e the truth about the baby?"

"I swear by God!" repeated Vandecar solemnly.

"And I believe ye. I could a been good, if I'd a had the little kid
awhile. It were a bit of her, a little, livin' bit. I could a been, but
I wasn't, a good man. I loved to lash Flukey and Flea. I loved to make
the marks stand out on their legs and backs. And I tried to l'arn Flukey
to be a thief, and Flea were a goin' to Lem tomorry. It were the only
way I lived--the only way!" Cronk trailed on as if to himself. "The
woman camed and camed and haunted me, till my mind were almost gone, and
I allers seed the little kid's dead face ag'in' her, and allers she
seemed to tell me to haggle the life outen yer kids; and haggle I did,
till they runned away, and then I went after 'em, and Flea--"

Vandecar stopped the speaker with a wave of the hand.

"Then you brought her back here, and I discovered that she was mine, and
I came for her. Lon Cronk, you give me back my girl, and I'll," he
whitened to the very lips, and repeated,--"and I'll give you back
yours!"

With a sweep of the arm Vandecar pushed Katherine forward. The very air
grew dense with anxiety. Ann clutched Katherine by the arm as if to stay
her movement, as if to keep her from the dazed squatter. His confession
of the kidnapping and his uncouth appearance forced Miss Shellington to
try and protect her gentle friend from his contact. But Katherine
loosened Ann's fingers in stony silence. Only a choking sound from
Fledra broke the quietude. She was staring into Lon's face, and he was
flashing from her to Katherine glances that changed and rechanged like
dark clouds passing over the heaven's blue. He saw Katherine, so like
his dead wife, bow her fair head before him. He noted her trembling
fingers pressed into pink palms, her slender body grow tense again and
again, relaxing only with spontaneous sobs. That he could touch the
fragile young creature, that he might listen to the call of his heart
and take her as his own, had not yet been fully forced upon him. The
meaning of Governor Vandecar's words seemed to leave his mind at
intervals; then his expression showed that he realized the truth of
them. He swayed forward; but crouched back once more against the wall.
Fledra rose silently to her feet, her ready intelligence grasping the
great fact that she was free, that the magnificent stranger had come for
her, that he claimed her as his. She was free from Lem, from Lon, free
to go back to Fl