Pagina 53 di 439

She had had, to be sure, one stinging shame, but it had been

buried in far-away Arizona, quite beyond the ken of the

convention-bound people of the little Wisconsin town where she

dwelt. But within the past twelve hours Fate had taken hold of

her with both hands and thrust her into Life. She sensed for the

first time its roughness, its nakedness, its tragedy. She had

known the sensations of a hunted wild beast, the flush of shame

for her kinship to this coarse ruffian by her side, and the shock

of outraged maiden modesty at kisses ravished from her by force.

The teacher hardly knew herself for the same young woman who but

yesterday was engrossed in multiplication tables and third

readers.

A sinister laugh from the man beside her brought the girl back to

the present.