"Don't let me terrify you, my darling," he went on passionately, in a
softened voice, as she changed countenance and recoiled before him in
evident fright. "I will not hurt you. I would die sooner than hurt a
hair of your head." He tried to take her hand, and then as she
snatched it away, he caught the hem of her cloak, and kneeling
quickly, raised it with a gesture of boundless tenderness and
reverence, to his lips. She had shrunk back to the wall, and looked
down on him in wide-eyed, speechless terror, evidently no longer
thinking of anything but escape.
"Oh, let me go home. Let me go home. I shall scream out if you don't
let me go," she cried.
He rose to his feet, walked quickly across the room and back, and then
having in some measure subdued his agitation, replied:
"Certainly, you shall go home. It is dark; I will go with you," and
they walked together across to the store without speaking. Returning,
Perez met Abe, and taking him by the hand, gave it a tremendous grip,
but said nothing.
Whatever resentment Squire Edwards cherished against Perez on account
of Desire's recapture and return, he was far too shrewd to allow it to
appear. He simply ignored the whole episode and was more affable than
ever.
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