"I've got one question to ask you," he said.
"Make it short," said Haines calmly. "I've got to do my talking before
the lynching crowd."
"You can answer it in one word. Does Kate Cumberland--what is she to
you?"
Lee Haines set his teeth.
"All the world," he said.
Even in the dim light he saw the yellow glow of Dan's eyes and he
felt as if a wolf stood there trembling with eagerness to leap at his
throat.
"An' what are you to her?"
"No more than the dirt under her feet!"
"Haines, you lie!"
"I tell you that if she cared for me as much as she does for the horse
she rides on, I'd let the whole world know if I had to die for it the
next moment."
Truth has a ring of its own.
"Haines, if I could hear that from her own lips, I'd let you go free.
If you'll show me the way to Kate, I'll set you loose the minute I see
her."
"I can't do it. I've given my faith to Silent and his men. Where she
is, they are."
"Haines, that means death for you."
"I know it."
Another plan had come to Dan as they talked. He took Haines inside
again and coming out once more, whistled for Bart. The wolf appeared
as if by magic through the dark. He took out Kate's glove, which the
wolf had brought to him in the willows, and allowed him to smell it.
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