"All right," she said, with a half laugh, stopping and turning about. "I was afraid ... you see! I'm not accustomed...."
Bayard removed his weight from the other man and sat again on the edge of the bed.
"Lots of men, men out here in this country, would have felt the same way ... only worse," he said, reassuringly. "It takes lots of sand to fuss with blood an' man meat until you get used to it. You've got the sand, Miss, an' I sure appreciate what you've done. He will, too."
She turned to meet his gaze and he saw that her face was colorless and strained, but she smiled and asked,
"I couldn't do less, could I?"
"You couldn't do more," he said, staring hard at her, giving the impression that his mind was not on what he was saying. "More for me or more for ... a carcass like that." A tremor of anger was in his voice, and resentment showed in his expression as he turned to look at the covered face of the heavily breathing man. "It's a shame, Miss, to make your kind come under the same roof with a ... a thing like he is!"
After a moment she asked,
"Is he so very bad, then?"
"As bad as men get ... and the best of us are awful sinful."
"Do you ... do you think men ever get so bad that anyone can be hurt by being ... by coming under the same roof with them?"