k, and by the passion for revenge
that had seized him, that held him in a burning clutch. Jealousy of the
big man he would not have admitted; but something swelled his chest when
he thought of Corrigan coming West in the same car with the girl--a vague,
gnawing something that made his teeth clench and his facial muscles cord.

Rosalind had not told him that she had recognized him, that during the ten
years of his exile he had been her ideal, but she could close her eyes at
this minute and imagine herself on the stair-landing at Hester Keyes'
party, could feel the identical wave of thrilling admiration that had
passed over her when her gaze had first rested on him. Yes, it had
survived, that girlhood passion, but she had grown much older and
experienced, and she could not let him see what she felt. But her
curiosity was keener than ever; in no other man of her acquaintance had
she felt this intense interest.

"I remember you telling me the other day that your men would have used
their rifles, had the railroad company attempted to set men to work in the
cut. I presume you must have given them orders to shoot. I can't
understand you. You were raised in the East, your parents are wealthy; it
is presumed they gave you advantages--in fact, you told me they had sent
you to college. You must have learned respect for the law while there. And
yet you would have had your men resist forcibly."

"I told you before that I respected the law--so long as the law is just
and the fellow I'm fighting is governed by it. But I refuse to fight under
a rule that binds one of my hands, while my opponent sails into me with
both hands free. I've never been a believer in the doctrine of 'turn the
other cheek.' We are made with a capacity for feeling, and it boils,
unrestrained, in me. I never could play the hypocrite; I couldn't say 'no'
when I thought 'yes' and make anybody believe it. I couldn't lie and evade
and side-step, even to keep from getting licked. I always told the truth
and expressed my feelings in language as straight, simple, and direct as I
could. It wasn't always the discreet way. Perhaps it wasn't always the
wise way. I won't argue that. But it was the only way I knew. It caused me
a lot of trouble--I was always in trouble. My record in college would make
a prize fighter turn green with envy. I'm not proud of what I've made of
my life. But I haven't changed. I do what my heart prompts me to do, and I
say what I think, regardless