She turned presently and gave him the paper, and he seized it eagerly
and examined it, gloating over it.
"That's it," he said; "that's the clearing!"
She was holding her arms, where he had squeezed them, her face flushed
with rage at the indignity he had offered her. She stood rigid,
defiant.
"If that is all you came for, you may go," she said; "go instantly!"
He jammed the paper into his pocket and grinned at her.
"It ain't all," he said. "I owe you somethin' for the way you've
treated me. I'm goin' to pay it. You've been too much of a lady to
talk to me, but you'll live here with that--"
He reached suddenly out and seized her hands again, attempting to throw
an arm around her. She evaded the arm and wrenched herself free,
slipping past him and darting to the other side of the table. He stood
opposite her, his hands on the table as he leaned toward her, grinning
at her, brutally and bestially, and pausing so as to prolong his
enjoyment of her predicament.
"I'll get you, damn you!" he said; "I've got the time and you can't get
out." He seized the kerosene lamp on the table and walking backward,
placed it on a shelf at the side of the wall near the stove. Then with
a chuckle of satisfaction and mockery he again went to the table
seizing its edge in his hands and shoving it against her so that she
was forced to retreat from its advance.
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