The Border Legion

"You thought I had no nerve," he said. "What do you think of that?" Suddenly Joan was blindly furious. She could have killed him. She had never given him any right, never made him any promise, never let him believe she cared. And he had dared-! The hot blood boiled in her cheeks. She was furious with him, but intolerably so with herself, because somehow those kisses she had resented gave her unknown pain and shame. They had sent a shock through all her being. She thought she hated him. "You-you-" she broke out. "Jim Cleve, that ends you with me!" "Reckon I never had a beginning with you," he replied, bitterly. "It was worth a good deal... I'm not sorry... By Heaven-I've-kissed you!" He breathed heavily.