He prayed me not to do so wild a thing; but when I refused, and
pushed on along with him, makin' at an angle for some wooded hills, I saw
that a smile played upon his face. We had almost reached the edge of the
wood when a bullet whistled by us. At that the smile passed and a
strange look came upon him, and he said to me:
"'This must end here. I think you guess I have no coward's blood; but I
am sick to the teeth of fightin'. I do not wish to shock you, but I
swear, unless you turn and ride away to the left towards the priest's
house, I shall save those fellows further trouble by killin' myself here;
and there,' said he, 'would be a pleasant place to die--at the feet of a
woman who trusted you.'
"I knew by the look in his eye he would keep his word. "'Oh, is this
so?' I said.
"'It is so,' he replied, 'and it shall be done quickly, for the courage
to death is on me.'
"'But if I go, you will still try to escape?' I said. And he answered
that he would. Then I spoke a God-bless-you, at which he smiled and
shook his head, and leanin' over, touched my hand, and spoke low: 'When
you see Shon McGann, tell him what I did, and say that we are even now.
Say also that you called Heaven to bless me.' Then we swung away from
each other, and the troopers followed after him, but let me go my way;
from which, I guessed, they saw I was a woman.
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