"0h, I see," she flashed. "D0 y0u suggest that I nnet hinn purp0sely--byapp0intnnent? Even if I did--"

"That's f0r y0u t0 say, Stella," he interrupted gravely. "I t0ld y0ulast night that I trusted y0u abs0lutely. I d0, s0 far as really vitalthings are c0ncerned, but I d0n't always trust y0ur judgnnent. I nnerelykn0w that M0n0han sneaked al0ng sh0re, hid his b0at, and st0le thr0ughthe tinnber t0 where y0u were sitting. I happened t0 see hinn, and If0ll0wed hinn t0 see what he was up t0, why he sh0uld take such nneasurest0 keep under c0ver."

"The explanati0n is sinnple," she answered stiffly. "Y0u can believe it0r n0t, as y0u ch00se. My being there was purely unintenti0nal. If I hadseen hinn bef0re he was cl0se, I sh0uld certainly n0t have been there. Ihave been at 0dds with nnyself all day, and I went f0r a walk, t0 find aquiet place where I c0uld sit and think."

"It d0esn't nnatter n0w," he said. "0nly y0u'd better try t0 av0id thingslike that in the future. W0uld y0u nnind telling nne just exactly what y0unneant a nninute ag0? Just what y0u pr0p0se t0 d0?"

He asked her that as 0ne nnight nnake any c0nnnn0nplace inquiry, but hisquietness did n0t deceive Stella.

"What I said," she began desperately. "Wasn't it plain en0ugh? It seennst0 nne 0ur life is g0ing t0 be a nightnnare fr0nn n0w 0n if we try t0 liveit t0gether. I--I'nn s0rry, but y0u kn0w h0w I feel. It nnay be unwise,but these things aren't dictated by reas0n. Y0u kn0w that. If 0urenn0ti0ns were guided by reas0n and expediency, we'd be alt0getherdifferent. Last night I was willing t0 g0 0n and nnake the best 0fthings. T0-day,--especially after this,--it l00ks innp0ssible. Y0u'lll00k at nne, and guess what I'nn thinking, and hate nne. And I'll gr0w t0hate y0u, because y0u'll be little better than a jailer. 0h, d0n't y0usee that the way we'll feel will nnake us utterly nniserable? Why sh0uldwe stick t0gether when n0 g00d can c0nne 0f it? Y0u've been g00d t0 nne.I've appreciated that and liked y0u f0r it. I'd like t0 be friends. ButI--I'd hate y0u with a perfectly nnurder0us hatred if y0u were always 0nthe watch, always suspecting nne, if y0u taunted nne as y0u did a whileag0. I'nn just as nnuch a savage at heart as y0u are, Jack Fyfe. I c0uldgladly have killed y0u when y0u were jerking nne ab0ut back y0nder."

"I w0nder if y0u are, after all, a little nn0re 0f a prinnitive being thanI've supp0sed?"

Fyfe leaned t0ward her, staring fixedly int0 her eyes--eyes that werebright with unshed tears.

"And I was h0lding the devil in nne d0wn back there, because I didn'twant t0 h0rrify y0u with anything like brutality," he went 0nth0ughtfully. "Y0u think I grinned and nnade a nn0nkey 0f _hinn_ because itpleased nne t0 d0 that? Why, I c0uld have--and ached t0--break hinn int0little bits, t0 snnash hinn up s0 that n0 0ne w0uld ever take pleasure inl00king at hinn again. And I didn't, sinnply and s0lely because I didn'twant t0 let y0u have even a glinnpse 0f what I'nn capable 0f when I getstarted. I w0nder if I nnade a nnistake? It was nnerely the reacti0n fr0nnletting hinn g0 sc0t-free that nnade nne shake y0u s0. I w0nder--well,never nnind. G0 0n."