The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-01-02

| lQeal-G was only Sne t0aD was nOJ
heroine Perhaps if he had been more
like what she wished she would have felt
this less kneenly; love makes little room
for the exercise of moral ethics. So Miss
Amy Forester, being good girl at bottom,
and not exactly loving this man, felt to-
ward him frank and tender consideration
which more romantic person would have
shrunk from showing. Consequently, when
| Tenbrook entered moment later, he found
Amy paler and more thoughtful, but, as
he fancied, much prettier than before,
looking up at him with eyes of the SINGER
est solicitude.
Nevertheless, he remained standing near
the door, as if indicating possible intru-
sion, his face wearing lock Of lowering
abstraction. 1t struck her that this
might be the effect of his long hair and
general uncouthness, and this only spurred
her to a fuller recognition of his other
qualities
Il am afraid, she began with a
charming embarrassment, that instead of
resting satisfied with your Kindness in
carrying me up here, [ will have to bur-
den you again with my dreadful weakness,
and ask you to carry me down also. But
all this seems so little after that you have
just done--and for which | can never,
never hope to thank you p She clasped
her two little hands together, holding her
gloves between, and brought them down
upon her lap in GESTURE as prettily help
less as it was unaffected.
II have done scarcely anything, he
said, glancing away toward the fire, sand
your father has thanked me.
'.You have saved my life
''No no = he said ''Not that
You were in no danger, except from my
rife, had l missed y
II see, she said eagerly, with little
posthumous thrill Of having been after all
kind of heroine, and it was wonder
full shot, for you were so careful not to
touch me-
PLEASE don't t say any more, he said,
with slight movement of half awkward
ness, half impatience. 1t was rough
Job, but it over.
He stopped and chafed his red hands
abstractedly together. She could see
that he had evidently just washed them
and the glaring ring was more in evidence
than ever. But the thought gave her an
inspiration.
s'YoulI at least let me shake hands
with you r she said, extending both her
own with childish frankness.
''Hold on, Miss Forester" he said,
with sudden desperation. 1t amt the
square thing Look here can t play
this thing on you-I can't let you play it
on me any longer You wasn't in any
danger-you never were That bear
was only half-wild thing l helped to r ar
myself It's taken sugar from my hand
night after night at the door of this cabin
as it might have taken it from yours here
if it was alive now 1t slept night after
night in the brush, not fifty yards away.
The morning never came yet-till now,
he said, hastily, to cover an odd break in
his voice, ''when it didn' brush along the
whole side of this cabin to kinder wake me
up and say SO long afore it browsed away
into the canon. There amt man along
the whole Divide who didn't know it;
thar ain man along the whole Divide
| that would have drawn bead or pulled a
trigger on it till now It never had an
enemy but the bees; it never even knew
why horses and cattle were frightened OF
it. It wasn't much of a pet, you d say,
Miss Forester; it WASH much to meet a
lady's eve; but we of the woods must take
our friends where we find EN-, and Of our
own kind. 1t ain no fault of yours what
happened but when it comes to your
thanking me for it, why, it's rather rough
you are-and gets me. = He stopped
short as desperately and as abruptly as he
had begun, and stared blankly at the fire.
A wave of pity and shame swept over
the young girl and left its high tide on hel
cheek. But even then it was closely fol-
lowed by the feminine instinct OF defence
and defiance. The real hero-the gentle
man-she reasoned bitterly, would have
spared her this knowledge.
''But why she said, with knitted
brows, why, if you knew it was so pre-
cious and so harnless-why did you fire
upon it p
because, he said, almost fercely
turning upon her, 'because you screamed,
and then / knew it had frightened you 7
He stopped instantly, as she momentarily
recoiled from him, but the very brusquenes'
of his action had dislodged tear from hi
dark eyes that fell warm on the back O
her hand and seemed to blot out the indig
nity. sG4isten, miss, he went on hur
riedly, as if to cover up his momentary
unmanliness, Il knew the bear was missing
tonight, and when | heard the horse
skerrying about | reckined what was up
/ knew no harm would come to you TO
the horses were embarrassed and ava,
from the wagon. pelted down tha
trail ahead of them all like grim death
calkilatin' to get there before the bear
they wouldn't have understood me; wa
too high up to call to the creature whel
he did come out, and | kinder hoped yol
wouldn see him. Even when he turnet
toward the wagon knew it WASH you h
was after, but suthin else, and | kinde
hoped, Miss, that you being different an'
quicker minded than the rest, would see
too. All the while them folks were yellin
behind me to fire. as if | didn't know N,
work. | was halfway down, and the
you screamed, And then ! forgot every
) thing, everything but standing clear 0
hitting you, and | fired / was tina
savage that I wanted to believe that he
gone mad and would have touched you, I'll
got down there and found the honey-po
lying alongside of him. But there, it
all over now | wouldn't have let on
word to you only couldn't bear to tax
your thanks for it, and | couldn't bear t
, have you thinking me brute for dodgin
them He stopped, walked to the fire
leaned against the chimney under th
shallow pretext of kicking the dull ember
/ into blaze, which, however, had onl
the effect Of revealing his two glistenin
eyes as he turned back again and came to
ward her. "Well, he said, with an in
effectual laugh, it's all over now, and
were all in the days work, | reckon-an
; | xo.- N.e- .P xro,,f ,ao1xr ond mill iuo