d he smiled back into her
pleading eyes, "enough to trust you. If Hicks and Brown consent, your
going will be all right with me."

"_Bueno_!" and she dropped him a deep Spanish courtesy, executing a
quick dancing step toward the door. "Den eet vill be so. I no 'fraid.
I go see dem both. _Adios_."

The door opened, and she flashed forth into the fading sunlight; it
closed behind her, and left the two alone among the shadows.

CHAPTER XXIV

AN AVOWAL OF LOVE

Winston sat gazing at the delicate contour of her face, partially
turned away from him, the long, silken lashes shading eyes lowered upon
the floor. A single gleam of the westering sun rested in golden beauty
across her dark hair, stirred by the slight breeze blowing through the
open window. In the silence he could hear his heart beat, and
distinguish the faint sound of her breathing. She was the first to
speak, yet without moving her head.

"Is it true that you are now under arrest?" she questioned, her voice
scarcely audible.

"Technically yes, although, as you may perceive, the sheriff is
powerless to prevent an escape if I desired to attempt one."

"Is it because of that--that charge he made?"

He arose to his feet in brave attempt at self-control.

"Oh, no, certainly not! I think that was merely a threat, a cowardly
threat, utterly without provocation, without purpose, unless he sought
in that way to work you a serious injury. The real charge against me
is murder. It appears that the man I fought with in the mine later
died from his injuries."

She turned both face and body toward him, her eyes filled with agony.

"The man died? Will it be possible for you to prove yourself innocent?"

"It may be possible, but it does not appear easy. I hope to show that
all I did was in self-defence. I did not strike the man a deadly blow;
in the struggle he fell and was injured on the sharp rocks. In every
sense his death was unintentional, yet there is nothing to sustain me
but my own testimony. But I shall not flee from the issue. If I have
taken human life I will abide the judgment. God knows I never dreamed
of killing the man; never once supposed him seriously injured. You, at
least, believe this?"

"I believe all you tell me."

The man's grasp on the casing of the window tightened, his eyes upon
the mass of black hair.

"Strangely enough," he continued, "this whole affair has gone wrong
from the start; nothing has turned out in