“Do you know that I feel that you—but you would think me foolish if I said it.”
“You bet your life I wouldn’t!” gasped Carrigan.
She leaned closer and dropped a hand on his arm. Her gaze dwelt tenderly on his startled eyes.
“I feel that you are the first real man I have ever known, Mr. Carrigan.”
“The devil you do!”
“Yes. All the men I have met have been so superficial. But you are like your own great West, Mr. Carrigan, with a heart as wide as the desert and as open as the sky. I feel it. Am I foolish to tell you this?”
Carrigan loosened his bandanna.
“Jac, are you goin’ to pull this sort of a line on all the boys?” he asked hoarsely.
“Sure I am. Why not? Don’t it get by?”
“There’ll be gun-play before the night’s over, you c’n lay that ten to one.”