"There is one way," he said to Helen, "to escape this thing which you appear not to hanker after very much.
"And that?" she exclaimed eagerly.
"Can't you guess?"
As he asked the question he leered at her in a meaning way.
The girl's heart sank.
She knew at once what he meant.
"What do you say?"
Helen made no reply, only shuddered and shrank away from the villain besides her.
"It's your last chance," urged McGinnis. "And you'll not get another, I kin tell ye. Once them doors close behind your back you're done for. Got any answer for me?"
"Mercy!" gasped Helen. "Anything but that. Pity me—spare me—do not stain your soul with a crime so dreadful as this."