The men halted, stared dubiously, and finally, seeing that the quarrel was over, they went back whence they had come. "Let's step over here," Saunders proposed; and he led the way to the railway blacksmith's shop, now closed and unlighted. In the shadow of its smoky wall they faced each other again. "You said--" Drake began, "you said--" "I said she was innocent of the foul charge you are making against her," Saunders said, sharply. "You are a crazy man, Drake. You tried to kill me back there, although I am bent on befriending you and your daughter. She is as sweet and pure as the angels in heaven." "I--I know more than you do. Ann said--" "Yes, I know what the child said," Saunders retorted. "And if you had been the right sort of a father you would not have acted on such slight evidence. Dolly is in this plight simply because she saved you--" "Saved _me?_ What the hell--" "Yes, she saved you from arrest and imprisonment as a moonshiner. The whistle Ann heard was not a signal from Mostyn. It was Tobe Barnett, who had come to warn her of your danger. She did meet Mostyn that night, but it was by accident, and not appointment. Dolly could have explained it all to Ann, but she did not want the child to know of your connection with that gang. Now you've got the whole thing, Drake." The mountaineer stared, his mouth open; the sinews of his face were drawn into distortion. "You say--you tell me--you say--" "That's the whole thing," Saunders said. "Now let's go home. Dolly deserves a humble apology from you--you ought to get down on your knees to her and beg her to forgive you. I know of no other woman like her in this world--none, none, anywhere. She has my admiration, my respect, my reverence." "But--but"--Drake's dead face began to kindle--"Ann said she saw that dirty scamp actually holdin' her in his arms an' kissin' 'er. She said that Dolly made no denial of it, an' now, accordin' to the papers, he's goin' to marry a woman in Atlanta." Saunders's glance sought the ground, his eyes went aimlessly to the two horses nibbling grass near by. "Ah, ha, I see that floors you!" Drake flared out. "You admit that the low-lived scamp did take advantage of our confidence, an'--"