Quite evidently you are not well acquainted
with one of the flourishing industries of this section, my dear. There
are always plenty of men out of a job in this camp; conscience does n't
come high, and the present market price for that sort of work is only
about twenty-five dollars a head. Not unreasonable, all things
considered, is it?"
If she had not thoroughly known this man, had not previously sounded
his depths, she might have doubted his meaning, deceived by the lazy
drawl in his soft voice, the glimmer of grim humor in his eyes. But
she did know him; she comprehended fully the slumbering tiger within,
the lurking spirit of vindictiveness of his real nature, and that
knowledge overcame her, left her weak and trembling like a frightened
child. For an instant she could not articulate, staring at him with
white face and horrified eyes.
"You--you mean that?" and for the first time she clasped his loose coat
between her clutching fingers.
"It is hardly a subject to be deliberately selected for jest," he
replied coolly, "but if you prefer you might wait and see.
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