Francis Worcester Doughty

“ The little word "yes" would be the death-warrant of a living human being—no matter how fallen and wicked, a human being all the same.
To say "yes" would seal the fate of the woman McGinnis now called his wife.
Poor Helen!
She bent her head and hid her face in her hands, and wept bitterly as the closed carriage rolled swiftly onward.
A strange fancy, a love for Helen had taken root in the evil heart of McGinnis.
That it possessed depth was evidenced by his being willing to brave the wrath of the man in whose hands his life rested, provided Helen would become his wife. ”

“ Got any answer for me?"
"Mercy!" gasped Helen. "Anything but that. Pity me—spare me—do not stain your soul with a crime so dreadful as this."
"Yes or no, plain," growled McGinnis. "Come now, speak up right sharp and don't waste any time in palavering. Yes or no? And remember, it's your last chance. Say 'yes,' and yer gits McGinnis for a husband, McGinnis as is known to be one of the sharpest and best men on a 'lay' in the country. Say 'no,' and you're done for. Into the mad-house you'll go, never to come out until you're carried out, feet first." ”

“ She could never marry him, after he had imbrued his hands in the blood of the woman he now called his wife. She could never have married him anyhow. Better the mad-house, better death itself, than that. ”