se outa old Setliffe, and not to be robbing
women-folks. If you get outa the way, I reckon I can find my own way
out."

Mrs. Setliffe was a keen woman, and she felt that from such a man there
was little to fear. That he was not a typical criminal, she was certain.
From his speech she knew he was not of the cities, and she seemed to
sense the wider, homelier air of large spaces.

"Suppose I screamed?" she queried curiously. "Suppose I made an outcry
for help? You couldn't shoot me?... a woman?"

She noted the fleeting bafflement in his brown eyes. He answered slowly
and thoughtfully, as if working out a difficult problem. "I reckon,
then, I'd have to choke you and maul you some bad."

"A woman?"

"I'd sure have to," he answered, and she saw his mouth set grimly.

"You're only a soft woman, but you see, Miss, I can't afford to go to
jail. No, Miss, I sure can't. There's a friend of mine waitin' for
me out West. He's in a hole, and I've got to help him out." The mouth
shaped even more grimly. "I guess I could choke you without hurting you
much to speak of."

Her eyes took on a baby stare of innocent incredulity as she watched
him.

"I never met a burglar before," she assured him, "and I can't begin to
tell you how interested I am."

"I'm not a burglar, Miss. Not a real one," he hastened to add as she
looked her amused unbelief. "It looks like it, me being here in your
house. But it's the first time I ever tackled such a job. I needed the
money bad. Besides, I kind of look on it like collecting what's coming
to me."

"I don't understand," she smiled encouragingly. "You came here to rob,
and to rob is to take what is not yours."

"Yes, and no, in this here particular case. But I reckon I'd better be
going now."

He started for the door of the dining-room, but she interposed, and a
very beautiful obstacle she made of herself. His left hand went out
as if to grip her, then hesitated. He was patently awed by her soft
womanhood.

"There!" she cried triumphantly. "I knew you wouldn't."

The man was embarrassed.

"I ain't never manhandled a woman yet," he explained, "and it don't come
easy. But I sure will, if you set to screaming."

"Won't you stay a few minutes and talk?" she urged. "I'm so interested.
I should like to hear you explain how burglary is collecting what is
coming to you."

He looked at her admiringly.

"I always thought women-folks were scairt of robbers," he confessed.
"But you don't seem