"Fred! Fred! you are a demon; you mock me. How can you keep your oath by murdering me?"
"Calhoun, I swore to consider your honor as sacred as my own, to value your life as highly as my own, to share with you whatever fate might come. I shall keep my oath. After I put a bullet through your heart, I shall put one through my own brain. We both must die."
Calhoun's face seemed frozen with horror. He gasped and tried to speak, but no words came.
"Calhoun," continued Fred, in a tone that sounded as a voice from one dead, "would that you had promised, for it can do no good not to promise. Forgive me, as I forgive you. Now, say your prayers, for in a moment we both will be standing before our Maker."
Fred bowed his head in silent prayer; but Calhoun, with his horror-stricken face, never took his eyes from off his cousin.
"Good-bye, Calhoun," said Fred, as he raised his revolver.
"For God's sake, don't shoot! I promise." The words seemed to explode from Calhoun's lips.
