"
"You know what happened this morning, do you?" he asked gravely, for he
thought from her words that she had, perhaps, chanced to hear of some
further action to be taken by the suspicious cattlemen.
"It was terrible--terrible, Larry. Why didn't you tell them who you are?
Why did you let them--" she could not finish.
He laughed shortly. "It would have been such a sinful waste of words.
Can't you imagine me trying to make those men believe such a fairy
story--under such circumstances?"
For a little they walked in silence; then he asked, "Is it about Jim
Reid's suspicion that you wanted to see me, Helen?"
"No, Larry, it isn't. It's about Kitty," she answered.
"Oh!"
"Kitty told me all about it, to-day," Helen continued. "The poor child
is almost beside herself."
The man did not speak. Helen looked up at him almost as a mother might
have done.
"Do you love her so very much, Larry? Tell me truly, do you?"
Patches could not--dared not--look at her.
"Tell me, Larry," she insisted gently. "I must know. Do you love Kitty
as a man ought to love his wife?"
The man answered in a voice that was low and shaking with emotion.
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