es." He turned
away, but paused as the girl made no movement to follow. "What in
hell's the matter on ye?" he demanded, angrily. "This place in the rud
hain't fitten fer talk, nohow."

"Hit's fitten 'nough fer me," Plutina retorted, quietly. A mellow
laugh sounded. "Seems to me this-hyar bright sunshine orter warm yer
love up some, Dan. We'll stay hyar, I reckon. I'm afeared o' snakes
an' eavesdroppers an' sech critters thar in the shade."

The man was racked by many emotions. He had come swiftly under the hot
sun, and the haste and the heat had irritated him. The sight of the
girl moved him to fierce passion of desire. He was aflame with
eagerness to take her within his arms, there where were the cool
shadows. Her indifference to his command exasperated him; her final
refusal infuriated him. In the rush of feeling he lost what little
judgment he might otherwise have had. He had meant to placate her by a
temporary gentleness, to be offset by future brutalities. Now, in his
rage, he forgot discretion under the pricking of lawless impulse. He
reached out and dropped a huge hand on Plutina's shoulder, and twisted
her about with a strength she was powerless to resist. The clutch of
his fingers cut cruelly into her flesh, firm though it was, and she
winced. He grinned malevolently.

"Git back thar as I done tol' ye," he rasped; "afore ye git wuss."

With a deft twist of the body, Plutina stood free. The face, which had
paled, flushed darkly. The eyes blazed. The head was uplifted in
scorn. Her aspect awed the man, and he hesitated, gaping at her. Yet
her voice was very soft when she spoke. The tone surprised her
listener, rendered him strangely uneasy, for some reason he could not
understand.

"Thet ten minutes ye was late was more'n I had need fer, Dan Hodges,"
she said. "I promised ye yer answer hyar, an' I'm a-goin' to give hit
to ye right now."

She lifted an arm, and pointed to where the Devil's Cauldron blotched
the cliffs of the mountainside ... It was her left arm that she
lifted.

"Look, Dan! See thet-thar big hole in the wall. I been a-lookin' at
hit, Dan. I 'low you-all don't dast look at hit. Mebby ye're afeared
o' seein' the bones o' them hit holds--bones o' dead men--what you-all
an' yer gang hev kilt an' slid into the pot, to lie hid till Jedgment.
Hit's thar ye're aimin' to put my Zeke. Why, a haar o' his head's wuth
more'n the hull caboodle of sech murderers as yew be."

She stepped closer to the