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肩書を与える: Under the Tonto 縁
Author: Zane Grey
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eBook No.: 0608271h.html
Language:  English
Date first 地位，任命するd: November 2006
Date most recently updated: November 2006

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Under the Tonto 縁

by

Zane Grey

CHAPTER I

Lucy Watson did not leave home without 悔いるs. For a long time she gazed at the 砂漠 scenery through 涙／ほころび-blurred 注目する，もくろむs. But this sadness seemed rather for the past--the home that had been, before the death of her mother and the elopement of her younger sister with a cowboy. This escapade of Clara's had been the last straw. Lucy had clung to the home in the hope she might save her sister from に引き続いて in the footsteps of others of the family. Always she had felt 熱心に the stigma of 存在 the daughter of a saloon-keeper. In her school days she had 苦しむd, under this opprobrium, and had conceived an ideal to help her rise above the circumstances of her position. Clara's deflection had left her 解放する／自由な. And now she was スピード違反 away from the town where she had been born, with an ache in her heart, and yet a slowly 夜明けing consciousness of 救済, of hope, of thrill. By the time she reached Oglethorpe, where she was to take a 支店-line train, she was able to 演説（する）／住所 all her faculties to a realisation of her adventures.

Lucy had 卒業生（する）d from high school and normal school with honours. Of the several 適切な時期s open to her she had chosen one of 福利事業 work の中で backwoods people. It was not 正確に／まさに missionary work, as her 雇用者s belonged to a department of the 明言する／公表する 政府. Her 義務 was to go の中で the poor families of the wilderness and help them to make better homes. The significance of these words had 誘発するd Lucy to make her choice. Better homes! It had been her ideal to help make her own home better, and so long as her mother lived she had 後継するd. The salary 申し込む／申し出d was small, but that did not 原因（となる） her 関心. The fact that she had the 福利事業 department of the 明言する／公表する behind her, and could use to reasonable extent 基金s for the betterment of these 原始の people, was something of far greater importance. When she had 受託するd this position two 発言／述べるs had been made to her, both of which had been thought-刺激するing. Mr. Sands, the 長，率いる of the department, had said: "We would not 信用 every young woman with this work. It is a sort of 明言する／公表する 実験. But we believe in the 権利 手渡すs it will be a 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益 to these uncultivated people of the backwoods. Tact, cleverness, and kindliness of heart will be factors in your success."

Lucy had derived gratification from this indirect compliment. The other 発言／述べる had 誘発するd only Amusement. Mrs. Larabee, also connected with the 福利事業 work, had 発言／述べるd: "You are a good-looking woman, 行方不明になる Watson. You will 原因（となる） something of a 動かす の中で the young men at Cedar 山の尾根. I was there last summer. Such strapping young 巨大（な）s I never saw! I liked them, wild and uncouth as they were. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them married you."

Oglethorpe was a little way 駅／配置する in the 砂漠. The 支店-line train, consisting of two cars and the engine, stood waiting on a 味方する 跡をつける. Mexicans in 抱擁する sombreros and Indians with coloured 一面に覆う／毛布s stolidly watched Lucy carry her 激しい 捕らえる、獲得するs from one train to the other, A young brakeman 遠くに見つけるd her and helped her 船内に, not forgetting some bold and admiring ちらりと見ることs. The coach was only partly filled with 乗客s, and those whom Lucy noticed bore the stamp of the 範囲.

Soon the train started over an uneven and 上りの／困難な roadbed. Lucy began to find 楽しみ in gazing out of the window. The flat 明らかにする 砂漠 had given place to hills, fresh with spring greens. The 空気／公表する had lost the 強い味 of the cattle 範囲. Occasionally Lucy 遠くに見つけるd a 黒人／ボイコット tableland rising in the distance, and this she guessed was 木材／素質d mountain country, whither she was bound.

At noon the train arrived at its 終点 stop, San Dimas, a hamlet of flat-roofed houses. Lucy was 利益／興味d only in the 行う／開催する／段階-coach that left here for her 目的地, Cedar 山の尾根. The young brakeman again （機の）カム to her 援助 and carried her baggage. "Goin' up in the 支持を得ようと努めるd, hey?" he queried curiously.

"Yes, I think they did say 支持を得ようと努めるd, backwoods," laughed Lucy. "I go to Cedar 山の尾根, and さらに先に still."

"All alone--a pretty girl!" he exclaimed gallantly. "For two cents I'd throw up my 職業 an' go with you."

"Thank you. Do you think I need a--a protector?" replied Lucy.

"の中で those bee hunters an' white-mule drinker I reckon you do, 行方不明になる."

"I imagine they will not be any more dangerous than cowboys on the 範囲--or brakemen on trains," replied Lucy, with a smile. "Anyway, I can take care of myself."

"I'll bet you can," he said admiringly. "Good luck."

Lucy 設立する herself the 単独の 乗客 in the 行う／開催する／段階-coach and soon bowling along a good road. The driver, a 天候-beaten old man, appeared to have a grudge against his horses. Lucy 手配中の，お尋ね者 to climb out in 前線 and sit beside him, so that she could see better and have 適切な時期 to ask questions about the country and the people. The driver's language, however, was hardly 役立つ to nearer 知識; therefore Lucy 抑制するd her inquisitive 願望（する）s and 利益／興味d herself in the changing nature of the foliage and the 時折の vista that opened up between the hills.

It seemed impossible not to wonder about what was going to happen to her; and the clinking of the harness on the horses, the rhythmic （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 of their hoofs, and the roll of wheels all augmented her sense of the 出発 from an old and unsatisfying life toward a new one fraught with endless hopes, dreams, 可能性s. Whatever was in 蓄える／店 for her, the worthy 動機 of this work she had 受託するd would 支持する her and keep her true to the ideal she had 始める，決める for herself.

The only 指示／教授／教育s given Lucy were that she was to go の中で the families living in the backwoods between Cedar 山の尾根 and what was called the 縁 激しく揺する and to use her abilities to the best advantage in teaching them to have better homes. She had not been 限られた／立憲的な to any method or 制限するd in any sense or 妨害するd by any church or society. She was to use her own judgment and 報告（する）／憶測 her 進歩. Something about this work 控訴，上告d tremendously to Lucy. The 責任／義務 重さを計るd upon her, yet 刺激するd her instinct for 衝突. She had been given a hint of what might be 推定する／予想するd in the way of difficulties. Her success or 失敗 would have much to do with 未来 開発 of this 明言する／公表する 福利事業 work. Lucy 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd just how much these 孤立するd and poor families might 伸び（る） or lose through her. Indeed, though beset by humility and 疑問, she felt that a glorious 適切な時期 had been 現在のd to her, and she called upon all the courage and 知能 she could 召喚する. There was little or nothing she could 計画（する） until she got の中で these people. But during that long ride through the lonely hills, up and ever 上向き into higher country, she 労働d at what she conceived to be the 初期の step toward success--to put into this work all her sympathy and heart.

Presently she plucked up spirit enough to 演説（する）／住所 the 行う／開催する／段階 driver.

"How far is it to Cedar 山の尾根?"

"Wal, some folks calkilate it's 一連の会議、交渉／完成する twenty-five miles, then there's tothers say it's more," he drawled. "But I don't agree with nary of them."

"You would know, of course," said Lucy appreciatingly. "How far do you call it?"

"Reckon aboot twenty miles as a crow 飛行機で行くs an' shinnyin' 一連の会議、交渉／完成する forty on this 上りの／困難な road."

Lucy felt rather bewildered at this reply, and did not 危険 incurring more 混乱. She was sure of one thing, however, and it was that the road assuredly 負傷させる 上りの／困難な. About the middle of the afternoon as 行う／開催する／段階 reached the 首脳会議 of what appeared rolling upland country, grassy in patches and brushy in others, and stretching away toward a bold 黒人／ボイコット mountain level with a 禁止（する）d of red 激しく揺する 向こうずねing in the sun. Lucy gazed 西方の across a wide 不景気, grey and green, to a 範囲 of ragged 頂点（に達する）s, notched and sharp, with shaggy slopes. How wild and different they seemed to her! さらに先に south the 砂漠 mountains were stark and 恐ろしい, denuded 激しく揺する surfaces that glared inhospitably 負かす／撃墜する upon an 観察者／傍聴者. But these mountains seemed to call in wild abandon. They stirred something buoyant and thrilling in Lucy. 徐々に she lost sight of both 範囲s as the road began to 勝利，勝つd 負かす／撃墜する somewhat, 妨害するing her 見解（をとる）. Next to 利益／興味 her were clearings in the 小衝突, fields and 盗品故買者s and cabins, with a few cattle and horses. Hard as she peered, however, Lucy did not see any people.

The 行う／開催する／段階 driver made 急速な／放蕩な time over this rolling country, and his horses trotted swingingly along, as if home and 料金d were not far off. For Lucy the day had been tiring; she had exhausted herself with unusual sensation. She の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs to 残り／休憩（する） them and fell into a doze. Sooner or later the 行う／開催する／段階 driver awoke her.

"Say, 行方不明になる, there's Cedar 山の尾根, an' thet green hill above is what gives the town its 指名する," he said. "It's a good ways off yit, but I reckon we'll pull in aboot dark."

Lucy's 注目する，もくろむs opened upon a wonderful valley, just now coloured by sunset 煙霧. A cluster of cottages and houses nestled under a magnificent sloping 山の尾根, billowy and soft with green foliage. The valley was pastoral and beautiful. This could not be the backwoods country into which she was going. Lucy gazed long with the most pleasing of impressions. Then her gaze 転換d to the 山の尾根 from which the town derived its 指名する. Far as she could see to east and west it 延長するd, a wild 黒人／ボイコット 障壁 to what hid beyond. It appeared to slope higher toward the east, where on the horizon it assumed the 割合s of a mountain.

To Lucy's 悔いる, the winding and 上がるing nature of the road again obscured distant 見解（をとる）s. Then the sun 始める，決める; twilight appeared short; and soon 不明瞭 settled 負かす／撃墜する. Lucy had never before felt mountain 空気／公表する, but she recognised it now. How 冷淡な and pure! Would the ride never end? She peered through the 不明瞭, hoping to see lights of the village. At last they appeared, 薄暗い pin-points through the blackness. She heard the barking of dogs. The 行う／開催する／段階 wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する a corner of trees, to enter a wide street, and at last to slow 負かす／撃墜する before ぼんやり現れるing flap-topped houses, from which the yellow lights shone.

"行方不明になる, anybody goin' to 会合，会う you?" queried the driver.

"No," replied Lucy.

"Wal, whar shall I 始める，決める you 負かす／撃墜する? 地位，任命する office, 蓄える／店, or hotel?"

Lucy was about to answer his question when he enlightened her by drawling that she did not need to make any choice, because all three places について言及するd were in the same house.

When the 行う／開催する／段階 （機の）カム to a 停止（させる） Lucy saw a high porch upon which lounged the dark forms of men silhouetted against the yellow light of lamps. にもかかわらず the lights, she could scarcely see to gather up her 所持品. To her 救済, the 行う／開催する／段階 driver reached in for her 支配するs.

"Hyar we 空気／公表する--Cedar 山の尾根--last stop--all out," he drawled.

Lucy stepped 負かす／撃墜する hurriedly so that she could stay の近くに to him. The 不明瞭, and the strangeness of the place, with those silent men so の近くに, made her heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 a little quicker. She followed her 護衛する up wide rickety steps, between two lines of men, some of whom leaned closer to peer at her, and into a large room, dimly lighted by a hanging lamp.

"法案, hyar's a party fer you," 発表するd the driver, setting 負かす／撃墜する the baggage. "An', 行方不明になる, I'll thank you fer ten dollars--行う／開催する／段階 fare."

Lucy stepped under the lamp so that she could see to find the money in her purse, and when she turned to 支払う／賃金 the driver she 遠くに見つけるd a tall man standing by him.

"Madam, do you want supper an' bed?" he asked.

"Yes. I am Lucy Watson of Felix, and I shall want room and board, perhaps for a day or two, until I find out where I'm to go," replied Lucy.

He lighted a lamp and held it up so that he could see her 直面する.

"Glad to help you any way I can," he said. "I'm 熟知させるd in these parts. Come this way."

He led her into a hallway, and up a stairway, into a small room, where he placed the lamp upon a washstand. "I'll fetch your baggage up. Supper will be ready in a few minutes."

When he went out Lucy looked first to see if there was a 重要な in the lock on the door. There was not, but she 設立する a bolt, and laughed ruefully at the instant 救済 it afforded.

