"You mean when I'm dressed as a chief on the warpath? Well, you said
you'd be keen about me this way; so here I am. I tried all the white
methods I knew to win you and failed. Now the only thing left is the
Indian method."

Rhoda moved uneasily.

Kut-le went on:

"As a white man I can no longer pester you. As an Indian I can steal
you and marry you."

Rhoda struggled to make him and his words seem real to her.

"You aren't going to be so absurd as to try to steal me, I hope!" she
tried to laugh.

"That's just what I'm going to do!" answered Kut-le. "If I steal as a
white would steal, I would be caught at once. If I use Apache methods,
no white on earth can catch me."

Rhoda gasped as the Indian's evident sincerity sank in on her.

"But," she pleaded, fighting for time, "you can't want to marry me by
force! Don't you know that I shall grow to loathe you?"

"No! No!" answered the Indian earnestly. "Not after I've shown you
life as I have seen it."

"Nonsense!" cried Rhoda. "Don't you realize that the whole county will