He gave the message to Slim, and added directions.
"You'll be missing from the party," he said, as he handed over the
letter, "but the party we have with Perris is apt to be pretty much
like a party with a wild-cat. You can thank your stars you'll be on
the road when it comes off!"
And Slim had sense enough to nod in agreement.
CHAPTER XX
THE TRAP SHUTS
In one matter Lew Hervey had acted none too quickly. Shorty and Little
Joe arrived at the corral in time to find Marianne in the very act of
leading out her pony. They told her firmly and gently that the horse
must go back, and when she defied them, they astonished her by simply
removing her hand from the lead-rope and taking the horse away. In
vain she stormed and threatened. In vain, at length, she broke into
tears. Either of them would have given an arm to serve her. But in
fact they considered they were at that moment rendering the greatest
service possible. They were saving her from herself.
She fled back to the house again, finally, and threw herself face down
on her bed in an agony of dread, and helplessness, and shame. Shame
because from Little Joe's brief remarks, she gathered that Hervey had
already spread the news of her confession.
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