"I'm a 勇敢に立ち向かう 福利事業 労働者," she whispered to herself scornfully. Then she gazed about the room. Besides the washstand before 公式文書，認めるd it 含む／封じ込めるd a 議長，司会を務める and a bed. The latter looked clean and 招待するing to Lucy. There would be need of the 激しい roll of 一面に覆う／毛布s at the foot. The 冷淡な 空気／公表する appeared to go 権利 through Lucy. And the water in the 投手 was like ice. Before she had やめる made herself ready to go downstairs she heard a bell （犯罪の）一味, and then a 広大な／多数の／重要な trampling of boots and a 捨てるing of 議長，司会を務めるs on a 明らかにする 床に打ち倒す.

"Those men coming in to supper!" she exclaimed. "Bee hunters and white-mule drinkers, that brakeman said!...井戸／弁護士席, if I have to 会合，会う them I--I can stand it now, I guess."

The hall and stairway were so dark Lucy had to feel her way 負かす／撃墜する to the door. She was guided by the loud 発言する／表明するs and laughter in the dining-room. Lucy could not help hesitating at the door. Neither her courage nor her pride could 妨げる the rise of unfamiliar emotions. She was a girl, alone, at the threshold of new life. Catching her breath, she opened the door.

The dining-room was now brightly lighted and 十分な of men sitting at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs. As Lucy entered, the hubbub of 発言する／表明するs 静かなd and a sea of 直面するs seemed to 直面する her. There was a small （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 空いている. Lucy seated herself in one of the two 議長，司会を務めるs. Her feeling of strangeness was not 緩和するd by the attention directed toward her. Fortunately the proprietor approached at once, asking what she would have to eat. When she had given her order Lucy casually looked up and around the room. To her surprise and 救済, 非，不，無 of the young men now appeared to be 利益／興味d in her. They had lean, hard 直面するs and wore dark, rough 着せる／賦与するs. Lucy rather liked their 外見, and she 設立する herself listening to the snatches of conversation.

"Jeff's rarin' to plough 権利 off," said one. "Reckon it'll be plumb boggy," was the reply. And then others of them spoke. "My hoss piled me up this mawnin'," and "Who 空気／公表する you goin' to take to the dance?" and "Lefty March paid what he 借りがあるd me an' I 近づく dropped daid," and "Did you-all hear about Edd Denmeade makin' up to Sadie again, after she dished him once?" and "Edd's shore crazy fer a wife. Wants a home, I reckon."

The talk of these young men was homely and 天然のまま. It held a 支配的な 公式文書，認める of humour. Probably they were as fun-loving as the riders of the low country. Lucy had 推定する／予想するd to be approached by some of them or at least to hear witticisms at her expense. But nothing of the 肉親，親類d happened. She was the only woman in the room, and she might not have been there at all, for any attention she received. Something of 尊敬（する）・点 was 軍隊d from Lucy, yet, woman-like, she 苦しむd a slight pique. Soon her supper （機の）カム, and 存在 hungry she …に出席するd to that.

After supper there was nothing for her to do but to her room. It was 冷淡な and she quickly went to bed. For a while she lay there shivering between the 冷淡な sheets, but presently she grew warm and comfortable. The 不明瞭 appeared pitch-黒人／ボイコット. Distant 発言する／表明するs 侵入するd from the lower part of the house, and through the open window （機の）カム the sound of slow footsteps …を伴ってd by clink of 刺激（する）s. Then from somewhere far off sounded the bay of a hound, and it was followed by the wild bark of a coyote. Both bay and bark struck lonesomely upon her spirit.

Lucy realised that 現実に to experience loneliness, to be really 削減（する） off from family and friends, was vastly different from the thought of it. She had deliberately 厳しいd all 関係. She was alone in the world, with her way to make. A terrible blank sense of 不確定 攻撃する，非難するd her. Independence was wholly 望ましい, but in its first 行う／開催する／段階 it seemed hard. Lucy was not above 涙／ほころびs, and she indulged in a 高級な long unfamiliar to her. Then she cried herself to sleep.

When she awoke the sun was 向こうずねing in upon her. The 空気／公表する was crisp and 冷淡な and bore a fragrance wild and 甘い, new to Lucy. With the 有望な daylight all her courage returned, even to the point of exhilaration. She put on a woollen dress and heavier shoes. The 冷淡な 空気／公表する and water had 大いに 加速するd her 洗面所. When had her cheeks glowed as rosily as now? And for that 事柄, when had her hair been as 反抗的な? But she had no time now to 小衝突 it 適切に, even if her 手渡すs had not been numb. She hurried 負かす／撃墜する to the dining-room. A 支持を得ようと努めるd 解雇する／砲火／射撃 炎d and 割れ目d in the stove, to Lucy's 広大な／多数の／重要な satisfaction. The dining-room was empty. Presently the kitchen door opened and a stout woman entered with a pleasant 迎える／歓迎するing.

"行方不明になる Watson, my husband said we might find somethin' we could do for you," she said kindly.

"Yes, indeed, you may be able to give me （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） I need," replied Lucy.

"I'll fetch your breakfast an' then you can tell me what you want to know."

The proprietor's wife introduced herself as Mrs. Lynn, and appeared to be a motherly person, kindly and 十分な of curiosity. Lucy 率直に explained the nature of the work she was about to 請け負う.

"I think it's a 罰金 idea," 答える／応じるd Mrs. Lynn emphatically. "If only the Denmeades an' the 残り／休憩（する） of them will have it."

"Will they be too proud or--or anything to give me a chance?" asked Lucy anxiously.

"We're all plain folks up here, an' the backwoods families keep to themselves," she replied. "I don't know as I'd call them proud. They're ignorant enough, Lord knows. But they're just backwoods. Like ground-hogs, they stay in their 穴を開けるs."

On the moment the woman's husband （機の）カム in from the street. He appeared to be a gaunt man, pallid, and evidently 苦しむd from a 肺 （民事の）告訴, for he had a hoarse cough.

"法案, come here," called his wife. "行方不明になる Watson has what I think a wonderful 使節団. If it will only work!...She's been 雇うd by the 明言する／公表する 政府 to go の中で our people up here in the backwoods an' teach them things. She has explained to me a lot of things she will do. But in few words it means better homes for those poor people. What do you think about it?"

"Wal, first off I'd say she is a 勇敢な an' 罰金 little girl to take such a 職業," replied Mr. Lynn. "Then I'd say it's good of the 明言する／公表する. But when it comes to what the Denmeades an' the Claypools will think about it I'm up a stump."

"法案, it's such a splendid idea," said his wife 真面目に. "She can do much for the mothers an' children up there. We must help her to get a start."

"I reckon. Now let's see," returned her husband, ponderingly. "If our backwoods 隣人s are only approached 権利 they're 罰金 an' hospitable. The women would welcome anyone who could help them. But the men ain't so 平易な. 行方不明になる Watson, though, bein' young an' nice-lookin', may be able to make a go of it...If she can keep Edd Denmeade or one of them bee hunters from marryin' her!"

Here Lynn laughed good-humouredly and smiled knowingly at Lucy. Mrs. Lynn took the question more 本気で.

"I was goin' to tell her that myself," she said. "But we mustn't give her the wrong impression about our 隣人s. These backwoodsmen are not Bluebeards or Mormons, though they are strong on gettin' wives. They are a clean, hardy, 開拓する people. Edd Denmeade, for instance, now--he's a young man the like of which you won't see often. He's a queer fellow--a bee hunter, wonderful good to look at, wild like them 支持を得ようと努めるd he lives in, but a cleaner, finer boy I never knew. He loves his sisters. He gives his mother every dollar he earns, which, Lord knows, isn't many...Now, 行方不明になる Lucy, Edd like as not will 得る，とらえる you 権利 up an' pack you off an' marry you. That would settle your 福利事業 work."

"But, Mrs. Lynn," 抗議するd Lucy, laughing, "it takes two to make a 取引. I did not come up here to marry anyone. With all 予定 尊敬（する）・点 to Mister Edd's manner of 法廷，裁判所ing, I feel perfectly 有能な of taking care of myself. We can 解任する that."

"Don't you be too sure!" ejaculated Mrs. Lynn bluntly "It's better to be 安全な than sorry!...I ain't above tellin' you, though--if Edd Denmeade really fell in love with you--that'd be different. Edd has been tryin' to marry every 選び出す／独身 girl in the country. An' I don't believe he's been in love with any one of them. He's just woman hungry, as いつかs these backwoodsmen get. That speaks 井戸／弁護士席 for him bein' too clean an' 罰金 to be like many others. An' as to that, Edd is only one of a lot of good boys."

"Thanks for telling me," replied Lucy 簡単に. "Of course I want to know all I can find out about these people. But just now what I need to know is how to get の中で them."

"Mary, I've been thinkin'," spoke up Mr. Lynn, "an' I've an idea. Suppose I call in the 縁 Cabin school-teacher. He's in the 地位，任命する office now--just 棒 in. I reckon he's the one to help 行方不明になる Watson."

"Fetch him in pronto," replied Mrs. Lynn with alacrity; and as her husband went out she continued: "It's Mr. Jenks, the school-teacher. First man teacher ever here. You see, the youngsters at 縁 Cabin school never got much teachin', because whenever a schoolmarm did come one of the boys would up an' marry her. So they're tryin' a man. It's workin' out 罰金, I hear. Mr. Jenks is in this high, 乾燥した，日照りの country for his health, same as my husband. I reckon he wasn't always a school-teacher. Anyway, he's a good Christian man, not young enough to have the girls makin' sheep 注目する，もくろむs at him."

At this juncture Mr. Lynn returned with a slight, stoop-shouldered man whose thin, serious 直面する showed both 苦しむing and benevolence. He was introduced to Lucy, who again, somewhat more elaborately, explained the 推論する／理由 for her presence in Cedar 山の尾根.

He made her a very gallant 屈服する, and seated himself at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, to bend keen, 肉親，親類d blue 注目する，もくろむs upon her.

"You are a 勇敢な young woman," he said, "and if you are sincere these people will take you into their homes."

"No one could be more sincere," replied Lucy, with spirit. "I have 絶対 no 動機 but to do good. I chose this out of a number of positions 申し込む／申し出d me. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 something different--and not 平易な."

"You have 設立する it," he said. "The 適切な時期 is here and it is big. There are a 得点する／非難する／２０ or more of children who might 同様に belong to savages for all the civilisation they get. No doctor when they are sick, no church, no amusement, no pretty things ありふれた to children, no 調書をとる／予約するs or toys--nothing except what little schooling I can give them. They have no school in winter, on account of 天候. I've been here a month. There are twenty-seven pupils in my school, the eldest a boy of nineteen--a man, really--and the youngest a girl of four. They are like a lot of wild Hottentots. But I really think more of them than any children I ever taught. The problem is to 勝利，勝つ them."

"It must be a problem for an 部外者," replied Lucy 本気で.

"I believe they will take more quickly to a girl," he went on. "At least the children and boys will. Your problem will be a different one from 地雷. I'll not dwell on it, lest I discourage you. What's more to the point, I can say as their teacher I've learned a good 取引，協定 about their lives. At first this seemed a 悲劇 to me, but I am learning that a good many of our necessities are not really necessary, after all. These children and young people are really happy. They have few wants because they do not know what more civilised people have in their lives. It is not through sophistication that you will 利益 them. To brighten their surroundings, change the 原始の squalor, teach the children useful things--therein lies your 適切な時期."

"Can you advise me how to start--whom to approach first?" asked Lucy.

"Come with me," replied Mr. Jenks 真面目に. "I'm 運動ing 支援する to-day. I live at Johnson's--five miles 負かす／撃墜する from the 縁 Cabin, which, by the way, is the 指名する of my school. I'll take you up to see 物陰／風下 Denmeade. He lives some miles さらに先に on, up in the 支持を得ようと努めるd under the 縁 激しく揺する. He's probably the most 影響力のある man の中で these backwoodsmen. I rather incline to the opinion that he will like your proposition."

"It's very good of you. Thank you," replied Lucy gratefully. "I am ready now to go with you."

"I'll call for you in an hour," said Mr. Jenks, rising.

After he had gone out Lucy returned to Mrs. Lynn to ask: "I wonder--when he hinted about my problem and said he didn't want to discourage me--did he mean this--this marrying propensity you spoke of?"

"I reckon you 攻撃する，衝突する it plumb," replied Mrs. Lynn 厳粛に, yet with a smile. "It's the only problem you have. You will be a blessin' to them overworked mothers an' a godsend to the children."

