"I fear not. Still—I couldn't cut him down in cold blood like that. What would you have thought of me if I had done so?"
"I should have said you had done well."
"I know you better."
At which she shook her head. "You don't know what horrid thoughts whirl about in my mind. No man really knows what a woman thinks," and the frank dark eyes regarded him solemnly.
"I know you better than you do yourself."
"I doubt it," with another shake of the head. "But, even then, it might have been best,"—with a shiver—"It sounds horrible—but——"
He could understand all her feeling in the matter. In her place he would have felt just the same. The man was a hideous menace—to her especially—and there would be no security for them while he lived. But all the same....
"Let us get back to the fire," he said quietly. "He won't come back tonight. Poor wretch, he's probably been paddling about all day looking for his ship and he's half crazed with it."
"I don't think I am bloodthirsty by nature," she said, with her hands pressed tight to her eyes, when she had sunk down before the fire again. "But I fear that man with all my soul, both for myself and you. He will kill you if he gets the chance. If he kills you I shall kill myself. It is better that one should die than two."
"I agree, but I don't want to have the killing of him if I can help it."