Cowboys -- Fiction; Montana -- Fiction; Western stories
“Let go all hold,” he said. Reaching suddenly, he caught her around the
waist and pulled her from the saddle, just as Redcloud, scenting danger,
plowed his front feet deeply into the loose soil and stopped dead still.
It was neatly done, and quickly; so quickly that before Beatrice had
more than gasped her surprise, Keith lowered her to the ground and slid
out of the saddle. Beatrice looked at him, and wondered at his face, and
at the way he was shaking. He leaned weakly against the horse and hid
his face on his arm, and trembled at what had come so close to the
girl--the girl, who stood there panting a little, with her wonderful,
waving hair cloaking her almost to her knees, and her blue-brown eyes
wide and bright, and full of a deep amazement. She forgot Goldie, and
did not even look to see what had become of him; she forgot nearly
everything, just then, in wonder at this tall, clean-built young fellow,
who never had seemed to care what happened, leaning there with his face
hidden, his hat far hack on his head and little drops standing thickly
upon his forehead. She waited a moment, and when he did not move, her
thoughts drifted to other things.
“I wonder,” she said abstractedly, “if I broke my kodak.”
Keith lifted his head and looked at her. “Your kodak--good Lord!” He
looked hard into her eyes, and she returned the stare.
“Come here,” he commanded, hoarsely, catching her arm. “Your kodak! Look
down there!” He led her to the brink, which was close enough to set him
shuddering anew. “Look! There's Goldie, damn him! It's a wonder he's
on his feet; I thought he'd be dead--and serve him right. And you--you
wonder if you broke your kodak!”
Beatrice drew back from him, and from the sight below, and if she were
frightened, she tried not to let him see. “Should I have fainted?”
She was proud of the steadiness of her voice. “Really, I am very much
obliged to you, Mr. Cameron, for saving me from an ugly fall. You did it
very neatly, I imagine, and I am grateful. Still, I really hope I didn't
break my kodak. Are you very disappointed because I can't faint away?
There doesn't seem to be any brook close by, you see--and I haven't my
er--lover's arms to fall into. Those are the regulation stage settings,
I believe, and--”
“Don't worry, Miss Lansell. I didn't expect you to faint, or to show any
human feelings whatever. I do pity your horse, though.”
“You didn't a minute ago,” she reminded him. “You indulged in a bit of
profanity, if I remember.”
“For which I beg Goldie's pardon,” he retorted, his eyes unsmiling.
“And mine, I hope.”
“Certainly.”
“I think it's rather absurd to stand here sparring, Mr. Cameron. You'll
begin to accuse me of ingratitude, and I'm as grateful as possible for
what you did. Sir Redmond's horse was too slow to keep up, or he would
have been at hand, no doubt.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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