The Border Legion

Still, with the horror thick upon her, Joan could not wholly give

up. The moment Jim Cleve's name and his ruin burst upon her ears, in

the gossip of these bandits, she had become another girl--a girl

wholly become a woman, and one with a driving passion to save if it

cost her life. She lost her fear of Kells, of the others, of all

except Gulden. He was not human, and instinctively she knew she

could do nothing with him. She might influence the others, but never

Gulden.

The torment in her brain eased then, and gradually she quieted down,

with only a pang and a weight in her breast. The past seemed far

away. The present was nothing. Only the future, that contained Jim

Cleve, mattered to her. She would not have left the clutches of

Kells, if at that moment she could have walked forth free and safe.

She was going on to Cabin Gulch. And that thought was the last one

in her weary mind as she dropped to sleep.