Betty shrank from him, and his hand fell at his side.

He looked at her steadily out of his deep-sunk eyes in which blazed the fires of his passion, and as he looked, her face paled and flushed by turns.

"You may learn to be kind to me, Betty," he said.

"You may find it will be worth your while." Betty made no answer, she only gathered Hannibal closer to her side.

"Why not accept what I have to offer, Betty ?" again he went nearer her, and again she shrank from him, but the madness of his mood was in the ascendant.