In an hour they had come to the top of a ridge, and Thornton stopped,
tossing his saddle to the ground. He had not once spoken since they left
the Harte place. Now with quick fingers he made his cigarette. She
stopped a dozen paces from him, and though one would have said that she
was not looking at him, saw the flare of his match, glimpsed the hard
set lines of his face, and knew that he would not speak until she had
spoken. And the lines of her own face grew hard, and she turned away
from him, feeling a quick spurt of anger that she had so much as looked
at him when he had not turned his eyes upon her. He smoked his
cigarette, swept up saddle and bridle, and moved on, striking over the
ridge and down upon the other side.
It was perhaps ten minutes later when she saw, far off to the left, the
glimmer of a light, lost it through the trees, found it again and knew
that it told of some habitation. They came abreast of a branch trail,
leading toward the lighted window; the girl's eager eyes found it
readily, and then noted that Thornton was passing on as though he had
seen neither light nor trail. She spoke hurriedly, saying:
"Isn't that the place? Where the light is?"
"No," he told her colourlessly and without turning. "That's the Henry
place. We're going on to Smith's."
"Why don't we stop here? It's nearer. And I'm tired."
"We can stop and rest," he replied. "Then we had better go on. It's not
very much further now."
"But why not here?" she cried insistently in sudden irritation that upon
all matters this man dictated to her and dictated so assuredly. "One
place is as good as another."
"This one isn't, Miss Waverly. There's a tough lot here, and there are
no women among them. So we'll have to make it to Smith's. Do you want to
rest a while?"
"No," she cried sharply. "Let's hurry and get it over with!"
He inclined his head gravely and they went on. And again her anger rose
against this man who seemed over and over to wish to remind her that he
was a gentleman. As though she had forgotten any little incident
connected with him!
Again they made their way through lights and shadows, down into ragged
cuts in the hills, over knolls and ridges, through a forest where
raindrops were still dripping from the thick leaves and where she knew
that without him she never could have found her way. And not once more
did they speak to each other until, unexpectedly for her, they came out
of the wood and fairly upon a squat cabin with a light running out to
meet them through the square of a window.
"Smith's place," he informed her briefly.
Already three dogs had run to meet them, with much barking and simulated
fierceness, and a man and a woman had come to the door.
"Hello," called the man. "Who is it?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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