If he could locate a small boat on the beach back of Obadiah's; if he could in some way lure Marion to it--He gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of using force upon the girl at his side, at the thought of her terror of those first few moments, her struggles, her broken confidence.

She believed in him now.

She believed that he loved her.

She trusted him.

The warm soft pressure of her hand as it clung to his arm in the blackening gloom of the forest was evidence of that trust.