her face flush as the shadow of a twinkle played for a fleeting instant
in the depths of the hard eyes. She fancied, even, that the lips
behind the black beard smiled--ever so slightly,

"Oh, you needn't laugh! You think because I'm a woman you will be able
to do as you please with me----"

"I did not laugh," answered the man gravely. "Why should I laugh? You
take yourself seriously. You believe, even, that the things you have
just spoken are true. They _must_ be true. Has not Pierre Lapierre
_told_ you they are true? And, why should the fact that you are a
woman cause me to believe I could influence you? If an issue is at
stake, as you believe, what has sex to do with it? I have known no
women, except the squaws and the _kloochmen_ of the natives.

"You said, 'you think, because I am a woman, you will be able to do as
you please with me.' Are women, then, less honest than men? I do not
believe that. In my life I have known no women, but I have read of
them in books. I have not been to any school, but was taught by my
father, who, I think, was a very wise man. I learned from him, and
from the books, of which he left a great number. I have always
believed women to be uncommonly like men--very good, or very bad, or
very commonplace because they were afraid to be either. But, I have
not read that they are less honest than men."

"Thank you! Being a woman, I suppose I should consider myself
flattered. A year from this time you will know more about women---at
least, about _me_. You will have learned that I will not be
hoodwinked. I cannot be bribed. Nor can my silence, or acquiescence
in your villainy be bought. I will not connive with you. And you