had some admirable traits of character.
All at once Winnie heard footsteps approaching the door of the parlor.
She thought the steps were those of a servant, and blamed herself for not closing the door. Then a familiar form appeared in the doorway, and her cheeks grew white. Buck Badger looked up at the same moment, and his dark face flushed.
Fairfax Lee had changed his mind about going to Hartford! He had returned home, let himself into the house, and walked up-stairs. Seeing the light in the parlor, he had approached the door.
He was as much astonished as the lovers. For a moment not a word was spoken. Winnie seemed about to swoon, and Badger put a hand on her shoulder, as if to support her. Then Mr. Lee broke the silence, and stepped into the room.
"What is the meaning of this disobedience?" he sternly demanded, speaking to Winnie.
She staggered to her feet, trembling before him. Badger sprang up, erect and defiant.
"I thought you promised me that you would never meet him again?"
She did not answer.
He turned with flashing eyes on the Westerner.
"And I forbade you the house, sir!"
Badger wanted to take him by the throat.
"See here, Mr. Lee!" he said, in a voice that demanded a hearing. "I know you told me that I wasn"t welcome in this house, and I reckon I know full well that I am not welcome. But that"s no sign that I am going to stay out of it, as long as it shelters your daughter!"
"Winnie, you will go to your room!"
He advanced toward her, and she drew away from Badger. But she did not go toward the door. Her father stepped to her side.
"There is the door!" Lee commanded, addressing the Kansan.
"I see it," said Badger. "You don"t need to show it to me!"
"Will you go out of it? Will you leave this house?" Fairfax Lee was panting with rage. "Get out of this room!" he cried.