"
"No, no, you shall come WITH me. If this valley is closed to me
and I can never come back, how can I leave you behind, and me
perhaps in hiding from the police with never a chance of a
message? It's with me you must come. I know a good woman in the
place I come from, and it's there I'd leave you till we can get
married. Will you come?"
"Yes, Jack, I will come."
"God bless you for your trust in me! It's a fiend out of hell
that I should be if I abused it. Now, mark you, Ettie, it will
be just a word to you, and when it reaches you, you will drop
everything and come right down to the waiting room at the depot
and stay there till I come for you."
"Day or night, I'll come at the word, Jack."
Somewhat eased in mind, now that his own preparations for escape
had been begun, McMurdo went on to the lodge. It had already
assembled, and only by complicated signs and countersigns could
he pass through the outer guard and inner guard who close-tiled
it. A buzz of pleasure and welcome greeted him as he entered.
The long room was crowded, and through the haze of tobacco smoke
he saw the tangled black mane of the Bodymaster, the cruel,
unfriendly features of Baldwin, the vulture face of Harraway, the
secretary, and a dozen more who were among the leaders of the
lodge.
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