I did it as well as I could. I told her as gently as possible that Johnny La Porte was in New Orleans, and asked if she wanted to see him. She cried for joy, poor child, and begged me to send for him at once. And then I told her why we had brought him; he was prepared to make what reparation he could. Did she wish him to make her his wife? She interrupted me with a joyful cry.
"Would he do that? Oh, then she could go home and die happy."
In that moment I made a mental vow that this dying girl, if she could be made any happier by it, should have not only the name of the young scoundrel she so foolishly loved, but his care and companionship as well.
I assured her that he was ready to make her his lawful wife, but could not tell her that he did it under compulsion.
After a long talk with 'Squire Ewing, during which I persuaded him to think first of his daughter's needs, and to make such use of Johnny La Porte as would best serve her, I went back to the hotel, where we had left the young scamp in charge of Wyman, and a little later in the day the ceremony was performed which made Johnny La Porte the husband of the girl he had sought to ruin.
Not long after this I invited the young man to a téte-â-téte, and he followed me somewhat ungraciously into a room adjoining that in which his new wife lay.
"Sit down," I said, curtly, motioning him to a chair opposite the one in which I seated myself. "Sit down. I want to give you a little advice concerning your future conduct."
He threw back his head defiantly; evidently he believed that he was now secure from further annoyance, and no longer within reach of law and justice.
"I don't need your advice," he said, pettishly. "I have done all that you, or any one else, can require of me."