"A low hound," said Bill Gregg bitterly, "that's what he shows to be."
"Tell me straight," said Ronicky, "what sort of a hold has he got over you? Can you tell us?"
"I have to tell you," said the girl gravely, "if you insist, but won't you take my word for it and ask no more?"
"We have a right to know," said Ronicky. "Bill has a right, and, me being Bill's friend, I have a right, too."
She nodded.
"First off, what's the way John Mark uses you?"
She clenched her hands. "If I tell you that, you will both despise me."
"Try us," said Ronicky. "And you can lay to this, lady, that, when a gent out of the West says 'partner' to a girl or a man, he means it. What you do may be bad; what you are is all right. We both know it. The inside of you is right, lady, no matter what John Mark makes you do. But tell us straight, what is it?"
"He has made me," said the girl, her head falling, "a thief!"
Ronicky saw Bill Gregg wince, as if someone had struck him in the face. And he himself waited, curious to see what the big fellow would do. He had not long to wait. Gregg went straight to the girl and took her hands.