Mary closed her eyes to shut out the scorn of that handsome, boyish face; closed her eyes to summon out from the dark of her mind the picture of Pierre le Rouge as he had told her of his love; and then she heard the voice of Pierre renouncing her.
She opened her eyes again.

She cried: "It is all a lie! If he is not true, there's no truth in the world." "If you come down to that," said the boy coldly, "there ain't much wasted this side of the Rockies.

It's about as scarce as rain." He continued in an almost kindly tone: "What would you do with a wild man like Red Pierre?
Run along; git out of here; grab your horse, and beat it back to civilization; there ain't no place for you up here in the wilderness." "What would I do with him ?" cried the girl.

"Love him!" It seemed as though her words, like whips, lashed the boy back to his murderous anger.

He lay with blazing eyes, watching her for a moment, too moved to speak.