human
You know, Cartie, I can be glad it happened. She seemed to speak more easily now, almost as if her thirst had been slaked; her voice was clearer, steadier.
gpt
I should never have known how much I cared. It was easy enough, wasn't it, to look at my ring and talk about 'holding hard' when there wasn't really anything to hold _for_? I really found out about caring to-night ... what it means. I guess I never really loved him before to-night, Carter. She was not looking at him, hardly talking to him; she seemed rather to be thinking aloud. Even if she had looked him full in the face she would not have realized what she was doing to him; there was only one realization for her now.
human
I guess I just loved what he _was_--his glorious body and his eyes and the way his hair _will_ wave--and what he could _do_--the winning, the people cheering him. But to-night, when I thought--when I believed the very worst thing in the world of him--when I thought he had failed me--then I found out. Then I knew I loved--_him_. She leaned her head back against the arm of the chair, and her hands rested, palm upward, in her lap.
gpt
It's worth everything that's happened, to know that. She was mercifully still again. Carter thought once that she must be asleep, she was breathing so softly and evenly, but after a long pause she asked, with a shade of difference in her tone,
human
How long has Juan been gone, Carter?
gpt
Twenty minutes. Perhaps half an hour.
human
Well, then, she said with conviction,
gpt
They may not come.
human
Oh, they'll come! They'll come very-- she stopped short at the sound of a shot.
gpt
What was that?
human
That was a shot,
gpt
But it wouldn't hurt Jimsy or Juan. They're nearly here! That was far away, wasn't it, Carter?
human
Not very far, Honor.
gpt
But, Cartie, she explained to him, patiently,
human
She opened the door and stepped out on the veranda, and he followed her.
gpt
See--it's almost morning!
human
It's the false dawn, said Carter stubbornly.
gpt
Listen-- another shot rang out, then three in quick succession.
human
I believe they're chasing Juan!