ks of the
latter, a fixed and implacable purpose. There was no mercy there.

All at once, a change came over the colossus. A resolution of
resistance had arisen within him--as was evinced by his altered attitude
and the darkening shadow upon his countenance. The triumphant glances
of the pseudo-saint appeared to have provoked him, more than the matter
in dispute. Like the buffalo of the plains stung with Indian arrows, or
the great _mysticetus_ of the deep goaded by the harpoon of the whaler,
all the angry energies of his nature appeared suddenly aroused from
their lethargy; and he sprang to his feet, towering erect in the
presence of his tormentor. "Damnation!" cried he, striking the floor
with his heavy heel, "she won't do it--she won't, and she _shan't_!"

"Keep cool, Hickman Holt!" rejoined the Mormon, without moving from his
seat--"keep cool! I expected this; but it's all bluster. I tell you
she will, and she _shall_!"

"Hev a care, Josh Stebbins! Hev a care what yur about! Ye don't know
what you may drive me to--"

"But I know what I may _lead_ you to," interrupted the other with a
sneering smile.

"What?" involuntarily inquired Holt.

"The gallows," laconically answered Stebbins.

"Devils an' damnation!" This emphatic rejoinder was accompanied with a
furious grinding of teeth, but with a certain recoiling--as if the angry
spirit of the giant could still be stayed by such a menace.

"It's no use swearing about it, Holt," continued the Mormon, after a
certain time had passed in silence. "_My_ mind's made up--the girl must
go with me. Say _yes_ or _no_. If yes, then all's well--well for your
daughter, and well for you too. I shall be out of your way--Salt Lake's
a long distance off--and it's _not likely you'll ever set eyes on me
again_. You understand me?"

The saint pronounced these last words with a significant emphasis; and
then paused, as if to let them have their full weight. They appeared to
produce an effect. On hearing them, a gleam, like a sudden flash of
sunlight, passed over the countenance of the squatter. It appeared the
outward index of some consolatory thought freshly conceived; and its
continuance proved that it was influencing him to take a different view
of the Mormon's proposal. He spoke at length; but no longer in the tone
of rage--for his passion seemed to have subsided, as speedily as it had
sprung up.

"An' s'pose I say _no_?"

"Why, in that case, I shall not