"But it is you who have saved mine, Miss Farley."
"To say that—when you jammed your hand into the monster's mouth! If he had bit me I'd have had no show at all. You didn't know how to treat the poison. No. Either the bronchos will get us both, or we're going to win through to the ranch together."
"But, Miss Farley——"
The heat-flush in the girl's tanned cheeks deepened to rose.
"I never before knew a man like you, Jack. Won't you call me Carmena?"
The candid directness of this rather took Lennon's breath. But the girl was of the desert—efficient, resolute, crude in dress, yet rich coloured as the bloom of the red-flowered cactus. She had saved him from the horrible death of the Gila monster's poison and was now intent upon saving him from even worse fate at the hands of the murderous Apaches.
He caught up her willing hand in an eager clasp.
"Carmena!—To have a girl like you for pal—it's simply ripping!"
"Pal?" she repeated the word after him, as if not quite certain of its meaning. "Oh, you mean pard. Yes, we're partners now—for this deal at least—whether it means life or death."