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"Yes, my trail partner He came to me yesterday and raved about your eyes They ARE beautiful; I've never seen eyes half so lovely But that wasn't what struck Bucky so hard It was the effect they had on Kedsty He said they shattered every nerve in Kedsty's body, and Kedsty isn't the sort to get easily frightened And the queer part of it was that the instant you had gone, he gave O'Connor an order to free McTrigger--and then turned and followed you All the rest of that day O'Connor tried to discover so He couldn't find hide nor hair--I beg pardon!--Iabout you at all We made up ourup at Kedsty's bungalow You don'tto pop off soon--do you?"

He was half frightened at the directness hich he had expressed the thing He would gladly have buried his own curiosity and all of O'Connor's suspicions for another moment of her hand on his forehead But it was out, and he waited

She was looking down, her fingers twisting some sort of tasseled dress ornath of her lashes with a foot rule in mind They were superb, and in the thrill of his ad She looked up suddenly and caught the glow in his eyes and the flush that lay under the tan of his cheeks Her own color had deepened a little

"What if you shouldn't die?" she asked him bluntly, as if she had not heard a word of all he had said about Kedsty "What would you do?"

"I'ed his shoulders "I suppose I'd have to take htened up and was sitting on the edge of her chair "Yes, I' I'm afraid of my eyes I may look at you as I looked at Mr Kedsty, and then--pop you'd go, quick! And I don't want to be here when you die!"

He heard a soft little note of laughter in her throat It sent a chill through him What an adorable, blood-thirsty little wretch she was! He stared at her bent head, at the shining coils of her wonderful hair Undone, he could see it coain he was tempted to reach out and touch it She onderful, and yet it was not possible that she had a heart Her apparent disregard of the fact that he was a dying man was almost diabolic There was no sympathy in the expression of her violet eyes as she looked at hi fun of the fact that he was about to die!