"Never mind now, lass. It's a good reason. An' you mustn't fear anythin'. I agree with you--we've got to prevent this--this that's goin' to happen."
"Oh, Ben, my dear friend, we must prevent it--you must!"
"Ahuh!... So I was figurin'."
"Ben, you must go to Jack an' tell him--show him the peril--frighten him terribly--so that he will not do--do this shameful thing again."
"Lass, I reckon I could scare Jack out of his skin. But what good would that do?"
"It'll stop this--this madness.... Then I'll marry him--and keep him safe--after that!"
"Collie, do you think marryin' Buster Jack will stop his bustin' out?"
"Oh, I know it will. He had conquered over the evil in him. I saw that. I felt it. He conquered over his baser nature for love of me. Then--when he heard--from my own lips--that I loved Wilson--why, then he fell. He didn't care. He drank again. He let go. He sank. And now he'll ruin us all. Oh, it looks as if he meant it that way!... But I can change him. I will marry him. I will love him--or I will live a lie! I will make him think I love him!"
Wilson Moore, deadly pale, faced her with flaming eyes.
"Collie, why? For God's sake, explain why you will shame your womanhood and ruin me--all for that coward--that thief?"