"
"I will go on with the story," said the other.
"The convict's benefactor--or, perhaps I should say, master--loved a woman
who refused to listen to him. The girl, for some reason, left home, very
suddenly and unexpectedly to any one. She left a hurried note, saying,
only, that she was going away. By accident, the man found the note and saw
his opportunity. He guessed that the girl would go to friends in the
mountains. He saw that if he could intercept her, and keep her hidden, no
one would know what had become of her. He believed that she would marry
him rather than face the world after spending so many days with him alone,
because her manner of leaving home would lend color to the story that she
had gone with him. Their marriage would save her good name. He wanted the
man whom he could send back to prison to help him.
"The convict had known his benefactor's kindness of heart, you must
remember, Miss Andres. He knew that this man was able to give his wife
everything that seems desirable in life--that thousands of women would
have been glad to marry him. The man assured the convict that he desired
only to make the girl his wife before all the world. He agreed that she
should remain under the convict's protection until she _was_ his wife, and
that the convict should, himself, witness the ceremony.
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