“I'm glad you came out, Annie, mighty glad. And I know you 'll be glad to find out that he is wrong.”
“Oh, I know that—”
“But there must have been some things I don't understand at all. I don't know but what it's a good thing he is here. If he can clear it up, it will be better for all of us. So I 'll stay right here, and if he wants me, he can have me. That's no reason why I should dodge any man living.”
“I knew it—I'm glad—”
Then Dick's reserve broke down. He caught her hands again. “But you can't tell me your coming out here doesn't mean anything, Annie. You've told me already what I didn't dare to ask you.”
“No, Dick, let me go. I'm going back.”
“But after this—you can't put me off now, Annie. Don't you see? It's no use trying to make me think you would have done this for anybody, because you wouldn't. I know it, and you know it.”
“Now, Dick, please! I'm afraid—”
“If you only knew how I've felt this trip,—what a regular hell it has been,—you wouldn't keep me waiting any longer. I know to-morrow's the time; and I wouldn't have said a word to-night if you hadn't come out here. But you are here, and you have let me know so much that it's only a matter of saying a word. You can't blame me if I take your coming that way.”
Annie was struggling, and Dick in his eagerness was holding her tightly. But she got her hands free now and turned away.