vitation without thought of trap or anything else. He almost
precipitated himself into the room.

Nor in his fury did he observe his surroundings. He had no eyes for
the furnishings, the cheap comfort with which he was surrounded. And
though, as James had said, the place was untidy, he saw nothing and
none of it. His eyes were on the man; angry, bloodshot eyes, such eyes
as those of a furiously goaded dog, driven into a corner by the cruel
lash of a bully's whip.

"Yes, that's it. Wher's my wife?" Scipio demanded threateningly.
"You've stole her, and taken her from me. I've come to take her
back."

The force of his demands was tinged with the simplicity of a naturally
gentle disposition. And maybe, in consequence, something of their
sting was lost. The forceful bluster of an outraged man, determined
upon enforcing his demands, would probably have stirred James to
active protest, but, as it was, he only continued to smile his
insolence upon one whom he regarded as little better than a harmless
worm.

"One moment," he said, with an exasperating patience, "you say I stole
her. To have stolen her suggests that she was not willing to come
along. She came with me. Well, I guess she came because she fancied
it. You say you're going to take her back. Well," with a shrug, "I
kind of think she'll have something to say about going back."

For a moment Scipio stood aghast. He glanced about him helplessly.
Then, in a flash, his pale-blue eyes came back to the other's face.

"She's mine, I tell you! Mine! Mine! Mine!" he cried, in a frenzy of
rage and despair. "She's mine by the laws of God an' man. She's mine
by the love that has brought our kiddies into the world. Do you hear?
She's mine by every tie that can hold man and wife together. An'
you've stole her. She's all I've got. She's all I want. She's just
part of me, and I can't live without her. Ther's the kiddies to home
waitin' for her, and she's theirs, same as they are hers--and mine. I
tell you, you ain't going to keep her. She's got to come back." He
drew a deep breath to choke down his fury. "Say," he went on, with a
sudden moderating of his tone and his manner, taking on a pitiful
pleading, "do you think you love her? You? Do you think you know what
love is? You don't. You can't. You can't love her same as I do. I love
her honest. I love her so I want to work for her till I drop. I love
her so there's nothin' on earth I wouldn't do for her. My life is
hers. All th