“But—ther’s—the——”
The Wolf suddenly reached out. He caught the girl’s arm in a grip and swung her round in the saddle so that she faced him. The storm in his eyes was something that found her thrilling with an emotion she had never yet known. The dusky blood receded from her cheeks. But she looked back into his eyes unafraid.
“God in heaven! Do I care?” he cried hoarsely. “Do you reckon Sinclair’s kid ken rob me of you? Do you guess his dirt to you makes me want you less? He don’t figger with me. An’ I guess that baby thing’ll seem good to me, seein’ it’s mostly part of you. Ther’s goin’ to be no fool talk that way. Fate handed you to me years back an’ I’ve a grip on things I ain’t lettin’ go. I’ve told you love for years, kid, when you fancied laffin’ in my face, or shoutin’ murder at me. I don’t need tell you more now. It goes all the time. It goes jest as long as I got air to breathe.”
The last of the girl’s fear fell from her. It fell away like a nightmare before the golden sun of day. Her bosom suddenly seemed to fill to choking with some queer wonderful sensation such as she had never known before.
She turned away to the hills again, and their crystal purity seemed to be shining with a new light that set her yearning. And in her ears rang those fierce, savage tones which told her that which the Wolf had never told her before.
Oh, she knew it now. She gladly saw it and admitted it. It had been so all along, but she had been blind to it. The Wolf was her master. She was his slave.
The hills? With him? Yes, yes! A thousand times, yes! The ends of the earth! Anywhere! She felt that sinewy body near her. She knew the physical strength of those great hands. The trunk-like neck that held that head so fearlessly confident. At that instant she would have been glad to feel the crushing strength of his hands in chastisement for the things she had done to hurt him.
Suddenly she swung round from the mountains.
“The hills!” she cried urgently. “Wolf! Wolf! Why did you do it? Oh, I’m not grievin’ you killed him. But why did you? Yes. Sure. It means the hills, an’ I’m ready. But it’ll be the hills always—for you—or——”
“Yes. After to-night. But not for other reason!”