When she drew it forth it gripped a naked poniard,
upon the polished blade of which the rays of light flashed with many a
wicked gleam and glint.
"If you do," she repeated, "I will send you after her, Rufus Venner! I
will do even more! I will expose our whole game, and our whole gang!"
"I have said that I shall not betray you, nor will I," cried Venner,
signing for her to put up the weapon. "Yet you were mad, Sanetta. You
had no grounds for such jealousy, no occasion for such a crime."
"I had--and you know it! I told you I would do it."
"Well, you have tried it, at least," growled Venner, forcing a smile to
his gray lips.
"And you dare not betray me," repeated Cervera, thrusting the glittering
weapon within her dress. "I have not failed entirely, Rufe, since it
makes the criminal tie between you and me all the stronger. It binds us
together with links of steel, Rufe, and they are stronger far than any
marriage contract."
"Then you love me like that, eh?"
"You know that I do."
"Yet your infernal jealousy, and your determination to quit this house
and go to the plant with the gang, may yet ruin us all. If Nick Carter
were to get a clew--"
"Bah!" Cervera fiercely interrupted.
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