"MARIPOSAS ENTERED THE HUT."
They had done very well, and their claim sold for a fair price. They would take quite enough away to start in some new way.
It was the night before they had settled to leave: Steve had gone up to the Paradise to say good-bye to Mariposas. Bob said he couldn't and wouldn't, but sent a message by his friend. He was sitting alone, half wishing that he had gone just to see her face and hear her voice once more, when someone lifted the latch of his door, and the subject of his thoughts entered the hut.
He rose quickly, then stood still, not knowing what to do; she broke the silence.
"So you were going without bidding me good-bye?" she said.
"Yes," he answered, huskily, for now that she was there, so near to him, it seemed harder than ever to go. "Yes, I thought it best."
"Why?"
"Because I loved you, because I love you."
"You never told me so."