And, not waiting for him to
act, she began to gather them up. She was nervous, though, and dropped
many of them several times, so that he felt that time would have been
gained if she had not touched them. He returned them to the bag, with
her help, and placed the bag in a pocket of his trousers. Then once
more he said good-by to her.
This time, however, she stood between him and the door, and when he
tried to step around her she changed her position so as to be always in
front of him.
"Tell me where you are going?" she said.
"What do you want to know for?" he demanded.
"Just because," she said; "because I want to know."
His eyes lighted with a deep fire as he looked at her. She was very
close to him; he felt her warm breath; saw her bosom heave rapidly, and
a strange intoxication seized him.
"Shall I tell you?" he said, with sudden hoarseness, as though asking
himself the question. He grasped her by the shoulders and looked
closely at her, his eyes boring, probing, as though searching for some
evidence of duplicity in hers. For an instant his gaze held. Then he
laughed, softly, self-accusingly.
"I thought you was stringin' me--just for a minute," he said. "But
you're true blue, an' I'll tell you. I'm goin' first to the Arrow to
hand the Taggarts their pass-out checks.
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