Her nostrils quivered;she tried to speak again,but her voice was choked with passion.With a sudden movement she snatched her rifle from its place,and the steel flashed in the moonlight and ceased in a shining line straight at the mountaineer's breast.
"Look hyeh,Sherd Raines,"she said,in low,unsteady tones,"Iknow you air religious,'n'I know as how,when y'u give yer word,you'll do what you say.Now,I want ye to hold up yer right hand and sw'ar that you'll never tell a livin'soul that you know whar dad is a-hidin'."Raines did not turn his face,which was as emotionless as stone.
Air ye goin'to sw'ar?"she asked,with fierce impatience.Without looking at her,he began to speak-very slowly:
"Do ye think I'm fool enough to try to gain yer good-will by a-tellin'on yer dad?We were on the mountains,him 'n'me,we seed you 'n'the furriner.Yer dad thought hit was a spy,'n'he whipped up his gun 'n'would 'a'shot him dead in his tracks ef Ihadn't hindered him.
Does that look like I wanted to hurt the 'furriner?I hev knowed yer dad was up in the mountains all the time,'n'I hev been a-totin'things fer him to eat.Does that look like I wanted to hand him over to the law?"The girl had let the rifle fall.Moving away,she stood leaning on it in the shadow,looking down.
"You want to know what call I hev to watch ye,'n'see that no harm comes to ye.Yer dad give me the right.You know how he hates furriners,'n'whut he would do ef he happened to run across this furriner atter he has been drinkin'.I'm a-meddlin'because I hev told him that I am goin'to take keer o'ye,'n'I mean to do it-ef ye hates me fer it.I'm a-watchin'ye,Easter,"he continued,"'n'I want ye to know it.I knowed the furriner begun comm'here cause ye air not like gals in the settlemints.Y'u air as cur'us to him as one o'them bugs an'sich-like that he's always a-pickin'up in the woods.
I hevn't said nuthin'to yer dad,fer fear o'his harmin'the furriner;but I hev seed that ye like him,an'hit's time now fer me to meddle.
Ef he was in love with ye,do ye think he would marry ye?I hev been in the settle-mints.Folks thar air not as we citizens air.They air bigoted 'n'high-heeled,'n'they look down on us.I tell ye,too-'n'hit air fer yer own good-he air in love with somebody in the settlemints.I hev heerd it,'n'I hev seed him a-lookin'at a picter in his room ez a man don't look at his sister.They say hit's her.
"Thar's one thing more,Easter,"he concluded,as he stepped from the porch."He is a-goin'away.I heard him say it yestiddy.What will ye do when he's gone ef ye lets yerself git to thinkin'so much of him now?I've warned ye now,Easter,fer yer own good,though ye mought think I'm a-workin'fer myself.But I know I hev done whut I ought.I've warned ye,'n'ye kin do whut ye please,but I'm a-watchin'ye."The girl said nothing,but stood rigid,with eyes wide open and face tense,as the mountaineer's steps died away.She was bewildered by the confused emotions that swayed her.Why had she not indignantly denied that she was in love with the "furriner"?
Raines had not hinted it as a suspicion.He had spoken it outright as a fact,and he must have thought that her silence confirmed it.
He had said that the "furriner"cared nothing for her,and had dared to tell her that she was in love with him.Her cheeks began to bum.
