He was by nature a hunter; he was self-willed and reckless.

No woman had ever moved him in his life until this girl crossed his path, and he reached out towards her with the same will to control that he had used in the business of life.

Yet, while this brute force suggested physical control of the girl, it had its immediate reaction.

She was so fine, so delicate, and yet so full of summer and the free unfettered life of the New World, so unimpassioned physically, yet so passionate in mind and temperament, that he felt he must atone for the wild moment's passion--the passion of possession, which had made him long to crush her to his breast.

There was nothing physically repulsive in it; it was the wild, strong life of conquering man, of which he had due share.