"Then--I can stand anything," 再結合させるd Lucy happily, and she ran upstairs to repack the 支配する she had opened. While her 手渡すs were busy her mind was preoccupied, now humorously and then thoughtfully, and again dreamily. She was indeed curious about these backwoods people--真面目に and sympathetically curious. It was impossible not to conjecture about this Edd Denmeade. She made a mental picture of him, not 特に flattering. Poor fellow! So all he 手配中の，お尋ね者 was a wife, any girl he could get. The thought afforded Lucy amusement, yet she felt pity for the lonesome fellow. "I hope to goodness he doesn't run after me!" soliloquised Lucy, suddenly aghast. "I certainly wouldn't marry a backwoodsman--or a cowboy...Pooer little foolish sister! I wonder how soon she'll find out her mistake. That Rex Wilcox was no good...I wish everybody wouldn't make me think of marriage. It'll be a long time until I want to--if ever."

Lucy sighed, dispelled her dreams, and finished her packing, after which she gazed out of the window.

It was かなり longer than an hour before Lucy 設立する herself seated in an old buckboard beside Mr. Jenks, 動揺させるing along a dusty road behind the heels of two big shaggy horses.

But the きびきびした trot soon ended at the base of the 法外な 山の尾根, up which the road zigzagged through a low-支店d 厚い-foliaged forest, remarkable for its fragrance.

"What smells so 甘い?" was one of Lucy's many questions.

"Cedar. Those gnarled trees with the grey sheafs of bark, hanging like 略章s, and the dense 罰金 light-green foliage, are the cedars that give 指名する to the 山の尾根 and village," replied Mr. Jenks. "They are an upland tree, an evergreen. I like them, but not so 井戸／弁護士席 as this more graceful tree with the chequered bark. That's a juniper. See the lilac-coloured berries. They grow 熟した about every two years. And this 抱擁する 一連の会議、交渉／完成する green bush with the smooth red-barked 支店s is manzanita. And that pale green 工場／植物 with the spear-pointed leaves like a century 工場／植物--that's mescal...But perhaps you would be more 利益／興味d to hear about the people."

"Yes. But I love the outdoors and all that grows," replied Lucy enthusiastically. "I've never had a chance to live in the country, let alone in the wilds."

"You may find it too wild, as I did at first," replied the teacher in grim amusement. "I walk from Johnson's to the schools--five miles. I used to see fresh 耐える 跡をつけるs in mud or dust. I seldom see them now, as the 耐えるs have moved up higher. Almost every day I see deer and wild turkey. One night I was late leaving the cabin. It was moonlight. A big grey animal followed me half-way 負かす／撃墜する to Johnson's. I didn't know what it was until next day, but anyhow my hair stood on end."

"And what was it?" queried Lucy.

"A mountain lion," replied Mr. Jenks impressively.

"A lion?" echoed Lucy incredulously. "I didn't know there were lions in this country."

"It was a panther, or cougar. But mountain lion is the proper 指名する. I'll show you his 肌. 物陰／風下 Denmeade put his hounds on the 跡をつける of the beast and killed it. He gave me the 肌...Oh, it'll be wild enough for you. After we get on 最高の，を越す of the 山の尾根 you won't wonder that 耐えるs and lions live there."

Lucy, 存在 an artful 質問者 and 奮起させるing listener, led Mr. Jenks to talk about the people の中で whom she 推定する／予想するd to dwell.

He told how some of his child pupils 棒 their little burros six and eight miles to school; how a slip of a boy （機の）カム on horseback from his home twelve miles away; how いつかs they were 脅すd by wild animals and cattle. He told of the dance that was held at the school-house once every week--how everyone for miles around …に出席するd--babies, children, young people, and grown-ups--and stayed from sundown to sunrise. All of which time the boys and girls danced! It was their one and only time to be together. Distance and hard work 妨げるd the 楽しみ of company. いつかs on a Sunday or a birthday one family would visit another. The girls spent what little leisure they had in sewing. The boys passed their spare time in 追跡（する）ing and fighting.

Mr. Jenks said he had at first been dreadfully 関心d at the たびたび（訪れる） fights. But as these young backwoodsmen appeared to 栄える on it, and seldom were any いっそう少なく friendly for all their 血まみれの 戦う／戦いs, he had begun to get used to it.

So 利益／興味ing was the talk of the school teacher that Lucy scarcely 公式文書，認めるd the tedious miles up the long ascent of the 山の尾根, and was only reminded of distance when he 知らせるd her they were almost on 最高の，を越す and would soon have a magnificent 見解（をとる）. にもかかわらず his 声明, however, Lucy was wholly unprepared for what suddenly burst upon her gaze from the 首脳会議.

"Oh--how glorious!" she cried.

It seemed she gazed 負かす／撃墜する on an endless green slope of 集まりd tree-最高の，を越すs, across a rolling 水盤／入り江 黒人／ボイコット with forest, to a colossal 塀で囲む of red 激しく揺する, level and 黒人／ボイコット fringed on 最高の，を越す, but wildly broken along its 直面する into gigantic cliffs, escarpments, points, and ledges, far as 注目する，もくろむ could see to east or west. How different from any other country Lucy had ever 見解（をとる）d! A strong 甘い breath of pine 攻撃する，非難するd her nostrils. Almost she tasted it. In all the miles of green and 黒人／ボイコット there was not a break. If homes of people 存在するd there, they were lost in the immensity of the forest. An eagle 急に上がるd far beneath her, with the sun 向こうずねing on his wide-spread wings. A faint roar of running water floated up from the depths, and that was the only sound to 乱す the 広大な／多数の／重要な stillness. To one who had long been used to flat 砂漠, the 淡褐色 and yellow barrenness, how fertile and beautiful these miles and miles of rolling green! That wild grand 塀で囲む of 激しく揺する seemed to shut in the 水盤／入り江, to 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 it from what lay beyond. Lastly the loneliness, the 孤独, gripped Lucy's heart.

"We're on 最高の，を越す of Cedar 山の尾根," the school teacher was 説. "That mountain 塀で囲む is called the Red 縁 激しく揺する. It's about thirty miles in a straight line...We're looking 負かす／撃墜する upon the homes of the backwoodsmen you've come to live の中で."

一時期／支部 II

The road 負かす／撃墜する into this forest-land contrasted markedly with the ascent on the other 味方する of the 山の尾根; it was no longer 法外な and dusty; the 国／地域 was a sandy loam; the trees that shaded it were larger and more spreading. Birds, rabbits, and squirrels made their presence known.

Some ferns and mosses appeared on the 辛勝する／優位 of the 支持を得ようと努めるd, and pine trees were interspersed の中で the cedars. Mr. Jenks was nothing if not loquacious, and he 変化させるd his talk with snatches of natural history, bits of botany, and かなりの 植林学. It appeared he had once been a forest 特別奇襲隊員 in one of the Northern 明言する／公表するs. Lucy had a natural かわき for knowledge, something that her 状況／情勢 in life had tended to develop.

They descended to a level and followed the road through pine thickets above which an 時折の 君主 of the forest 後部d itself commandingly. At length they 突然の drove out of the 支持を得ようと努めるd into the first （疑いを）晴らすing. Lucy's thought was--how hideous! It was a 削除する in the forest, a denuded square, with dead trees standing in the brown fields, a rickety 盗品故買者 of crooked 政治家s surrounding a squat スピードを出す／記録につける cabin, with open door and dark window suggestive of vacancy.

"Family 指名するd Sprall once lived here," said Mr. Jenks. "Improvident sort of man. He has a large family, more or いっそう少なく （麻薬）常用者d to white mule. They moved 支援する in some canyon under the 縁."

"I've heard of this white mule," replied. Lucy.

"Of course it's a drink, and I gather that it kicks like a mule. But just what is it?"

"Just plain moonshine whisky without colour. It looks like alcohol. It is alcohol. I once took a taste. 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and brimstone! I nearly choked to death...The people of this 地区 make it to some extent. They raise a 肉親，親類d of 茎 from which they distil the アルコール飲料. But I'm bound to say that seldom indeed do I see a drunken man."

Beyond this 砂漠d （疑いを）晴らすing the road tunnelled into a denser forest where the pungent odour of pine thickly pervaded the atmosphere. The ground was a smooth mat of pine needles, only sparsely grown over with underbrush. Live-oak trees appeared, at first stunted, but 徐々に developing into rugged members of the forest. Noon 設立する the travellers 停止（させる）d beside the first brook, a tiny trickling rill of （疑いを）晴らす water. Lucy was 感謝する for a 冷静な／正味の drink. Mr. Jenks had been thoughtful to 供給する a lunch, of which they partook while sitting in the shade of an oak.

Here Lucy had 適切な時期 to 観察する a small 赤みを帯びた-brown squirrel that was the sauciest little animal she had ever beheld. It 占領するd a 支店 above her and barked in no uncertain 公式文書，認めるs its displeasure and curiosity. Presently its chatter attracted a beautiful crested blue jay that flew の近くに and uttered high-pitched 公式文書，認めるs, wild and 猛烈な／残忍な in their intensity.

"I hope the people here are not as antagonistic as this squirrel and bird," 観察するd Lucy.

"A few of them are--like the Spralls, for instance," replied. Mr. Jenks. "井戸／弁護士席, we still have far to go. I call it five miles from here to Johnson's. You'll say it's five leagues."

If Lucy had not been eager and anxious to 設立する her position securely here in the 地域 she would have revelled in the winding shady road through the green-canopied, sun-flecked forest. Along here it had a かなりの sameness, that 追加するd to the distance. Lucy indeed 設立する the いわゆる five miles almost interminable. About two o'clock Mr. Jenks drove into another （疑いを）晴らすing, somewhat いっそう少なく hideous than the first one, but still a 天然のまま, ragged, unpastoral 肉親，親類d of farm. A wide green field dotted by cows and horses was the only redeeming feature. スピードを出す／記録につける corrals and 政治家 盗品故買者s led the 注目する，もくろむ to a large スピードを出す／記録につける cabin surrounded by shacks old and mouldy roofed, manifestly the first buildings 築くd.

"This is the Johnson place, where I live," said Mr. Jenks, with a smile. "That 枠組み of boards, covered by a テント, is my humble 住所／本籍. Do you know, 行方不明になる Watson, I have 現実に grown to love sleeping out there?...This is Sunday, which means the Johnsons will all be home or all away visiting."

The school teacher drove through an open gate in the スピードを出す／記録につける 盗品故買者, and past a 抱擁する flat barn, dark and odorous of horses, to draw rein at the 支援する of the cabin. "I was wrong. Sam Johnson is home, at least. I don't know the boy with him," said Mr. Jenks as he threw the reins and got 負かす／撃墜する.

"I'd like to walk a little," 再結合させるd Lucy.

"You'll probably walk, and climb, and besides ride horseback, before you're through to-day," replied Mr. Jenks, laughing, as he reached for his 小包s on the seat.

"Oh, that'll be 罰金!" exclaimed Lucy, delighted. And 自然に she gazed over at the young men sitting on the rude porch. They might have been two of the boys she had seen in the dining-room at Cedar 山の尾根.

"Sam, she's a looker," drawled one of them in a perfectly audible 発言する／表明する.

The other stood up, 公表する／暴露するing a tall, lithe form 覆う？ in blue ジーンズs. He had a shock of tousled chestnut hair and a freckled 直面する that on the moment bore a 幅の広い grin.

"Dog-gone me!" he ejaculated. "Teacher has fetched 支援する a wife."

Lucy met the teacher's 注目する，もくろむs. They were twinkling. She could not 抑制する a laugh, yet she felt a blush rise to her 直面する.

"Sam flatters me, 行方不明になる Watson," said Mr. Jenks in a low 発言する／表明する. "But that illustrates."

"They must have this wife 商売／仕事 on the brain," retorted Lucy, half nettled.

The teacher called to the young man, Sam, who approached leisurely, a young 巨大（な） somewhere over twenty years of age, clean-注目する，もくろむd and smooth-直面するd.

"Howdy, teacher!" he drawled, but his light hazel 注目する，もくろむs were 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on Lucy.

"This is Sam Johnson," spoke up Mr. Jenks, turning to Lucy. "Sam, 会合，会う 行方不明になる Lucy Watson of Felix. She has come to sojourn awhile with us."

"権利 glad to 会合，会う you," said Sam, somewhat shyly.

"Thank you, Mr. Johnson," replied Lucy.

"Sam, will you saddle two horses for us? I'm taking 行方不明になる Watson up to Denmeade's," interposed Mr. Jenks.

"Shore will, teacher," 再結合させるd Sam, and moved away with sidelong ちらりと見ること at Lucy.

"Have you any riding 着せる／賦与するs?" 問い合わせd Mr. Jenks, as if suddenly reminded of something important.

