A despairing hope swept her. Ah, no, no. It could not be. That would be too cruel. No, no, she must be wrong. Will was not guilty. He could not be. This thing could surely never come upon her. What had she 234 ever done to deserve it? What–––? She thought of the man before her. What had he ever done to deserve his fate? And suddenly the momentary hope slid from under her feet.
Now her thought and terror found expression against her will. It would not be denied. It showed in her shrinking attitude. It was displayed in her horrified eyes. And Jim saw these things and read them in his own way. He deemed that he had shocked her by his words, nor could he clearly understand that the force of his determination to defend himself should so shock her. However, he promptly strove to lighten the impression he had made.
“Don’t let us speak of these things. Let us think and speak of other matters. You see,” he went on whimsically, “you were the first person I met, and I s’pose it was only natural you should get all the burden of––of my nightmare.”
But Eve could not rid herself of her terror. She felt she must talk of this thing.
“No,” she said with an effort to keep calm, “we must talk of it. We must think––think–––”
“There is no need for you to think, Eve. Put it out of your head. I shall run him to earth–––”
“But, Jim,” she broke out, his words driving her to fresh terror, “it must be some half-breeds. Or––or––some ‘toughs’ from across the border. It must be. We are very near the Canadian border, remember. They’re always being driven across by the Mounted Police.”
“No, it’s some one in the locality. Some one nobody would suspect. You see, there have been no strangers in the district for months.”
“How do you know?” Eve’s startled inquiry came almost defiantly.