"Yes, darling," reassured Brent, "Neither know
ing nor caring who you are. It is enough that you are the dearest, and most beautiful, and the most lovable woman in the whole world of women. Why, girl, the wonder is not that I love you—but that you could love me, after what I told you."
"It is the answer to your question," she smiled, "It means that love is the strongest thing in all the world—stronger than hate, stronger than race, or laws, or codes of ethics. Love is supreme!"
"And that means, then, that my love for hooch will conquer my hate for it?"
"No!" breathed the girl, and Brent could feel her arms tighten about his neck. "For your love for hooch has not only to overcome your hate for it, but it must also overcome your love for me, and my love for you. I am not afraid to fight it out with hooch for your love! If I cannot make myself more to you than hooch ever can, I would not be worthy of your love!"
"My darling," whispered Brent, his lips close to her ear, "You have won already. I will promise——"
He was interrupted by her fingers upon his lips, shutting off the words.
"No—dear," she hesitated a second at the unfamiliar word, "You must not promise—yet. It is easy to promise, out here in the barrens, where you have me in your arms, and the hooch is far away. I ask no odds of hooch. Wait till you have stood the test. I am not afraid. I have not much learn
ing, but some things I know. I know that, holding a promise in as high regard as you hold one, if anything should happen—if you should drink hooch just once, the promise would be broken—and never again would a promise be just the same. We have a war with hooch—you and I. And we are going to win. But, in the histories I have read of few wars where every battle was won by the same army. Some of the battles we must expect to lose—but the war we will win."
"Not much learning," smiled Brent, looking into the depths of the dark eyes, "But the concentrated wisdom of the ages—the wisdom that is the heritage of woman, and which not one woman in a thousand learns to apply."