"Yes. I was careful not to forget outdoor things," replied Lucy.

"Good! I'll carry your 支配するs to my テント where you can change. Of course we'll have to leave your baggage here until we interview Denmeade. If all goes 井戸／弁護士席 it can be packed up to-night."

The 内部の of Mr. Jenks's abode was vastly more prepossessing than the exterior. It was such an attractive little place that Lucy decided she 手配中の，お尋ね者 one 類似の to it, for the summer at least. The furnishings 含むd a comfortable-looking cot, a washstand with mirror above, a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, 調書をとる／予約するs, lamp, and pictures. Several 肌s, 顕著に a long grey furry one she took to have belonged to the lion Mr. Jenks had について言及するd, served as rugs for the rude board 床に打ち倒す. A picture of a 甘い, sad-looking woman 占領するd a 目だつ place. Lucy wondered if she was his wife.

It did not take her many minutes to get into her riding 着せる／賦与するs. Fortunately they had seen a service which now appeared likely to serve her in good stead. At normal school Lucy had ridden horseback once a week, and felt that she was not altogether a tenderfoot. Finding her gauntlets, she had the forethought to pack her travelling 控訴, so that in 事例／患者 she remained at Denmeade's her baggage could be sent for. Then, with a last and not unsatisfied ちらりと見ること at herself in the mirror, she sallied 前へ／外へ from the テント, keen for this next 行う／開催する／段階 of her adventure.

A glossy, spirited little bay pony stood there saddled and bridled, champing his bit. Another horse, dusty and shaggy, large in build and very bony, was haltered to the hitching rail 近づく by. Mr. Jenks was lacing something on the saddle of the smaller horse. Sam Johnson lounged beside him and the other fellow had approached. He did not appear so tall or so lean as young Johnson.

Lucy felt uncertain how these backwoodsmen would take her rather 削減する and natty riding 控訴, but as she knew she looked 井戸／弁護士席 it gave her no 広大な／多数の／重要な 関心. She had made up her mind to 勝利，勝つ the liking of all these people, if possible.

"What a pretty pony!" she exclaimed. "Am I to ride him, Mr. Jenks?"

"Yes--if you can," returned the teacher dubiously as he looked up from his 仕事. "I 保証する you he is no pony, but a very mettlesome mustang."

"Aw, teacher, Buster's as gentle as a lamb," 抗議するd Sam. Then, 示すing his companion by a sweep of his long arm, he said, "行方不明になる Lucy, this here is my cousin, Gerd Claypool."

Lucy had to give her 手渡す to the brown-直面するd young man, for he had 延長するd a 広大な／多数の／重要な paw. She liked his 直面する. It was rich and warm with healthy 血, and expressive of both 切望 and bashfulness. Lucy was not going to forget his 発言／述べる, "Sam, she's a looker!" and she gazed as demurely as possible into his blue 注目する，もくろむs. It took only one ちらりと見ること to 納得させる her that he was of the type Mrs. Lynn had 賞賛するd so heartily. Lucy also saw that he was やめる 打ち勝つ.

"Mettlesome mustang?" echoed Lucy, gazing from Mr. Jenks to Sam. "Does that mean anything terrible? I 保証する you I'm no cowgirl."

Sam's shrewd 注目する，もくろむs sought her boots and then her gauntlets. "Wal, you're shore no stranger to a hoss. Buster isn't a bronc. He's never pitched with a girl yet. Talk to him some an' pat him as if you'd no idea a hoss could be mean."

Lucy did as she was bidden, 首尾よく hiding her nervousness; and it appeared that Buster did not show any viciousness or 恐れる. He had a keen, dark 注目する，もくろむ, somewhat fiery, but not at all 猛烈な／残忍な. As he was a small horse, Lucy 機動力のある him easily, to her satisfaction.

"How's the length of your stirrups?" asked Mr. Jenks.

"Just 権利, I think," replied Lucy, standing up in them.

"Wal, I reckon they're a little long--I mean short," drawled Sam, approaching.

Lucy was quick to しっかり掴む the guile in this young gentleman of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. He was as （疑いを）晴らす as an インチ of 水晶 water. She しっかり掴むd just as quickly the fact that she was going to have a good 取引，協定 of fun with these boys. Sam knew her stirrups were all 権利; what he 手配中の，お尋ね者 was a chance to come の近くに to her while she was in the saddle. It was an old cowboy trick.

"Thanks, I'm very comfortable," she said, smiling at him.

一方／合間 Mr. Jenks had 機動力のある and turned his horse toward the road.

"I never 棒 this nag," he said. "Come now, 行方不明になる Watson."

"Teacher, look out she doesn't run off from you," called Sam as they started. His 発言する／表明する was 十分な of mirth. "An', 行方不明になる Lucy, that's shore a 正規の／正選手 hoss you're ridin'."

Lucy turned in the saddle. "I nearly forgot to thank you, Mr. Johnson. It is good of you to let me ride him."

She 設立する Buster rather hard to 持つ／拘留する in. Before she had followed Mr. Jenks many paces she heard Sam blurt out to his cousin, "Gerd, by golly! it's shore 価値（がある） a lot to have Edd Denmeade see that girl ridin' my best hoss."

"Haw! Haw!" roared Gerd, and then made a reply Lucy could not distinguish.

Presently she caught up with her guide and together they 棒 out through the corral.

"Mr. Jenks, did you hear what they said?" 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Indeed I did. They're 十分な of the Old Nick, those boys. I'd like to be in your boots, yet again I wouldn't."

"What did he mean by 説 it was 価値（がある） a lot to have Edd Denmeade see me riding his horse?"

"It was a compliment to you, 特に his 強調 on the qualifying adjective before girl," replied the teacher, with a chuckle. "You see, Edd Denmeade seems a superior sort of person to most of the boys. Really he is only 強烈な--a strong, simple, natural character. But the boys don't understand him. And the girls do still いっそう少なく. That is why I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う some have 辞退するd to marry him. Sam now is tickled to have Edd see the very prettiest girl who ever （機の）カム to Cedar 山の尾根 ride up on his horse. Edd will be wild with jealousy."

"Goodness! I'm afraid most girl 訪問者s here have been homely," replied Lucy.

"No, they 港／避難所't been, either," 宣言するd the teacher. "Now, 行方不明になる Watson, we have a mile or so of good sandy road before we 削減（する） off on the 追跡するs. Let's have a gallop. But be sure you don't do what Sam hinted--run off from me. You might get lost."

With that he 勧めるd his 開始する from walk to trot and from trot to gallop. Lucy's horse did not need 勧めるing; he bolted and 発射 負かす／撃墜する the road ahead of Mr. Jenks. Lucy was alarmed at first and 設立する it hard to keep her feet in the stirrups. But soon she caught the swing of the mustang and then a wild impulse 誘発するd her to let him run. How 急速な／放蕩な he sped on under the pines. His gait made the saddle seem like a 激しく揺するing-議長，司会を務める. But she 運ぶ／漁獲高d hard on Buster, obedient to the 解決する she had made--that she would 抑制する herself in all ways. Pulling him to a swinging canter, Lucy took 在庫／株 of pleasant sensations. The 急ぐ through the pine-scented 空気／公表する was exhilarating; soon the 演習 had her 血 dancing all over her; low 支店s of pine tore at her hair; the turns of the winding road through the 支持を得ようと努めるd allured with their call of strange new scenes. Rabbits darted ahead of her, across the open, into the pine thickets. At length, some distance ahead she saw where the road forked, and here she brought Buster to a stand. She was tingling, pulsing with heated 血, and felt that she could have cried out with the joy of the moment.

Mr. Jenks （機の）カム galloping up to 停止（させる） beside her. "That was いじめ（る）," he said. "行方不明になる Watson, you need not be ashamed of your riding...We take the left-手渡す road. That to the 権利 goes on to my スピードを出す／記録につける-cabin school. I wish we had time to see it. A little way さらに先に we strike a 追跡する."

Soon after that Lucy was riding behind the teacher along a 狭くする 追跡する that almost at once began to lead downhill. The forest grew denser and the shade became dark and 冷静な／正味の. 激しく揺するs and ledges cropped out of the ground, and all about her appeared to tend toward a wilder and more rugged nature. The dreamy, drowsy hum which filled Lucy's ears swelled to a roar. It （機の）カム from far 負かす／撃墜する through the forest. It was running water, and it thrilled Lucy. How 甘い and welcome this verdant forest to 注目する，もくろむs long used to 砂漠 glare! The 追跡する took a decided pitch, so that Lucy had to 粘着する to the 鞍馬 of her saddle. It led 負かす／撃墜する and 負かす／撃墜する, into a ravine 十分な of mellow roar, 深い, murmuring, mystical, where the 広大な／多数の／重要な trees shut out the sky.

Only faint gleams of sunlight filtered 負かす／撃墜する. They （機の）カム to a 急ぐing brook of amber water, brawling and 泡，激怒することing over 激しく揺するs, 涙／ほころびing around 抱擁する mossy 玉石s, and gleaming on 負かす／撃墜する a wild defile, 暗い／優うつな with its 影をつくる／尾行するs.

The horses stopped to drink and then forded the brook, 衝突，墜落ing on the 激しく揺するs, 急落（する），激減（する）ing on to splash the water ahead. Lucy had a touch of that 甘い 冷淡な water on her 直面する. On the other 味方する the 追跡する turned up this beautiful glen, and followed the brook, winding in and out の中で 玉石s that ぼんやり現れるd high 総計費. Ferns and flowers 国境d the 追跡する. Maples and birches grew thickly under the stately pines. Lucy became aware of another 肉親，親類d of tree, the most wonderful she had ever seen, 抱擁する-trunked, 厚い with drooping foliage, and 解除するing its proud 高さ spear-形態／調整d to the sky. Her guide 知らせるd her that this tree was a silver spruce, which 指名する seemed singularly felicitous.

Again they forded the brook, to Lucy's mingled 狼狽 and delight, and after that so many times that she forgot them and also her 恐れるs. The forest became a grand 寺. Higher towered the forest patriarchs, two hundred feet and more above her 長，率いる, mingling their foliage in a lacy canopy, like a green 隠す against the blue. She caught a glimpse of wild, sleek, grey creatures bounding as on rubber 脚s into the 小衝突. Deer!

At last the 追跡する led out of the fragrant glen and zigzagged up a slope, to the 乾燥した，日照りの forest of pines, and on and 上向き, さらに先に and higher until Lucy felt she had 上がるd to the 最高の，を越す of a mountain. She lost the mellow roar of the brook. The woodland changed its 面, grew hot with dusty 追跡する and 厚い with manzanita, above which the yellow-barked pines reached with 広大な／多数の／重要な gnarled 武器. Open places were now たびたび（訪れる）. Once Lucy saw a red 塀で囲む of 激しく揺する so high above her that she gasped in astonishment. That was the Red 縁 激しく揺する, seemingly so closer though yet far away. Lucy became conscious of aches and 苦痛s. She 転換d from 味方する to 味方する in the saddle, and favoured this foot, then the other. Often she had to 勧める Buster on to catch up with her guide.

Suddenly she turned a corner of the brushy 追跡する to ride out into a （疑いを）晴らすing. 明らかにする brown earth, 恐ろしい dead pines, like spectres, seemed to 解除する her gaze to where, sky-high, the red 塀で囲む heaved, bold, strange, terrific, yet glorious with its ジグザグの 直面する 炎ing in the hues of sunset, and its 黒人／ボイコット-fringed 栄冠を与える wandering away as if to the ends of the earth.

Strangely then into her mind flashed a thought of this backwoods boy whose 指名する had been on the lips of everyone she had met. Born under that colossal 塀で囲む! All his life in this forest and 激しく揺する 孤独! Lucy could not help but wonder what manner of man he was. She resented an involuntary 利益／興味. The 軍隊 of a personality had been thrust upon her. It was feminine intuition that 原因（となる）d her, unconsciously, to 防備を堅める／強化する herself by roused antagonism.

Mr. Jenks pointed to a little rough grey house, half スピードを出す／記録につける, half 石／投石するs, that 支配するd the （疑いを）晴らすing. "Denmeade built it twenty-three years ago," said the teacher. "He and his wife walked up here, from no one knows where. They had a burro, a cow, a gun, and an axe, and some dogs. They homesteaded this section. He has five girls and four boys, all born in that little one-room hut. Edd is the oldest--he's twenty-two. Last year they built やめる a 罰金 スピードを出す／記録につける cabin, up in the 支持を得ようと努めるd beyond the fields. You can't see it from here."

The surroundings seemed fitting for such heroic people as these Denmeades.

