But in the end when he was told curtly
that he owed vastly more to the county than to his stupid conscience,
that he had been chosen to get Jim Galloway, that that was his job,
that he could do all the resigning he wanted to afterward, and that
finally he was not to consider his own personal feelings until he had
thought of Virginia's, Norton gave over his regrets and merely waxed
impatient for the time when he could finish his work and go back to Las
Flores rancho. For it was understood that he would not go alone.
"I'll free del Rio because I have to, not because I want to," said the
lawyer at the end. "Trusting to you to bring him in again later. He
is one of Galloway's crowd and I know it, despite his big bluffs.
Galloway is away right now, somewhere below the border. Just what he
is up to I don't know. I think del Rio does. When Galloway gets back
you keep your eye on the two of them."
After the county attorney's departure Rod Norton rested more easily.
He was making restitution for all that he had done, he was getting well
and strong again, he had been given such proof as comes to few men of
the utter devotion of a woman. Through many a bright hour he and
Virginia, daring to look confidently ahead, talked of life as it might
be lived upon Las Flores when the lake was made, the lower lands
irrigated, the big home built.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273