The Danger Trail by James Oliver Curwood
page 89 of 189 (47%)
page 89 of 189 (47%)
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strangeness in her voice when she spoke--something of the hard
determination which Howland had put in his own, and yet the tone of it lacked his gentleness and love. "Will you please tell me the time?" The question was almost startling. Howland held the dial of his watch to the light of the stars. "It is a quarter past midnight." The faintest shadow of a smile passed over the girl's lips. "Are you certain that your watch is not fast?" she asked. In speechless bewilderment Howland stared at her. "Because it will mean a great deal to you and to me if it is not a quarter past midnight," continued Meleese, a growing glow in her eyes. Suddenly she approached him and put both of her warm hands to his face, holding down his arms with her own. "Listen," she whispered. "Is there nothing--nothing that will make you change your purpose, that will take you back into the South--to-night?" The nearness of the sweet face, the gentle touch of the girl's hands, the soft breath of her lips, sent a maddening impulse through Howland to surrender everything to her. For an instant he wavered. "There might be one--just _one_ thing that would take me away to-night," he replied, his voice trembling with the great love that thrilled him. "For you, Meleese, I would give up everything--ambition, fortune, the building of this road. If I go to-night will you go with me? Will you |
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