"They may be backwoodsmen," 宣言するd Lucy, 発言する／表明するing her thought, "but I'd call them 開拓するs. Which is to say real Americans."

"行方不明になる Watson, I like that," replied the teacher 温かく. "You have gotten the significance. These people are 広大な／多数の／重要な."

Over against that impulsive impression Lucy had the crudeness of the scene to …に反対する it. She was intelligent enough to 受託する crudeness as a part of 開拓する life. It could not be さもなければ. But she gazed over the 削除する 削減（する） in the forest, and 設立する it 欠如（する）ing in anything she could admire. The Red 縁 激しく揺する and the encircling belt of mighty green were facts of nature. This space of 明らかにする ground with its 恐ろしい dead trees, its 廃虚d old hut, its uncouth shacks of boards and 政治家s, its pigs やじ around, its utter 欠如（する） of what 構成するd her idea of a farm, somehow did not seem to harmonise with the noble 開拓する spirit. Lucy hesitated to make this impression 永久の. She did not like the look of this place, but she was 幅の広い-minded enough to wait. She hoped she would not find these people lazy, shiftless, dirty, 存在するing in squalid surroundings. Yet she 恐れるd that would be 正確に／まさに what she would find.

The 追跡する led along a patchwork 盗品故買者 of 政治家s and sticks, here rotting away and there carelessly mended by the throwing of an untrimmed 支店 of tree. At the corner of the 抱擁する field snuggled the rude shacks she had seen from afar, all the worse for nearer 見解（をとる）. They 棒 between these and a 一連の会議、交渉／完成する スピードを出す／記録につける corral, 十分な of pigs of all sizes, and from which （機の）カム an unbearable stench. Some of the hogs were stuck in the mud. Lucy saw some tiny baby pigs, almost pink, with funny little curly tails, and sight of these gave her 予期しない 楽しみ. So she experienced two extremes of feeling in passing that point.

From there the 追跡する led through an uncared-for orchard of peach trees, into a 狭くする 小道／航路 削減（する） in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. The pines had been left where they had fallen, and lay brown and seared in the 絡まる of green. This 小道／航路 was 十分な of stumps.

"You 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる why we needed horses to get here, don't you?" 問い合わせd Mr. Jenks.

"Indeed I do!" replied Lucy.

"Denmeade said he'd never live in a place where wheels could go. I rather sympathise with that spirit, but it is not one of a 進歩／革新的な 農業者. I dare say you will have it to 戦闘."

The 小道／航路 descended into a ravine, where （疑いを）晴らす water ran over 石／投石するs that rang hollow under the hoofs of the horses. Lucy saw cows and calves, a very old sheep, woolly and dirty, and a wicked-looking steer with wide sharp horns. Lucy was glad to get 安全に past him. They 棒 up again, into a wider 小道／航路, at the end of which showed a long cabin, somewhat obscured by more peach trees. A column of blue smoke curled up against the background of red 塀で囲む. A 盗品故買者 of 分裂（する） boards surrounded the cabin. A （土地などの）細長い一片 of 支持を得ようと努めるd on the 権利 separated this 小道／航路 from the 明らかにする field. Lucy could see light through the pine foliage. The brook meandered 負かす／撃墜する a shallow ravine on this 味方する; and on the other a 深い gully yawned, so choked with dead trees and green foliage and red 激しく揺するs, that Lucy could not see the 底（に届く）. She heard, however, the 落ちる of water.

A dog barked. Then rose a chorus of barks and bays, not in the least a friendly welcome. It 増加するd to an uproar. Lucy began to be conscious of qualms when a loud sharp 発言する／表明する rang out. The uproar 中止するd.

"Hyar, you onery dawgs, shet up!" the 発言する／表明する continued.

Then Lucy saw a tall man 現れる from the peach trees and come to the gate. His garb was dark, his 直面する also at that distance, and they gave a 悪意のある 影響.

"That's Denmeade," whispered Mr. Jenks. "We're lucky. Now, young lady, use your wits."

They 棒 on the few remaining 棒s, and reaching the rude hitching rail in 前線 of the 盗品故買者, they 停止（させる）d the horses. Mr. Jenks dismounted and 迎える／歓迎するd the big man at the gate.

"Howdy, teacher!" he replied in a 深い pleasant drawl.

"罰金, thank you, Denmeade," returned Mr. Jenks as he 延長するd his を引き渡す the 盗品故買者. "I've brought a 訪問者 to see you. This is 行方不明になる Lucy Watson of Felix."

Lucy essayed her most winning smile as she 定評のある the introduction.

"Glad to 会合，会う you, 行方不明になる," 答える／応じるd Denmeade. "Get 負かす／撃墜する an' come in."

Dismounting, Lucy approached the gate, to look up into a visage as rugged as the 激しく揺する 塀で囲む above. Denmeade was not old or grey, though his features showed the 荒廃させるs of years. Lucy had no time to 示す 詳細（に述べる）s. The man's 注目する，もくろむs, grey and piercing as those of an eagle, caught and held her gaze.

"If you please, I'd like to talk to you alone before I go in," she said appealingly.

Denmeade 除去するd the 抱擁する 乱打するd 黒人／ボイコット sombrero, and ran a brawny 手渡す through his 厚い dark hair. The grey 注目する，もくろむs twinkled and a smile changed the craggy nature of his 直面する.

"Wal, seein' as Edd ain't hyar, I reckon I can 危険 it," he drawled.

Mr. Jenks 示唆するd that they sit in the shade; and presently Lucy 設立する herself seated on a stump, 直面するing this curious backwoodsman. He seemed a more approachable person than she had pictured, yet there was something about him, strong, raw, 猛烈な／残忍な, like the wilds in which he lived. Lucy had worried about this coming interview; had schooled herself to a 審議する／熟考する 外交. But she forgot worry and 計画（する）. The man's 簡単 made her sincere.

"Mr. Denmeade, I want a 職業," she 発表するd bluntly.

It was good to see his astonishment and utter incredulity. Such a 状況／情勢 had never before happened in his life. He 星／主役にするd. His seamed visage worked into a wonderful grin.

"Wal, I reckon yo're foolin'," he said, and he turned to Jenks. "Teacher, shore you've hatched some 肉親，親類d of a joke."

"No, Denmeade. 行方不明になる Watson is in earnest," replied the school-teacher.

"Indeed I am," 追加するd Lucy, trying to 抑制する her impulsiveness.

But Denmeade still could not take her 本気で. "Wal, can you chop 支持を得ようと努めるd, carry water, 選ぶ beans, an' hop around lively--say fer a fellar like my Edd?"

"Yes, I could, but that is not the 肉親，親類d of a 職業 I want," returned Lucy.

"Wal, there ain't no other 肉親，親類' of work up hyar fer a woman," he said 本気で.

"Yes, there is...It's to make better homes for the children."

"Better homes! What you mean?" ejaculated Denmeade.

簡潔に Lucy explained some of the ways the homes in the wilderness could be made happier for women and children. Denmeade was profoundly impressed.

"Wal now, young woman, I reckon it's good of you to think of them nice an' pretty ways fer our kids an' their mothers. But we're poor. We couldn't 支払う／賃金 you, let alone fer them things they need so bad."

Lucy's heart throbbed with joy. She knew intuitively that she had struck the 権利 chord in this old backwoodsman. その結果 she produced her papers.

"It's a new thing, Mr. Denmeade," she said 真面目に. "明言する／公表する 福利事業 work. My salary and the expenses I 背負い込む are paid by the 明言する／公表する. It's all here for you to read, and my 言及／関連s."

Denmeade took her papers in his horny 手渡すs and began to read with the laborious and 激しい 使用／適用 of one to whom reading was unfamiliar and difficult. He took long to go over the 簡潔な／要約する typed words, and longer over the personal letter from the superintendent of the 明言する／公表する department that had engaged Lucy. Finally he 吸収するd the 輸入する.

"福利事業! 明言する／公表する 政府! Dog-gone me!" he ejaculated, almost bewildered. "Say, Jenks, what ails them fellars 負かす／撃墜する thar?"

"Perhaps they have just waked up to the needs of this north country," replied the teacher.

"Shore them papers don't read like they had an axe to grind. Reckon it ain't no politics or some trick to make us 支払う／賃金 税金s?"

"Denmeade, they read honest to me, and my advice if you ask it is to 受託する their help."

"Humph! It shore took them a long time to build us a school-house an' send us a teacher. Whar did they ever get this hyar 福利事業 idee?"

"Mr. Denmeade," spoke up Lucy, "I had something to do with this idea. It really developed out of my 申し込む／申し出 to go into 福利事業 work in a civilised 地区."

"Wal, comin' from a gal like you, it ain't hard to 受託する," he 宣言するd, and he 延長するd his 広大な／多数の／重要な brown 手渡す. His grey 注目する，もくろむs flashed with a 軟化するd light.

Lucy placed her 手渡す in his, and as he almost 鎮圧するd it she was at かなりの 苦痛s to keep from crying out. When he 解放（する）d it she felt that it was limp and numb.

"You--you mean it--it's all 権利?" she stammered. "You'll let me stay--help me get started?"

"I shore will," he replied forcefully. "You stay hyar with us as long as you want. I reckon, though, the other four families の近くに by in this high country need you more'n us. Seth Miller's, Hank Claypool's, Ora Johnson's, an' Tom Sprall's."

"行方不明になる Watson, the Ora Johnson he means is a brother of the Sam Johnson you met," interposed Mr. Jenks.

Lucy was too happy to 表明する her 感謝, and for a moment lost her dignity. Her incoherent thanks brought again the 幅の広い grin to Denmeade's 直面する.

"Jenks, come to think about it, thar's angles to this hyar 職業 行方不明になる Lucy is aimin' at," he 発言／述べるd thoughtfully. "She can't do a lot for one family an' slight another. If she stays hyar with us she'll have to stay with the others."

"Of course. That's what I 推定する／予想する to do," said Lucy.

"Wal, 行方不明になる, I ain't given to brag, but I reckon you'll find it different after stayin' with us," 再結合させるd Denmeade, shaking his shaggy 長，率いる.

Plain it was for Lucy to see that Mr. Jenks agreed with him.

"In just what way? queried Lucy.

"Lots of ways, but particular, say--Ora Johnson has an old cabin with one room. Countin' his wife, thar's eight in the family. All live in that one room! With one door an' no winder!"

Lucy had no ready reply for such an 予期しない circumstance as this, and she gazed at Mr. Jenks in mute 狼狽.

"I have a テント I'll lend her," he said. "It can be 築くd on a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる with board 床に打ち倒す. Very comfortable."

"Wal, I reckon that would do fer Johnson's. But how about Tom Sprall's? Thar's more in his outfit, an' only two cabins. But shore no room for her. An' the テント idee won't do--sartin not whar Bud Sprall goes rarin' around 十分な of white mule. It wouldn't be 安全な."

"Denmeade, I had that very 恐れる in mind," said Mr. Jenks 真面目に. "行方不明になる Watson will have to 避ける Sprall's."

"Shore, it'd せねばならない be done. But I'm reckonin' that'll raise hell. Tom is a mean cuss, an' his outfit of wimmen are jealous as coyote 毒（薬）. They'll all have to know 行方不明になる Lucy is hyar helpin' everybody equal. They'll all want equal favours from the 明言する／公表する. I ain't sayin' a word ag'in' Tom, but he's a rustler. An' thar's turrible bad 血 between Bud Sprall an' my boy Edd."

"You see, 行方不明になる Watson, it's not going to be as rosy as we hoped," said Mr. Jenks 残念に.

"I'm not afraid," replied Lucy resolutely. "It never looked 平易な. I 受託する it, come what may. The Spralls shall not be slighted."

"Wal, you've settled it, an' thar ain't nothin' wrong with your 神経," replied Denmeade. "Come in now an' 会合，会う my folks. Teacher, you'll eat supper with us?"

"I'm sorry, Denmeade. I must hurry 支援する and send Sam up with her baggage," returned Jenks, rising. "Good-bye, 行方不明になる Watson. I wish you luck. Come 負かす／撃墜する to school with the children. I'll see you surely at the dance Friday night."

"I'm very 感謝する to you, Mr. Jenks," replied Lucy. "You've helped me. I will want to see you soon. But I can't say that it will be at the dance."

"Shore she'll be thar, teacher," said Denmeade. "She can't stay hyar alone, an' if she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to, Edd wouldn't let her."

"Oh--indeed," murmured Lucy constrainedly, as Denmeade and the school-teacher 交流d laughs. How irrepressibly this Edd bobbed up at every turn of conversation! 権利 then Lucy 解決するd that she would certainly not go to the dance. And she realised an undue curiosity in regard to this backwoods boy.

