ncied you loved. I mingled with
those men, those desperadoes, who were profane as pirates--who were, in
a sense, the pirates of the great plains. A fine life for an innocent
girl! Have you forgotten that my hands are stained with human blood?
Have you forgotten it was my bullet that killed Injun Jack?"

"That was one of the bravest deeds of your life. Only for that, Frank
Merriwell would be dead. Only for your nerve and bravery in shooting
that ruffian, one of God's grandest men would have been murdered in
cold blood. Since my college days I have loved and admired him above all
other men. When you saved his life by taking another worthless life you
did a noble deed. Had you not fled, I would have married you at the
earliest possible moment. I am ready now, Bessie."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PLEDGE OF FAITH.

Still it seemed impossible for her to believe. She put out her hand
toward the near-by wall of the house, as if seeking support. When he
offered to give her that support, she continued to hold him at bay.

"You're a noble boy, Berlin," she whispered. "You will make a noble
husband for some girl."

"For you."

"No, not for me."

"Then you do not love me! You never loved me!" he panted. "You were
toying with me! You were deceiving me! It was a part of your amusement!
You knew you had fascinated me and bewitched me, and it gave you
pleasure to toy with me! Ah, this hurts more than everything else!"

"I did care for you," she asserted faintly.

"You did care--in a way, perhaps."

"You never told me that you loved me."

"Because you would not give me a chance. I never told you in words, but
my eyes told you so a hundred times."

"I've seen others who talked with their eyes and kept silent with their
lips."

"And you thought me like them?"

"Well--no. You were different; I acknowledge that."

"But you thought me fit only to flirt with. That was it. You took
delight in arousing the fire in my heart that you might see it glowing
from my eyes. You're like them all. They love to play with fire. They
love to lead a man on and then throw him down. But I didn't think you
just like every other girl. I thought you different."

"You have learned that I was different, but in a way you did not
suspect."

"Then you confess you were toying with me, deceiving me?" he bitterly
exclaimed.

A little while before she had sought to turn him against her by telling
all the truth. When that effort failed and he sudde