To her
surprise he seemed to hold no resentment whatsoever. She
greeted him courteously.
"I couldn't let you turn an American over to General
Villa," she said, "no matter what he had done."
"I liked your spirit," said the man. "You're the kind o' girl
I ben lookin' fer all my life--one with nerve an' grit, an' you
got 'em both. You liked thet bookkeepin' critter, an' he wasn't
half a man. I like you an' I am a man, ef I do say so myself."
The girl drew back in astonishment.
"Mr. Grayson!" she exclaimed. "You are forgetting yourself."
"No I ain't," he cried hoarsely. "I love you an' I'm goin' to
have you. You'd love me too ef you knew me better."
He took a step forward and grasped her arm, trying to
draw her to him. The girl pushed him away with one hand,
and with the other struck him across the face.
Grayson dropped her arm, and as he did so she drew
herself to her full height and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You may go now," she said, her voice like ice. "I shall
never speak of this to anyone--provided you never attempt to
repeat it."
The man made no reply. The blow in the face had cooled
his ardor temporarily, but had it not also served another
purpose?--to crystallize it into a firm and inexorable resolve.
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