Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/195



the episode at the L.X. ranch, which was still a nightmare to Nan, she had seen nothing of Spiser, though she had heard much. New tales of his arrogance, of his brutality to horses, his political methods, and his dishonest transactions, were coming constantly to her ears.

She had grown to think of him in much the same way in which the little Blakelys regarded him—as an ogre who "ate 'em alive," and with each fresh story of his lack of honor, her gratitude toward Mrs. Gallagher and Fritz Poth increased.

Of all the people who mentioned his name, it seemed to Nan that Mrs. Gallagher was the only one who had no secret fear of him. Even Ben seemed to shrink unaccountably from incurring his displeasure.

With a man of Spiser's temperament and prodigious vanity, she wondered sometimes that he had let her escape so easily—that he 183