"Wai,  I  hate  to  tell  you,  Miss  Nell,"  said  the  cowboy,
bitterly,  "thet  Mulvey  ain't  the  man  he  seems."

"Oh,  what  do  you  mean?"

216


THE  MAN  OF  THE  FOREST

"When  your  uncle  dies  Mulvey  is  goin'  over  to
Beasley  an'  he's  goin'  to  take  all  the  fellars  who'll
stick  to  him."

"Could  Jeff  be  so  faithless — after  so  many  years  my
uncle's  foreman?  Oh,  how  do  you  know?"

"Reckon  I  guessed  long  ago.  But  wasn't  shore.  Miss
Nell,  there's  a  lot  in  the  wind  lately,  as  poor  old  Al  grows
weaker.  Mulvey  has  been  particular  friendly  to  me  an'
I've  nursed  him  along,  'cept  I  wouldn't  drink.  An'  his
pards  have  been  particular  friends  with  me,  too,  more  an'
more  as  I  loosened  up.  You  see,  they  was  shy  of  me  when
I  first  got  here.  To-day  the  whole  deal  showed  clear  to
me  like  a  hoof  track  in  soft  ground.  Bud  Lewis,  who's
bunked  with  me,  come  out  an*  tried  to  win  me  over  to
Beasley — soon  as  Auchincloss  dies.  I  palavered  with  Bud
an'  I  wanted  to  know.  But  Bud  would  only  say  he  was
goin'  along  with  Jeff  an'  others  of  the  outfit.  I  told  him
I'd  reckon  over  it  an'  let  him  know.  He  thinks  I'll  come
round."

"Why — why  will  these  men  leave  me  when — when —
Oh,  poor  uncle!  They  bargain  on  his  death.  But  why — tell
me  why?"

"Beasley  has  worked  on  them — won  them  over,"  replied
Carmichael,  grimly.  "After  Al  dies  the  ranch  will  go  to
you.  Beasley  means  to  have  it.  He  an'  Al  was  pards
once,  an'  now  Beasley  has  most  folks  here  believin'  he  got
the  short  end  of  thet  deal.  He'll  have  papers — shore —
an'  he'll  have  most  of  the  men.  So  he'll  just  put  you  off
an'  take  possession.  Thet's  all,  Miss  Nell,  an'  you  can
rely  on  its  bein'  true."

"I — I  believe  you — but  I  can't  believe  such — such  rob-
bery possible,"  gasped  Helen.
