He was silent a moment and looked at her curiously. "I don't know how you 'll take it, but I got a surprise for you—a big one. I 'm shore sorry to admit it, but I ain't th' man you think. I ain't Dick What 's-his-name, though it shore ain't my fault. I reckon I must look a heap like him; an' I hope I can act like him in this here matter. I want to see it through like he would. I can do as good a job, too. But it ain't no-wise fair nor right to pretend I 'm him. I ain't."
She was staring at him in a way he did not like. "Not Dick Ellsworth!" she gasped. "You are not Dick?"
"I 'm shore sorry—but I 'd like to play his cards. I 'm honin' for to see this here Joe Worth," he nodded, cheerfully.
"And you let me believe you were?" she demanded coldly. "You deliberately led me to talk as I did?"
"Well, now; I didn't just know what to do. You shore was in trouble, which was bad. I reckoned mebby I could get you out of it an' then