一時期／支部 III

Lucy followed her 護衛する into the yard and between the blossoming peach trees to the cabin. She saw now that it was a new structure built of flat-hewn スピードを出す／記録につけるs, long and low, with a 頂点（に達する）d roof of 分裂（する） shingles covering two separate square cabins and the wide space between them. This roof also 延長するd far out to cover a porch the whole length of the building. Each cabin had a glass window, and the door, which Lucy could not see, must have 直面するd the middle porch. The rude solid structure made a rather good impression.

A long-eared hound stood wagging his tail at the 長，率いる of the porch steps. Lucy's roving 注目する，もくろむ took in other dogs asleep in sunny 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs; several little puppies with ears so long they つまずくd over them as they ran pell-mell to 会合，会う Denmeade; 激しい rolls of canvas, no 疑問 一面に覆う／毛布s or bedding, were piled along the 塀で囲む; saddles and saddle 一面に覆う／毛布s were 範囲d in 類似の order on the opposite 味方する; the cabin 塀で囲む on the 権利 was studded with pegs upon which hung kitchen utensils and 道具s; that on the left held deer and elk antlers used as racks for hats, guns, ropes. The wide space of porch between the two cabins evidently served as an outdoor dining-room, for a rude home-carpentered （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and （法廷の）裁判s 占領するd the centre.

At Denmeade's call a flock of children （機の）カム 軍隊／機動隊ing out of the door of the left cabin. They were big-注目する，もくろむd, dirty and ragged, and sturdy of build. A sallow, thin-直面するd little woman, in coarse dress and 激しい shoes, followed them.

"Ma, this hyar is 行方不明になる Lucy Watson from Felix," 発表するd Denmeade.

Mrs. Denmeade 迎える／歓迎するd Lucy cordially and 簡単に, without show of curiosity or astonishment. Then Denmeade told her in his blunt speech what Lucy had come for. This （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） brought decided surprise and welcome to the woman's 直面する. Lucy was quick to see what perhaps Denmeade had never known in his life. She 追加するd a few earnest words in her own に代わって, calculated to 強化する Mrs. Denmeade's impression, and to say that when convenient they would talk over the work Lucy was to 請け負う.

"Reckon you're a new 肉親，親類d of teacher?" queried Mrs. Denmeade. "Sort of home-teacher?"

"Why yes, you could call me that," replied Lucy smiling.

"Shore, that'll please the kids," said Denmeade. "They sort of look up to a teacher. You see we've only had school-teachers a few years. Edd went four years, Allie three, 刑事 an' Joe three, Mertie two, Mary an' Dan one. Liz an' Lize, the twins hyar, five years old--they 港／避難所't started yet."

その結果 the children were 現在のd to Lucy, a 状況／情勢 rich in 楽しみ and 利益／興味 for her. The twins were as like as two peas in a pod, chubby, rosy-cheeked little girls, fair-haired, with big 注目する，もくろむs of grey like their father's. To Lucy's 予備交渉s they were shy, silent, yet fascinated. Dan was a dark-長，率いるd youngster, with 注目する，もくろむs to match, dirty, mischievous, bold, and exceedingly responsive to Lucy. Mary, too, was dark, though はしけ than Dan, older by a year or two, a thin overworked girl who under favourable 条件s would be pretty. The several other children 現在の were Claypools, visiting the Denmeades. When Lucy had 迎える／歓迎するd them all she was to 会合，会う Denmeade's older daughters Allie, a young woman, 抱擁する of build, with merry 直面する, and Mertie, a girl of sixteen, やめる beautiful in a wild-rose 肉親，親類d of way. She was the only one of the family who showed anything of colour or neatness in her attire. Manifestly she wore her Sunday dress, a coarse print 事件／事情／状勢. Her sharp dark 注目する，もくろむs seemed more 関心d with Lucy's riding habit, the way she had arranged her hair and tied her scarf, than with Lucy's presence there.

Lucy was taken into the left-手渡す cabin, to 会合，会う the mother and sister of the Claypool children. They, too, were hard-featured, unprepossessing, and bore the unmistakable 示すs of hard 労働 in a hard country. All these impressions of Lucy's were 迅速な ones that she knew might pass 完全に or change. 激しい as was her 利益／興味, she could not 星／主役にする at or 熟考する／考慮する these people. She had to 自白する that they put her at her 緩和する. There was not a 疑惑 of inhospitality, or, for that 事柄, except on the part of the children, the betrayal of anything unusual about this new-corner. Lucy was given one of the few home-made 議長，司会を務めるs, a rude triangular board 事件／事情／状勢 that could be 始める，決める two ways. And then the conversation which no 疑問 her advent had interrupted was 再開するd by the older women.

The twins began to manifest 調印するs of 存在 irresistibly drawn to Lucy. They were in the toils of a new experience. Lucy had been used to children, and had taken several months of 幼稚園 work, which was going to be of infinite value to her here. She listened to the conversation, which turned out to be homely gossip, 異なるing only in content from gossip anywhere. And while doing so she had a chance to gaze casually 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room.

The 塀で囲むs were 明らかにする, of rough-hewn スピードを出す／記録につけるs, with the chinks between plastered with clay. There was a window on each 味方する. A 抱擁する rough 石／投石する 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place 占領するd nearly all the west end of the cabin. In a left-手渡す corner, next to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place, was a closet of boards reaching from 床に打ち倒す to 天井. This 天井 appeared to be of the same 肉親，親類d of shingling Lucy had 観察するd on the roof. The 床に打ち倒す was rough clapboard, like that of the porch outside. The two corners opposite the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place 含む／封じ込めるd built-in beds, bulky with a quilted covering. There were no other articles of furniture, not even a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する or lamp.

Lucy 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd that this living-room, にもかかわらず its 欠如（する） of 慰安s, might be far superior to the dark, clay-床に打ち倒すd cabin rooms she had heard about. It was at least 乾燥した，日照りの and light. But its bareness jarred on her. What did these people do with their leisure time, if they had any? The younger women talked of nothing save dances and boys; their 年上のs interpolated their gossip with bits of news about the homely 労働s that spring had brought. Mary was the only one of the children whom Lucy could induce to talk; and she had, 明らかに, a 限られた／立憲的な 範囲 of 支配するs. School, the burro she 棒, the puppies she played with, appeared to be in 所有／入手 of her mind.

At length the Claypools 発表するd that if they were to reach home by dark they must hurry.

"Come an' see us," 招待するd the mother, 演説（する）／住所ing Lucy, and the grown daughter 追加するd: "'By. Reckon Edd'll be fetchin' you an' Mertie to the dance."

Lucy murmured something 非，不，無-committal in reply, and …を伴ってd the women and children outside. They left the porch at the far end of the cabin, and went through a 味方する gate out into the 支持を得ようと努めるd, where two horses and a burro were haltered to trees. Dogs, sheep, and chickens tagged at their heels. There was a rather open （疑いを）晴らすing under the pines, trodden 明らかにする, and covered with red and white 半導体素子s of 支持を得ようと努めるd.

Women and children talked all together, so that it was impossible for Lucy to distinguish much of what was said. She gathered, however, that Mrs. Denmeade told Mrs. Claypool something about Lucy's 福利事業 work. Then mother and daughter, unmindful of their skirts, 機動力のある the two horses.

The burro raised one long ear and cocked the other at the three Claypool youngsters. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie 解除するd them up on the 支援する of the burro. It had a halter tied 一連の会議、交渉／完成する its nose. The little boy, who could not have been more than four years old, had the 真っ先の position astride the burro. He took up the halter. His sisters, 老年の, それぞれ, about three and two, 棒 behind him. The older girl got her 武器 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the boy, and the younger did likewise by her sister. Lucy was not only amazed and 脅すd for the youngsters, but also so amused she could scarcely 含む／封じ込める herself.

"Aren't you afraid you'll 落ちる off?" she asked, standing abreast of them.

"Naw!" said the boy. And the 年上の girl, with a sober smile at Lucy, 追加するd: "'Tain't nuthin' to 落ちる off. But it's hard gettin' 支援する on."

It 要求するd かなりの （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing and kicking on the part of the three to start the burro after the horses, but at last he decided to move, and trotted off.

"How far have they to go? 問い合わせd Lucy, as she watched them disappear in the 支持を得ようと努めるd.

"Reckon five miles or so. They'll get home about dark," replied Mrs. Denmeade. "Now, girls, there's supper to get. An', 行方不明になる Watson, you're goin' to be more one of the family than company. Make yourself to home."

Mary 大（公）使館員d herself to Lucy and led her around the corner of the cabin to see the puppies, while the twins toddled behind. Lucy 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know the 指名するs of the puppies and all about them. When Mary had exhausted this 支配する she led Lucy to see her especial playground, which was across the ravine in a 避難所d 位置／汚点／見つけ出す redolent of pine needles. She showed Lucy a nook under a large manzanita where she played with pine 反対／詐欺s and bits of Indian pottery, which she said she had 設立する 権利 there. Lucy had to see the spring, and the 石／投石する steps across the brook, and the big アイロンをかける kettle and tub which were used in washing. Lucy looked in vain for an outhouse of any description. There was 非，不，無, not even a chicken-閉じ込める／刑務所. Mary said the chickens roosted in trees, like the wild turkeys, to keep from 存在 eaten by beasts. Lucy 問い合わせd about these beasts, and その上の if there were snakes and bugs.

"Rattlers, trantulars, an' scorpions in summer. That's all that's bad," said Mary.

"Goodness! That's enough!" exclaimed Lucy.

"They won't 傷つける nobody," 追加するd the child 簡単に. Then she led Lucy across the （疑いを）晴らすing, where the twins tarried on an 企業 of their own, and 負かす／撃墜する a 追跡する into the 深い gully. Here の中で the 激しく揺するs and ferns, 影を投げかけるd by the pines and sycamores, they got away from the despoiled forest above. Lucy was glad to 残り／休憩（する） a little and listen to Mary's prattle. How wild and rugged this gully. Yet it was scarcely a 石／投石する's-throw from the cabin. The （疑いを）晴らす water babbled over smooth red 石／投石する and little 落ちるs and gravelly 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s.

"It 乾燥した，日照りのs up in summer," said Mary, 示すing the brook. "いつかs the spring does, too. Then we all have to pack water from way 負かす／撃墜する."

They （機の）カム at length to a green （法廷の）裁判 that had been （疑いを）晴らすd of 小衝突 and small trees, yet, 借りがあるing to the 巨大（な） spreading pines above, did not long get direct rays of the sun. Rude boxes, some of them painted, were scattered around on little 壇・綱領・公約s of 石／投石するs.

"Edd's beehives," said Mary, with 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な importance. "We must be awful good. Edd doesn't mind if we behave."

"I'll be very careful, Mary. I don't want to get stung. Are they real wild bees?"

"Shore. But Edd tames them. Oh, Edd loves bees somethin' turrible," answered the child solemnly. "Bees never sting him, even when he's choppin' a new bee tree."

"Why does Edd do that? 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Didn't you ever--ever hear of Edd Denmeade's honey?" returned Mary, in 広大な／多数の／重要な surprise. "Pa says it's the best in the world. Oh-umum! He'll shore give you some. Edd likes girls next to his bees...He's a bee hunter. Pa says Edd's the best bee liner he ever seen."

"Bee liner! What's that, Mary?"

"Why, he watches for bees, an' when they come he lines them. Bees 飛行機で行く straight off, you know. He lines them to their 蜂の巣 in a tree. Then he chops it 負かす／撃墜する. Always he saves the honey, an' いつかs he saves the bees."

The child 追加するd to the 利益／興味 蓄積するing 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 指名する of Edd Denmeade.

"Where is Edd now?" asked Lucy.

"He went to Winbrook with the pack burros," replied Mary. "That's up over the 縁 an' far off, to the 鉄道／強行採決する. Edd's 約束d to take me there some day. Shore he せねばならない be 支援する soon. I want him awful bad. Candy! Edd always fetches us candy. He'll come by Mertie's birthday. That's next Wednesday. He's fetchin' Mertie's new dress. Her first boughten one! She's sixteen. An' Edd's givin' it to her. Oh, he'll come shore '原因（となる） he loves Mertie."

"Of course he loves you, too? queried Lucy, winningly.

"Ma says so. But Mertie's his favourite. She's so pretty. I wish I was," replied Mary, with childish pathos.

"You will be, Mary, when you are sixteen, if you are good and learn how to take care of yourself, and have beautiful thoughts," said Lucy.

