"The right given by Almighty God to protect any one of your sex in

peril," he replied. "Before dawn those savage fiends will be upon us.

We are utterly helpless. There remains only one possible path for

escape, and I believe I have discovered it. Now, my girl, you either

climb those rocks with me, or I shall kill you where you are. It is

that, or the Sioux torture. I have two shots left in this gun,--one

for you, the other for myself. The time has come for deciding which of

these alternatives you prefer."

The gleam of a star glittered along the steel of his revolver, and she

realized that he meant what he threatened.

"If I select your bullet rather than the rocks, what then?"

"You will get it, but in that case you will die like a fool."

"You have believed me to be one, all this afternoon."

"Possibly," he admitted; "your words and actions certainly justified

some such conclusion, but the opportunity has arrived for causing me to

revise that suspicion."

"I don't care to have you, revise it, Mr. Bob Hampton. If I go, I

shall hate you just the same."

Hampton's teeth clicked like those of an angry dog. "Hate and be

damned," he exclaimed roughly. "All I care about now is to drag you

out of here alive."

His unaffected sincerity impressed her more than any amount of

pleading. She was long accustomed to straight talk; it always meant

business, and her untutored nature instantly responded with a throb of

confidence.

"Well, if you put it that way," she said, "I 'll go."

For one breathless moment neither stirred. Then a single wild yell

rang sharply forth from the rocks in their front, and a rifle barked

savagely, its red flame cleaving the darkness with tongue of fire. An

instant and the impenetrable gloom again surrounded them.

"Come on, then," he whispered, his fingers grasping her sleeve.

She shook off the restraining touch of his hand as if it were

contamination, and sank down upon her knees beside the inert body. He

could barely perceive the dim outlines of her bowed figure, yet never

moved, his breath perceptibly quickening, while he watched and waited.

Without word or moan she bent yet lower, and pressed her lips upon the

cold, white face. The man caught no more than the faintest echo of a

murmured "Good-bye, old dad; I wish I could take you with me." Then

she stood stiffly upright, facing him. "I'm ready now," she announced

calmly. "You can go on ahead."




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024