“That will, of course, necessitate my sudden retirement from this section. I shall emigrate, get out of the country, and go in search of pastures new. And I know where those pastures are—green, and flowing with gold dollars and milk and honey.
“I want somebody to go with me for company, and I’ve hit on you as the female angel that will soothe and console me in that time of retreat and trial. I’ve got a snug abode just built for two up in the mountains, and we’ll bill and coo there like a pair of turtle doves, and forget those awful times down here.”
He sat before her, his elbows on his knees, his hands supporting his chin, and looked at her; and she stared at him, as the charmed bird is said to stare helplessly at the serpent.
She saw how helpless she was in the power of this man. About her were the plains and the rolling hills, and darkness and distance. She did not even know where this hut and this valley were situated; nor how far she had come after leaving Scarlet Gulch. But she knew that in this valley were the road agents who acknowledged the authority of this man—Panther Pete. Yes, she was helpless, and she realized it.
“Oh, let me go!” she begged in terror, throwing herself on her knees before him. “Please—please let me go! I shall pray for you every day of my life, if you will let me go. I once considered you an honorable man, and——”
He put out his hand and touched her head, causing her to shiver.
“My dear girl, have a little sense!” he said. “Is it such a terrible thing to think of marrying me? I’ll bet that, when you thought I was Buffalo Bill, you were of the opinion that I was rather a stunning fellow in general appearance! Now, didn’t you? And I’m as good-looking now as then. Come, be sensible! I’m not going to scalp you, or feed you to my dogs out there. In fact, I’m not going to hurt you at all. I’m simply going to hold you until you’re willing to go before our parson and marry me. Think what that will mean! You will be the wife of Panther Pete, and queen of the road agents! Doesn’t the prospect allure you? If it doesn’t, it ought to. To be queen of our road agents isn’t so small a matter as you may think it. They’re a jolly lot, and fighters every one, from the ground up. There are worse jobs than being queen to a set of fellows like that. Why, if you should be kind to ’em, and say a good word now and then to ’em, there ain’t a man among ’em wouldn’t die for you, and feel happy if you paid him with a smile.
“I’m going to let you think about this. Think it over for a time, and carefully. We’re not such a bad lot. We do our robbing and stealing boldly, and risk our lives. Other men steal and rob under cover—by giving short weight, cheating their customers, stealing from the bank depositors and covering it up with lying figures, and in a thousand other ways; and the world thinks such fellows are great stuff. They’re thieves as much as we are here; but they’re cowardly thieves, which makes them worse than we are. Many a man that lives in a big house in the town and drives his wife out Sundays in a shining carriage is a whole lot more of a bad man than I am, and the world thinks he’s fine as silk. It all depends on how you do the stealing. Make the stealing respectable, and you’re respectable. Steal boldly, and the penitentiary waits for you.”
He rose from his seat by the door.
“My dear,” he said, as his hand fell on the knob and he seemed about to go, “just think that over. I’ll be good to you. I’m actually half in love with you, and I’ll be wholly so if you’ll give me a chance. You’re as handsome as a picture, and I like a pretty woman. I’ll play fair by you, I’ll treat you well, and you may have anything in the way of fine clothes or other finery that you want.”