"Ma told Mrs. Claypool you was a home-teacher. Are you goin' to teach me all that?"

"Yes, and more. Won't you like to learn how to make nice dresses?"

"Oh!" cried Mary beamingly, and she burst into a babble of questions. Lucy answered. How simple! She had 心配するd cudgelling her brains to 満足させる these backwoods children. But Mary was already won. They remained in the gully until the sun sank, and then climbed out. Mary ran to confide her bursting news to the little twin sisters, and Lucy was left to herself for the time 存在. She walked 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路, and across the （土地などの）細長い一片 of woodland to the open fields, and out where she could see.

西方の along the 縁 広大な capes jutted out, 異なるing in 形態／調整 and length, all ragged, sharp, fringed, reaching darkly for the gold and purple glory of the sunset. 軸s and rays of light streamed from the 不和s in the clouds, 炎ing upon the bold 激しく揺する 直面するs of the 塀で囲む. Eastward the 縁 zigzagged endlessly into pale 冷淡な purple. Southward a 広大な green hollow ran like a river of the sea, to empty, it seemed, into space. Beyond that rose 薄暗い spectral 形態／調整s of mountains, remote and detached. To the north the 広大な／多数の／重要な 塀で囲む shut out what might 嘘（をつく） beyond.

How unscalable it looked to Lucy! Points of 縁 ran out, 狭くする, broken, sloping, 明らかに to sheer off into the 無効の. But the distance was far and the light deceiving. Lucy knew a 追跡する （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する the ragged cape that ぼんやり現れるd out over Denmeade's ranch.

She had heard someone say Edd would come 支援する that way with the pack-train. It seemed incredible for a man, let alone a burro. Just to gaze up at that 法外な of a thousand deceptive 山の尾根s, 割れ目s, slants, and ascents was enough to rouse 尊敬（する）・点 for these people who were 征服する／打ち勝つing the 激しく揺する-限定するd wilderness.

This 解除するing of Lucy's spirit gave pause to the growth of something akin to contempt that had unconsciously formed in her mind. After 審理，公聴会 and reading about these 原始の inhabitants of the wild she had developed abstract conceptions of kindliness, sympathy, and の近くに 接触する with them. They had been very noble 感情s. But she was going to find them hard to live up to. By analysing her feelings she realised that she did not like the personal intimations. Her one 動機 was to help these people and in so doing help herself. She had come, however, with an unconscious sense of her personal aloofness, the 高さ to which, of course, these ありふれた people could not aspire. Yet their very first and most natural reaction, no 疑問, was to imagine a sentimental attachment between her and one of these backwood boys.

From amusement Lucy passed to annoyance, and thence to 関心. She had experienced her troubles with cowboys even in town, where there were ample avenues of escape. What would she 遭遇（する） here? Would she find at the very 手始め a ridiculous 障害 to her success, to the 罰金 記録，記録的な／記録する of 福利事業 work she longed to 設立する?

The 事柄 became a problem, no いっそう少なく because a faint 告発する／非難するing 発言する／表明する had begun to reach her 良心. She listened to it and 緊張するd at it until she heard something like 疑問 of her 存在 big enough for this 職業. She humiliated herself. It had never occurred to her that she might be 設立する wanting. A wonderfully stabilising though painful idea this was. After all, what excuse had she for 優越?

Standing there in the open fields, Lucy forgot the magnificent red 塀で囲む and the gorgeous sunset-紅潮／摘発するd panorama. She realised her vanity, that she had 負傷させるd it, that in all probability it would have to be killed before she could be wholly worthy of this work. Her humility, however, did not withstand the 急ぐ of 憤慨, 切望, and 信用／信任 of her 青年. Lucy stifled in its incipiency a thought ばく然と hinting that she would have to 苦しむ and grow before she really was what she dreamed she was.

Presently she heard the 割れ目 of hoofs on 激しく揺する, and, turning, she 遠くに見つけるd two riders entering the corral at the end of the field. She decided they must be two more of the Denmeades, 刑事 and Joe, if she remembered rightly. They dismounted, threw their saddles, turned the horses loose. They appeared to be long, lean, rangy young men, wearing 抱擁する sombreros that made them look 最高の，を越す-激しい. They whistled and whooped, creating sounds which clapped 支援する in strange echo from the 塀で囲む. It 強調d the stillness to Lucy. Such hilarity seemed out of place there. Lucy watched the tall 人物／姿／数字s stride out of sight up the 小道／航路 toward the cabin.

"One thing sure," soliloquised Lucy, 厳粛に, "I've got to realise I have myself to 競う with up here. Myself!...It seems I don't know much about me."

She returned to the cabin, entering the yard by the 味方する gate. Some of the hounds followed her, 匂いをかぐing at her, not yet over their 敵意. The Denmeades were collecting 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する on the porch. The mother 遠くに見つけるd Lucy and 迎える／歓迎するd her with a smile.

"Reckon we was about ready to put the hounds on your 追跡する," she called, and when Lucy reached the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する she 追加するd: "You 始める，決める in this place...Here's 刑事 an' Joe. You've only one more to see, an' that's Edd. Boys, 会合，会う 行方不明になる Lucy Watson of Felix."

Lucy smiled at the young men, waiting to sit 負かす／撃墜する opposite her. Which was 刑事 and which Joe she could not tell yet. The younger was exceedingly tall and thin. The older, though tall and angular, too, appeared short by comparison. Both had smooth, still, 向こうずねing 直面するs, lean and brown, with 意図 （疑いを）晴らす 注目する，もくろむs.

"売春婦d-do!" said the older boy to Lucy, as he took his seat across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He was nothing if not admiring.

"Joe, did you 会合，会う teacher Jenks?" asked Denmeade, from the 長，率いる of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"Yep. Saw him at Johnson's. He told us about 行方不明になる Watson. An' we passed Sam on the 追跡する. He was packin' her baggage."

Before Allie and Mertie, who were carrying steaming dishes from the kitchen, had brought in all the supper, the Denmeades 始める，決める about the 商売／仕事 of eating.

"Help yourself, 行方不明になる," said the father.

The （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was too small for so many. They （人が）群がるd の近くに together. Lucy's seat was at one end of a （法廷の）裁判, giving her the 解放する／自由な use of her 権利 手渡す. Mary sat on her left, happily conscious of the の近くに proximity. The 長，率いるs of the little girls and Dan just topped the level of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. In fact, their mouths were about on a level with their tin plates. At first ちらりと見ること Lucy saw that the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was laden with food, with more still coming. Pans of smoking 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s, pans of potatoes, pans of beans, pans of meat and gravy, and steaming tin cups of 黒人／ボイコット coffee! Lucy 公式文書，認めるd the absence of milk, butter, sugar, green or canned vegetables. She was hungry and she filled her plate. And にもかかわらず the coarseness of the food she ate heartily. Before she had finished, dusk had settled 負かす／撃墜する around the cabin, and when the meal ended it was やめる dark.

"I hear Sam's hoss," said 刑事, as he rose, clinking his 刺激（する）s. "Reckon I'll help him unpack."

Lucy sat 負かす／撃墜する on the 辛勝する／優位 of the porch, peering out into the 支持を得ようと努めるd. The children clustered 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her. Mrs. Denmeade and her older daughters were （疑いを）晴らすing off the supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. A 薄暗い lamplight 微光d in the kitchen. Lucy was aware of the tall form of 刑事 Denmeade standing to one 味方する. He had not yet spoken a word. Lucy 演説（する）／住所d him once, but for all the answer she got he might 同様に have been deaf. He 転換d one of his enormous boots across the other. In the 薄暗い light Lucy made out long 刺激（する）s 大（公）使館員d to them. Then Mrs. Denmeade ordered the children off to bed. One by one they 消えるd. Mary's pale 直面する gleamed wistfully and was gone.

It 夜明けd on Lucy, presently, that the 空気／公表する was 冷淡な. It had changed markedly in an hour. Big white 星／主役にするs had appeared over the tips of the pines; the sky was dark blue. The blackness of the night 影をつくる／尾行するs had lighted somewhat or else her 注目する，もくろむs had become accustomed to it. 静かな settled over the cabin, broken only by low 発言する／表明するs and sounds from the kitchen. It struck Lucy as sad and sombre, this mantle of night descending upon the lonely cabin, yet never before had she felt such peace, such 甘い 孤独. By 緊張するing her ears she caught a dreamy murmur of the stream 負かす／撃墜する in the gorge, and a low 嘆く／悼む of 勝利，勝つd in the pines. Where were the coyotes, night 強硬派s; whip-poor-wills, all the noisy creatures she had imagined lived in the wilderness?

続けざまに猛撃する of hoofs and clink of 刺激（する）s became audible in the 小道／航路, approaching the cabin. Lucy heard a laugh she recognised, and low 発言する／表明するs, merry, subtle, almost hoarse whisperings. Then the gate creaked, and the musical clink of 刺激（する）s 前進するd toward the porch. At last Lucy made out two dark forms. They approached, and one 機動力のある the steps, while the other stopped before Lucy. She conceived an idea that this fellow could see in the dark.

"Wal, 行方不明になる Lucy, here's your 捕らえる、獲得するs without a scratch," said Sam Johnson's drawling 発言する／表明する. "Shore I bet you was worried. How'd you find my hoss Buster?"

"Just 罰金, thank you," replied Lucy. "十分な of spirit and go. Yet he obeyed 敏速に. I never had a slip. Now were you not trying to 脅す me a little--or was it Mr. Jenks?--telling me he was some 肉親，親類d of a mustang?"

"Honest, Buster's gentle with girls," 抗議するd Sam. "Shore he pitches when one of these long-legged Denmeades rake him. But don't you believe what anyone tells you."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, I won't. Buster is a dandy little horse."

"Wal, then, you're 招待するd to ride him again," said Sam, with subtle inflection.

"Oh, thank you," replied Lucy. "I--I'll be pleased--if my work 許すs me any spare time."

"Howdy, Sam!" interposed Allie, from the kitchen door. "Who're you goin' to take to the dance?"

"Wal, I ain't shore, jest yet," he returned. "Reckon I know who I'd like to take."

"Sadie told me you asked her."

"Did she?...Sent her word. But she didn't send 非，不，無 支援する," 抗議するd Sam lamely.

"Sam, take a hunch from me. Don't try to shenanegin out of it now," retorted Allie, and 退却／保養地d into the kitchen.

Lucy was both relieved and amused at Allie's しっかり掴む of the 状況／情勢. No 疑問 Sam had been approaching another 招待.

Denmeade's 激しい footfall sounded on the porch, …を伴ってd by the soft pad of a dog trotting. "That you, Sam? How's yore folks?"

"Tip 最高の，を越す," replied Sam すぐに.

"Get 負かす／撃墜する an' come in," drawled Denmeade as the other shuffled restlessly.

"Reckon I'll be goin'," said Sam. "I've a packhoss waitin'...Evenin', 行方不明になる Lucy. Shore I hope to see you at the dance."

"I hardly think you will," replied Lucy. "Thank you for fetching my baggage."

Sam's tall form disappeared in the gloom. The gate creaked as if opened and shut with 強烈な haste. Almost 直接／まっすぐに followed the sound of hoofs going off into the 不明瞭.

"Hey, Sam!" called Joe, coming out of the cabin, where he had carried Lucy's 支配するs.

"He's gone," said his father laconically.

"Gone! Why, the dinged galoot had somethin' of 地雷! Funny, him runnin' off. He shore was rarin' to get here. Never saw him make such good time on a 追跡する. What riled him?"

"Wal, I have an idea," drawled Denmeade. "Allie give him a dig."

"I shore did," spoke up Allie, from the kitchen, where evidently she heard what was going on outside. "It's a shame the way he 扱う／治療するs Sadie."

Lucy began to gather snatches of the 複雑さ of life up here. After all, how like things at home! This girl Sadie had 辞退するd to marry Edd Denmeade. There was an intimation that she was 大（公）使館員d to Sam Johnson. On his part, Sam had manifested a slight 利益／興味 in a new-comer to the country.

Mrs. Denmeade （機の）カム out of the kitchen carrying a lighted lamp, and she called Lucy to …を伴って her into the other cabin. She 始める，決める the lamp on the high jutting shelf of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place.

"You sleep in here with the children," she said 簡単に.

"Yes--that will be nice," 再結合させるd Lucy, peering around. Dan was asleep on the 床に打ち倒す in a corner, his bed a woolly sheep 肌, his covering a rag quilt. Mary and the twins were 急速な／放蕩な asleep in one of the beds. Lucy stepped の近くに to peer 負かす／撃墜する at them. Liz and Lize lay at the foot, curly fair 長，率いるs の近くに together. Their 直面するs had been washed and now shone 甘い and 病弱な in the lamplight. Their chubby 手渡すs were locked. Mary lay at the 長，率いる of the bed, and her thin 直面する bore a smile as if she were having pleasant dreams.

