[5]

Charles straightened up when Adam approached. He put his palms against the small of his back and massaged the tired muscles. “My God, there’s lots of rocks,” he said.

“Fellow in the army told me there’s valleys in California—miles and miles—and you can’t find a stone, not even a little one.”

“There’ll be something else,” said Charles. “I don’t think there’s any farm without something wrong with it. Out in the Middle West it’s locusts, someplace else it’s tornadoes. What’s a few stones?”

“I guess you’re right. I thought I would give you a hand.”

“That’s nice of you. I thought you’d spend the rest of your life holding hands with that in there. How long is she going to stay?”

Adam was on the point of telling him of his proposal but the tone of Charles’ voice made him change his mind.

“Say,” Charles said, “Alex Platt came by a little while ago. You’d never think what happened to him. He’s found a fortune.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, you know the place on his property where that clump of cedars sticks out—you know, right on the county road?”

“I know. What about it?”

“Alex went in between those trees and his stone wall. He was hunting rabbits. He found a suitcase and a man’s clothes, all packed nice. Soaked up with rain though. Looked like it had been there some time. And there was a wooden box with a lock, and when he broke it open there was near four thousand dollars in it. And he found a purse too. There wasn’t anything in it.”

“No name or anything?”

“That’s the strange part—no name; no name on the clothes, no labels on the suits. It’s just like the fellow didn’t want to be traced.”

“Is Alex going to keep it?”

“He took it in to the sheriff, and the sheriff is going to advertise it, and if nobody answers Alex can keep it.”

“Somebody’s sure to claim it.”

“I guess so. I didn’t tell Alex that. He’s feeling so good about it. That’s funny about no labels—not cut out, just didn’t have any.”

“That’s a lot of money,” Adam said. “Somebody’s bound to claim it.”

“Alex hung around for a while. You know, his wife goes around a lot.” Charles was silent. “Adam,” he said finally, “we got to have a talk. The whole county’s doing plenty of talking.”

“What about? What do you mean?”

“Goddam it, about that—that girl. Two men can’t have a girl living with them. Alex says the women are pretty riled up about it. Adam, we can’t have it. We live here. We’ve got a good name.”

“You want me to throw her out before she’s well?”

“I want you to get rid of her—get her out. I don’t like her.”

“You never have.”

“I know it. I don’t trust her. There’s something—something—I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like it. When you going to get her out?”

“Tell you what,” Adam said slowly. “Give her one more week and then I’ll do something about her.”