Edwards spoke sharply to the Lizard, who was grinning with satisfaction.
“Did you see Miss Hillgrove this afternoon, anywhere on the trail between here and Oracle?”
The father answered in a voice shrill with vicious anger.
“Wal, an’ what ef he did--who be you to be a-comin’ here at this time o’ the night wantin’ t’ know ef my boy has or hain’t seed nobody?”
Hugh Edwards forced himself to speak calmly.
“I am asking a civil question which your son should be glad to answer.” He again faced the Lizard. “Did you see her?”
An insolent, wide-mouthed grin was the Lizard’s only reply.
The old woman by the fire looked over her shoulder.
“Tell him, boy, tell him,” she croaked. “You ain’t got no call to be skeered o’ sich as him.”
“Shucks, maw,” said the son. “I ain’t skeered o’ nothin’. I’m jist a-havin’ a little fun, that’s all.”
“You bet yer life I seed her ’bout a mile this side o’ Wheeler’s pasture it was. We shore had a nice little visit too. You an’ that thar Saint Jimmy needn’t t’ think you’re th’ only ones.”
Before Edwards could speak, the old woman cried again:
“Tell him, son--why don’t ye tell him what ye said?”
“I shore told her enough. I’d been a-aimin’ t’ lay her out first chanct I got. When I got through with her, you can bet she knowed more ’bout herself than she’d ever knowed before. She shore knows now what she is an’ what folks is a-thinkin’ ’bout her an’ her carryin’ on with that there lunger an’ you.” His voice rose and his rat eyes glistened with triumph. “She wouldn’t ride with me--Oh, no!--‘prefer t’ ride alone,’ says she. An’ I says, says I--when I’d finished a-tellin’ her what she was an’ how she didn’t have no folks, ner name, ner nothin’--‘You needn’t t’ worry none, there wouldn’t no decent man be seen within a mile of you.’ An’ then I left her settin’ thar like she’d been whipped.”
Hugh Edwards moved a step nearer. It seemed impossible to him that any man could do a thing so vile.
“Are you in earnest?” he asked. “Did you really say such things to Miss Hillgrove?”
“I shore did,” returned the Lizard proudly. “I believe in lettin’ sech people know whar they stand. She’s been a-playin’ th’ high an’ mighty with me long enough.”
Then Edwards struck. With every ounce of his strength behind it, the blow landed fair on the point of the Lizard’s chin. The loose mouth was open at the instant, the slack jaw received the impact with no resistance. The effect was terrific. The fellow’s head snapped back as if his neck were broken--he fell limp and senseless halfway across the room.