Eells offered me forty thousand cash and agreed to release you from that grubstake contract----"
"You throwed the whole thing away, eh?"
He had turned sullen now and petulantly discontented and the fire flashed back into her eyes.
"Well, is that all the thanks I get? I thought you _wanted_ that contract!"
"I did!" he complained, "but if you"d left me alone I"d"ve got it away from him for nothing. But forty thousand dollars! Say, what"s your doggoned hurry--have you got to sell out the first day?"
"No, but that time before, when he tried to buy us out I held on until I didn"t get anything. And father has been waiting for his road so long----"
"Oh, that road again!" snarled Wunpost. "Is that all you think about?
You"ve thrown away millions of dollars!"
"Well, anyway, I"ve got the road!" she answered with spirit, "and that"s more than I did before. If I"d followed my own judgment instead of taking your advice----"
"Your judgment!" he mocked; "say, shake yourself, kid--you"ve pulled the biggest bonehead of a life-time."
"I don"t care!" she answered, "I"ll get forty thousand dollars. And if Father builds his road our mine will be worth millions, so why shouldn"t I let this one go?"
"Oh, boys!" sighed Wunpost and slumped down in his chair, then roused up with a wild look in his eyes. "You haven"t signed up, have you?" he demanded again. "Well, thank G.o.d, then, I got here in time!"
"No you didn"t," she said, "because I told him I"d do it and we"ve already drawn up the papers. At first he wouldn"t hear to it, to release you from your contract; but when I told him I wouldn"t sell without it, he and Lapham had a conference and they"re downstairs now having it copied. There are to be three copies, one for each of us and one for you, because of course you"re an interested party. And I thought, if you were released, you could go out and find another mine and----"
"Another one!" raved Wunpost. "Say, you must think it"s easy! I"ll never find another one in a life-time. Another Sockdolager? I could sell that mine tomorrow for a million dollars, cash; it"s got a hundred thousand dollars in sight!"
"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-k.n.o.b, 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."
"Too fine a point for me," he decided. "We"ll just see, after you build your new road."
"Well, I"m going to build it," she stated, "because he"ll worry himself to death. And I don"t care what happens to me, as long as he gets his road."
"Well, I"ve seen "em that wanted all kinds of things, but you"re the first one that wanted a road. And so you"re going to sign this contract if it loses you a million dollars?"
"Yes, I am," she said. "We"ve drawn it all up and I"ve given him my word, so there"s nothing else to do."
"Yes, there is," he replied. "Tell him you"ve changed your mind and want a million dollars. Tell him that I"ve come back and don"t want that grubstake contract and that you"ll take it all in cash."
"No," she frowned, "now there"s no use arguing, because I"ve fully made up my mind. And if----" She paused and listened as steps came down the hall. "They"re coming," she said and smiled.
There was a rapid patter of feet and Lapham rapped and came in, bearing some papers and his notary"s stamp; but when he saw Wunpost he stopped and stood aghast, while his stamp fell to the floor with a bang.
"Why, why--oh, excuse me!" he broke out, turning to dart through the door; but the mighty bulk of Eells had blocked his way and now it forced him back.
"Why--what"s this?" demanded Eells, and then he saw Wunpost and his lip dropped down and came up. "Oh, excuse me, Miss Campbell," he burst out hastily, "we"ll come back--didn"t know you were occupied." He started to back out and Wunpost and Wilhelmina exchanged glances, for they had never seen him fl.u.s.tered before. But now he was stampeded, though why they could not guess, for he had never feared Wunpost before.
"Oh, don"t go!" cried Wilhelmina; "we were just waiting for you to come.
_Please_ come back--I want to have it over with."
She flew to the door and held it open and Eells and his lawyer filed in.
"Don"t let me disturb you," said Wunpost grimly and stood with his back to the wall. There was something in the wind, he could guess that already, and he waited to see what would happen. But if Eells had been startled his nerve had returned, and he proceeded with ponderous dignity.
"This won"t take but a moment," he observed to Wilhelmina as he spread the papers before her. "Here are the three copies of our agreement and"--he shook out his fountain pen--"you put your name right there."
"No you don"t!" spoke up Wunpost, breaking in on the spell, "don"t sign nothing that you haven"t read."