“My dear,” he faltered, “I can’t quite tell you—but you have made me heartily ashamed. I’m afraid it’s a very rash thing you are going to do.”
She looked at him with candid anxiety, and then appeared to dismiss the subject with a smile.
“There is so much I want to say, and it mayn’t be so easy—afterwards,” she said. “It’s a pity the train starts so soon.”
“We can get over that difficulty, anyway,” said Hawtrey. “I’ll come on as far as I can with you, and get back from one of the way stations by the Pacific express.”
Sally made no objections, and drawing a little closer to him she talked on in a low voice.
CHAPTER XXII
A PAINFUL REVELATION
A sprinkle of snow was driving down the unpaved street before the biting wind, when Mrs. Hastings came out of a store in the settlement and handed Sproatly, who was waiting close by, several big packages.