"At hand? I see no one but you, poor boy, and this sorrowing woman, who can only pray with me."
"I talk of men—men determined, able, and daring—one of whom you have seen."
"The man they call the Wolverine!" she ejaculated, hiding her eyes like a child to whom Bogey was promised to appear, "A man that terrifies me! He is the second self of this horrid Captain Kidd. His name pourtrays him, and his sight fills me with dread."
Drudge smiled softly.
"What has his name and his appearance got to do with it?" he cried. "Both may be put on! The gem and gold are not at all prepossessing when natural. How does the domestic dog escape being devoured by the prairie wolves when abandoned at a camp? He joins them, frisks with them, and howls more loudly than they! If Corkey Joe resembled a missionary, he would stand pretty conspicuous out from our gang of Border Terrors. It is by putting on their style that he has hoodwinked them."
"Oh, if I could be sure that you are not cheated, and that this fright of a man is truly what you say!"
"I say so straight. The Carcajieu may or may not be a beauty, but his look is only skin-deep anyhow. I'll answer for his faithfulness with my own head. I know what he is worth."
"Then, tell me—"
"No, I cannot, señorita," he interrupted sharply. "I promised to keep the secret. No more, beyond his being your most devoted."
"Now, Leon, do not fill me up with a belief of which the removal would be heartbreaking!"