Page:Hornung - Irralies Bushranger.djvu/44

 my word I've a good mind to tell you everything on the spot!"

Irralie looked in the handsome, reckless face, and involuntarily drew back. "You must do as you please," she said.

"I could trust you? Yes, yes, I could trust you with my life. You are not the one to give a fellow away!"

"I hope not. But that would depend."

"That—would—depend," he repeated slowly. "On the nature of the confidence, of course! Well, well, let it rest. There was something else you were going to show me before we went in?"

"There was," said the girl. "Come this way; it's something that I think is certain to appeal to you."

And once more she led him through the moonlit pines, with a heart in chaos, and thoughts so tangled that unravelment seemed as distant as the day of doom. This much she knew: there was a loaded pistol in his pocket, and the crackling of each twig was like the cocking of the hammer behind her