“Never! never!” he whispered. “I can’t put them aside! I refuse to put them aside, even as they refuse to be cast aside. You do not know what change time might bring to your heart. Don’t go, señorita—please don’t! I will say no more. Do you know I can’t help thinking—I can’t help thinking! Even though my lips are silent, my heart shall speak to you. You shall see the undying passion of my soul in my face and in my eyes. You shall hear it in my voice when I talk of common things. And the time may come—the time will come when you will yield to it, even as the branch yields to the caress of the vine that twines about it.”
For some time Elsie Bellwood had been watching Inza and her companion, and now Elsie approached them.
Del Norte saw her and quickly said in a low tone:
“Here comes the girl with the sunny hair and the flower-like eyes. She doesn’t like me.”
He laughed softly, and added:
“They never like me unless I make love to them. You’re not that way, señorita. You are much different from all the women I have ever met. Yes, I will be silent—never fear. She shall not hear or know—unless you tell her.”
“Where is Frank, Inza?” asked Elsie as she came up.
“I don’t know,” was the answer. “He strolled away a little while ago.”
“Bart has been asking for him.”
Elsie came close to her friend and grasped Inza’s hand.