"My boy," said Sothern very gently, "you are sure that you have made no mistake? The girl is no better than her companions?"
"They merely kill a man for his gold," returned Drennen steadily. "She plays with a man's soul and kills it when she has done."
There were deep lines of sadness about Sothern's mouth; the eyes which forsook Drennen's face and turned to the glitter of the stars were unutterably sad.
"The sins of the father …" he muttered. Then suddenly, an electric change in the man, he flung himself to his feet, his hands thrown out toward his son.
"By God! Dave," he cried harshly; "they're not worth it! Let them go! We can turn off here where the world is good because men haven't come into it. The mountains can draw the poison out of a man's heart, Dave. There is room for the two of us, boy, for you and me on a trail of our own. Leave them for Max and Kootanie George.… Come with me. Do you hear me, Dave, boy? We don't need the world now we've … we've got each other!"
Drennen shook his head.
"I've got my work to do," he said quietly. "I think it'll be done soon now. And then … then we'll go away together, Dad. Just the two of us."