There was much here he did not understand; there was something here he did--even better than Allston. It was clear to him that the pink-cheeked fool had some one now in whom he was more interested than in Roxie. If he went to Roxie and told her this--reported how he had seen Allston hold Wilmer Howe’s hand and heard him speaking his school-taught talk to her up here alone in the cove--she might change her mind about this stranger. If he knew Roxie she would turn against the man as quickly as she had turned to him. She would hate him with as black a hate as he did. She would see him as he was. Bud was not much given to diplomacy nor to much fine reasoning, but here was a suggestion that appealed to him. It was based first of all upon the idea of self-protection which in turn went back to his new-found zest in life. He wanted to live and he did not mean to take any unnecessary chances. With everything in his favor, a man who has killed is not in as secure a position as a man who has not killed. There is always the danger that something unforeseen may happen. The officers had rounded up Roge Enfield after he knifed Pete Calhoun in spite of every effort made to protect him. Allston might get out of this country at once as he had hinted to Wilmer Howe, or he might stay long enough to marry this woman. He’d be going, anyhow, before winter. And either way he’d be leaving Roxie forever. He’d be leaving Roxie just as soon as Bud could get word to her of what he had seen. Bud lowered his gun. It was too bad to miss a dead-sure thing like this, but the new plan was worth trying. If it was not as satisfactory in many ways as shooting, it was safer. When Bud took his first careful step back through the bushes, it marked a significant stage in his development. For the first time in his life he had allowed Reason to dictate to passion. His impulse still was to kill. In not obeying it he was making a real personal sacrifice. And though fundamentally he was governed by selfish motives--perhaps reason makes for selfishness--he was also allowing the interests of another to play a part in his decision. However indirectly, he was considering Roxie to a degree. If his chief concern was with the happiness she would bring him, he was also honestly convinced that it was within his power to bring happiness to her. He was going to allow her to go to the village and buy whatever she wished--calico for dresses, ribbons for her hair, candy and everything. Within a week he had got his eye on another horse that would be good for her to ride. And he was going to wipe his feet whenever he came into the house. And wash his hands if she insisted upon it. All those hopes contributed towards his desire to live--made him willing to give up his desire to kill when this conflicted with those other interests.