“Oh, no; he hardly expected to have his disguise known to any one except his friends, and is doubtless at Daly’s cabin.”
“I hope so, for if he should escape me now I would almost give up hope; but he cannot, for fate will yet bring him face to face with me, whom he has so bitterly wronged.”
She had spoken the last words more to herself than to the scout, and he remained silent, not wishing to pry into her sorrows of the past until she suddenly asked:
“Did you ever hate any one?”
“Oh, yes, and I’m a good hater when I try.”
“So am I; I hate as I love, with all my heart and soul, and I now hate where I loved, for once, in the long ago, Kenton Kingsland was the very idol of my heart; but now, Mr. Cody, I hate him more than I ever loved him, and I have sworn to track him to death.
“It was to find him that I came to Border City. I heard he had left but a few days before for Colorado, and I determined to await his return; now, at last, it seems as if I could keep my oath, for you will not stay my hand in my revenge, which is so sweet to me! You will not, Mr. Cody, will you?”
“You would not kill him, would you, Panther Kate?”
“As I would a snake in my path,” she answered fiercely.
Before she could say more, Ben Tabor and his comrades came out of the tavern and joined them.