“He will have not one near to cheer his last moments, to breathe one kind word, to utter one word of forgiveness, and he will be thrown into a nameless grave. With all his sins weighing him down, he is yet my brother, and I will not be a coward and desert him in his last moments. No, I sent him word that I would come to him, and I will.”
The earnest argument of the girl touched the miner deeply. He realized just how she felt and suffered, and said:
“I appreciate fully, Ruth, your position and your sorrow, and your kind heart does you credit; but in going to see your brother, to be with him in his last hours, to place him in the grave of a dishonored man, will not your sufferings be increased?”
“They may be, and yet what will be my sufferings to his despair? No, no, I shall go.”
“I will not say a word against it. Shall we catch the next coach back?”
“No, for you are not to go.”
“Do you expect me to leave you?”
“Yes, you must go to your family, and I will go back alone. I will go to Chicago, and then turn back from there and return to the fort. When I have done all in my power, Mr. Dean, for that stricken man, I will go to your home in the East. Need I say more?”
“No, I will trust you; but I would gladly return with you and wait until all is over.”
“That I cannot, will not allow. I must go alone,” was the determined reply of Bonnie Belle, and the miner urged no more.