Now youse are her kin, an' so youse stay here
w'ere yeh can help her after I git her out--I don't want
nothing to do wid her anyhow. She gives me a swift pain,
and," he added as though it were an after-thought, "I ain't
got no use fer dat ransom eider--youse can have dat, too."
"Hold on, Byrne," cried Theriere; "I have something to say,
too. I do not see how I can expect you to believe me; but
under the circumstances, when one of us and maybe both are
pretty sure to die before the day is much older, it wouldn't be
worth while lying. I do not want that damned ransom any
more, either. I only want to do what I can to right the wrong
that I have helped to perpetrate against Miss Harding. I--I--
Byrne, I love her. I shall never tell her so, for I am not the
sort of man a decent girl would care to marry; but I did want
the chance to make a clean breast to her of all my connection
with the whole dirty business, and get her forgiveness if I
could; but first I wanted to prove my repentance by helping
her to civilization in safety, and delivering her to her friends
without the payment of a cent of money. I may never be able
to do that now; but if I die in the attempt, and you don't, I
wish that you would tell her what I have just told you.
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