human
Raiders! she gasped.
gpt
Or else----
human
They've come after me, he said.
gpt
Clever trick--if they've bribed ruffians from over the border to cover their ends. The real errand's here, inside this house.
human
You must hide, she breathed.
gpt
I must save you--somehow.
human
Why should you save _me_? Van Vreck asked, sharply.
gpt
Why not think about saving yourself?
human
Because I know Knight would wish to save you, she answered.
gpt
I want to do what he would do.... God help us, they're coming nearer! Take your bag, and I'll hide you in the cellar. There's a corner there, behind some barrels. If they break in, I'll say----
human
Brave girl! But they won't break in.
gpt
How do you know?
human
Your husband won't let them. Trust him, as I do.
gpt
He's not here. Do you think I told you a lie? Thank Heaven he _isn't_ here, or they'd kill him, and I could never beg him to forgive----
human
You don't understand what's happening, he said, with a new gentleness.
gpt
Don's out there now, defending you and his home. That's what the shooting means. Do you think those brutes would advertise themselves with their guns if they hadn't been attacked?
human
Stop! he commanded.
gpt
Don't play the robbers' own game for them! _How do you know which is nearer the house, Don and his men, or the others?_
human
Don and his men?
gpt
Yes. Even if he were alone to begin with, I'll bet all I've got he roused every cowpuncher on the ranch with his first shot; and they'd be out with their guns like a streak of greased lightning. If you open that window with a light in the room, the wrong lot may get in and barricade themselves against Don and his bunch--to say nothing of what would happen to us. But----