"I'm really fond of her, Jim, and didn't mean to hurt her feelings.
But tell me about yourself; what made you come West?"

"To teach the Indians, and I was, no doubt, strongly influenced by
your being here."

"You're going to do as you ever have--make some sacrifice. You are
always devoting yourself; if not to me, to some other. Now it's your
life you're giving up. To try to convert the redskins and influence
me for good is in both cases impossible. How often have I said there
wasn't any good in me! My desire is to kill Indians, not preach to
them, Jim. I'm glad to see you; but I wish you hadn't come. This
wild frontier is no place for a preacher."

"I think it is," said Jim, quietly.

"What of Rose--the girl you were to marry?"

Joe glanced quickly at his brother. Jim's face paled slightly as he
turned away.

"I'll speak once more of her, and then, never again," he answered.
"You knew Rose better than I did. Once you tried to tell me she was
too fond of admiration, and I rebuked you; but now I see that your
wider experience of women had taught you things I could not then
understand. She was untrue. When you left Williamsburg, apparently
because you had gambled with Jewett and afterward fought him, I was
not misled. You made the game of cards a pretense; you sought it
simply as an opportunity to wreak your vengeance on him for his