Presently, when he had helped himself to food, he went back to the girl
who had seated herself on a log, at the farther side of the little
clearing. "You seem fairly comfortable here," he said.
She did not speak.
"You and my man get along nicely, I take it. He has been kind to you?"
Still she did not speak.
He spoke sharply, "Look here, my girl, you can't keep this up, you know.
Say what you have to say, and let's get it over."
All the time, she had been regarding him intently--her wide, blue eyes
filled with wondering pain. "How could you?" she said at last. "Oh, how
could you do such a thing?"
His face flushed. "I did it because you have driven me mad, I guess. From
the first time I saw you, I have wanted you. I have tried again and
again, in the last three years, to approach you; but you would have
nothing to do with me. The more you spurned me, the more I wanted you.
Then this man, King, came. You were friendly enough, with him. It made me
wild. From that day when I met you in the mountains above Lone Cabin, I
have been ready for anything. I determined if I could not win you by fair
means, I would take you in any way I could. When my opportunity came, I
took advantage of it.
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