"Where--shall I wash?" asked Lucy, with diffidence.

"You'll find water, 水盤／入り江, towel out on the porch...Good night. I reckon you're tired. Hope you sleep good."

Lucy bade her hostess good night, and turned musingly to the 開始 of one of her 支配するs. She could hear the low breathing of the sleepers. Somehow, to be there with them, under such circumstances, touched her 深く，強烈に. It was for the sake of such as they that she had forsaken personal 慰安 and better 適切な時期s. にもかかわらず a somewhat depressed spirit, Lucy could not 悔いる her 活動／戦闘. If only she won their love and taught them 罰金, clean, wholesome ways with which to 会合，会う their hard and unlovely 未来s! That would transform her sacrifice into a blessing.

The room was 冷淡な. A 解雇する／砲火／射撃 in the big 石／投石する fireplace would have been much to her liking. By the time she got ready for bed she was 冷気／寒がらせるd through. Before blowing out the lamp she took a last look at the slumbering children. They seemed so still, so 静める, so white and 甘い. Lucy trembled for them, in a vague realisation of life. Then, with some difficulty she opened one of the windows. Once in bed, she stretched out in aching 救済. That long ride, 特に on the horse, had cramped and chafed her. The bed was as 冷淡な and hard as ice. There were no sheets. The 一面に覆う／毛布s under her did not do much to 軟化する the feel of what she 結論するd was a mattress filled with corn husks. It rustled like corn husks, though it might have been coarse straw. The coverings were 激しい rag quilts.

にもかかわらず, Lucy had never before been so 感謝する for a bed. If this bed was good enough for those innocent and happy and unfortunate children, it was good enough for her. Unfortunate! She pondered. She would have to learn as much as she taught.

She heard 激しい boots and the jangle of 刺激（する）s on the porch, the unrolling of one of the canvas packs, faint 発言する／表明するs from the kitchen, and then footsteps over her 長，率いる in the attic. One of the boys spoke up there. Probably that was where they slept. Lucy now remembered seeing the ladder that led from the middle porch to a wide 穴を開ける in the 天井. She wondered where the 残り／休憩（する） of the Denmeades slept. No 疑問 she was robbing father and mother of their room and bed.

徐々に all sounds 中止するd, except the faint murmur of water and 勝利，勝つd, out in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Lucy grew warm and sleepy. Yet so novel and strange were her sensations that she fought off the drowsy （一定の）期間. She was really there up in the backwoods. She could scarcely credit it. The blackness of the room, the silence, the unfamiliar fragrance of pine and 支持を得ようと努めるd smoke, were like unrealities of a dream. She lived over the whole 旅行 and would not have changed any of it. Suddenly the stillness broke to a 深い-（犯罪の）一味ing, long-drawn bay of a hound. It made her flesh creep. How it rang out the truth of her presence in the wild forest, in the hard bed of these lowly 開拓するs! The home that had failed her was gone for ever. The one person she had loved most--her sister Clara--had failed her. And in the lonely 不明瞭 she wept, not as on the night before, childishly and unrestrainedly, but with 悲しみ for loss and gratefulness for the 未来 that 約束d so much.

She would be happy to 直面する the morrow, come what might. It could only bring another 肉親，親類d of 争い, that in itself might be good for her soul. With such hope and a 祈り that it would be so she fell asleep.

一時期／支部 IV

Lucy awakened in a half-conscious dream that she was in a place unfamiliar to her. Before she opened her 注目する，もくろむs she smelled 支持を得ようと努めるd smoke. Then she saw that daylight had come, and she was looking at her open window through which blue smoke and sunlight were 注ぐing in. Bewildered, she gazed around this strange room--明らかにする 支持を得ようと努めるd and clay 塀で囲むs--big 石／投石する 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place--rude 天井 of 政治家s and shingles. Where was she?

With a start she raised on her 肘. Then the 成果／努力 that cost her, the sense of sore muscles, and the rustling of the corn-husk mattress brought flashing to memory her long ride of yesterday and the backwoods home of the Denmeades.

She was surprised, and somewhat mortified, to see that the children were up and gone. On the moment Lucy heard the patter of their feet outside on the porch and the （犯罪の）一味ing 一打／打撃s of an axe on hard 支持を得ようと努めるd. その結果 she essayed to hop out of bed. She managed it all 権利, but not without awkwardness and 苦痛.

"Oh, I'm all 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうd!" she cried ruefully. "That ride!...And say, it's Greenland's icy mountains here."

The plain, 相当な woollen 衣料品s that she had brought for 冷淡な 天候 were going to be welcome now. Lucy dressed in いっそう少なく time than ever before in her life. Then with soap, towel, 徹底的に捜す, and 小衝突 she sallied out on the porch and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to the 味方する of the cabin. The children were in the kitchen. An old man sat on a （法廷の）裁判. He was thin, grey, with cadaverous cheeks, a pointed chin bristling with stubby 耐えるd.

"Good mawnin'," he said.

Lucy 迎える／歓迎するd him and asked where the water was.

"I jest fetched some," he said, pointing to a stand at the end of the porch. "権利 pert this mawnin'. I reckon the 霜 won't do them peach blossoms no good."

Lucy indeed 設立する the water pert. Her ablutions, 借りがあるing to her impetuosity, turned out to be an ordeal. Evidently the old fellow had watched her with 利益／興味, for as she finished her hair and turned 支援する he said with a 抱擁する grin, "Rosy cheeks!"

"Thanks," replied Lucy brightly. "I'm Lucy Watson. I didn't 会合，会う you last night."

"Nope. But I seen you. I'm 物陰／風下's oldest brother. Thar's four of us brothers hyar in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Uncle 法案 the kids call me."

Upon her way 支援する to the room she 遭遇（する）d the 極端に tall young Denmeade who appeared too bashful to return her 迎える／歓迎するing. Lucy hurriedly put her things away and made her bed, then 現在のd herself at the kitchen door, to apologise for 存在 late.

"Reckon you'd be tired, so I wouldn't let the children call you," replied Mrs. Denmeade. "Come an' eat."

They were having breakfast in the kitchen. Mary was the only one of the children to answer Lucy's 迎える／歓迎するing. Dan did not appear bashful, but his mouth was so 十分な he could not speak. Mrs. Denmeade and Mertie were sitting at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, while Allie stood beside the big stove. They did not seem stolid or 事柄-of-fact; they 欠如（する）d 表現 of whatever they did feel. Lucy sat 負かす／撃墜する to ham, eggs, 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s, coffee. "Some of Edd's honey," 示すd Mrs. Denmeade, with pride, as she placed a pan before her. Lucy was hungry. She enjoyed her breakfast, and as for the honey, she had never tasted anything so delicious, so wild and 甘い of flavour.

After breakfast, Lucy was 大いに 利益／興味d in the 簡潔な／要約する 準備s for school. Dan had to be 軍隊d away from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He was bareheaded and barefooted. Lucy went out to the gate with him and Mary. 刑事 was coming up the 小道／航路, 主要な two little grey lop-eared burros and a pony, all saddled. Dan climbed on one burro and Mary the other. Mertie （機の）カム out carrying small tin buckets, one of which she 手渡すd to each of the children. Mary seemed 気が進まない to leave Lucy, but Dan 棒 off 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路, mightily unconcerned. Mertie 機動力のある the pony, and then had her brother 手渡す up 調書をとる／予約するs and bucket. She smiled at Lucy. "You must get the boys to lend you a horse, so you can ride 負かす／撃墜する to school with us," she said.

"That'll be 罰金," replied Lucy. "But the ride I had yesterday was enough for a while. I'm afraid I'm a tenderfoot."

刑事 選ぶd up a bucket and a ライフル銃／探して盗む, and made ready to start.

"Do you walk to school?" queried Lucy, smiling. "Yes'm, I like walkin'," he replied.

"Look at his 脚s," said Mertie. "Pa says 刑事 can outwalk any of them, even Edd."

"He does look as if he could take long steps," returned Lucy, laughing.

"Reckon it'd be nice if you could teach us at home," said 刑事 shyly.

"Yes, it would, and I shall teach you a good 取引，協定," replied Lucy. "But I'm not a 正規の／正選手 school teacher."

Lucy watched them go 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路 after Dan and was 突然に stirred at sight of the little 行列. When she turned 支援する up the path, Mrs. Denmeade met her.

"They're gone. It was fun to see the little burros," said Lucy. "How far do they have to ride, and why does 刑事 carry the gun?"

"It's five miles. 支持を得ようと努めるd all the way. An' 刑事 doesn't pack that gun for fun. There's 耐えるs an' cats. An' hydrophobia skunks. I'm afraid of them, But when 刑事's with the children I don't worry."

"What in the world are hydrophobia skunks?" queried Lucy.

"Nothin' but polecats with hydrophobia," replied the other. "物陰／風下 reckons the skunks get bitten by coyotes that have hydrophobia. It makes the skunks crazy. They come 権利 for you. If you ever run across a pretty white-an'-黒人／ボイコット cat with a bushy tail--you run!"

"I will indeed," 宣言するd Lucy. "An ordinary skunk is bad enough. But this 肉親，親類d you tell of must be dreadful."

"Wal, 行方不明になる Lucy, this is wash-day for us," said Mrs. Denmeade. "An' we never seem to have time enough to do all the work. But I want to help you get started. Now if you'll tell me--"

"Mrs. Denmeade, don't you worry one minute," interrupted Lucy. "I'm here to help you. And I shall lend a 手渡す whenever I can. As for my work, all I want is your 許可 to 計画（する） for what I think necessary--to buy things and make things for the house."

"Reckon I'm glad to agree on anythin' you want," replied Mrs. Denmeade. "Just call on me, an' 物陰／風下 or the boys."

As they walked up the patch to the cabin Lucy was telling Mrs. Denmeade how it had been the 決定／判定勝ち（する） of the 福利事業 board to endeavour to teach the people living in remote 地区s to make things that would その上の easier and better living.

Denmeade, coming from the fields, 明らかに, met them and could not help but hear something of what Lucy said. It brought the 幅の広い grin to his 天候-beaten 直面する.

"Wife," he said, as he 調査するd Lucy from 長，率いる to foot, "this hyar city girl has got sense. An' she looks like she might grow into a strappin' 罰金 young woman. 'To work with their 手渡すs,' she says. She's 攻撃する，衝突する it plumb. That's all we ever done in our lives. That's why we never learned new tricks...All the same, if 行方不明になる Lucy teaches us somethin', we can do the same for her."

"I certainly 推定する／予想する you to," said Lucy 喜んで. "I'd like to learn to take care of a horse, chop 支持を得ようと努めるd, and line bees."

Denmeade let out a hearty laugh.

"Wal, now, listen to her," he ejaculated. "Take care, young woman, an' don't let my boy Edd hear you say you want to line bees. '原因（となる） if you do he'll shore take you. An' say, mebbe hangin' to that long legged boy when he's on a bee line, mebbe it ain't work!"

"All the same, I shall ask him to take Mertie and me いつか," 宣言するd Lucy.

"You couldn't 雇う Mertie to tramp up an' 負かす／撃墜する these 支持を得ようと努めるd all day for anythin', let alone bees," replied Mrs. Denmeade with 軽蔑（する）. "Mertie sews 着せる／賦与するs for herself or me all day, an' shore she dances all night. But she's not like the 残り／休憩（する） of the Denmeades. I reckon 刑事 would be the best one to go with you an' Edd."

"Wal, how'd you like to help me an' Uncle 法案 plough to-day?" asked Denmeade quizzingly.

"Plough! Oh, that would be a little too much for me just yet!" laughed Lucy. "Why, that ride yesterday knocked me out! I'm stiff and sore this morning."

"Shore. That's no 平易な 追跡する to anyone new to hosses," said Denmeade.

"Mr. Denmeade, I'd like to 受託する the 貸付金 of that テント the school-teacher 申し込む／申し出d," 再結合させるd Lucy. "I think I could make myself very comfortable and I would not be 奪うing you and your wife of your room."

"Shore. Anythin' you like. Reckon the boys could make a テント tight enough to keep out bugs, snakes, dogs, wild cats, lions an' 耐えるs--an' mebbe hydrophobia skunks."

"Goodness!...Mr. Denmeade, you're teasing me," exclaimed Lucy.

"Wal, reckon I was," he replied. "Fact is, though, it ain't a bad idee. Summer is comin' an' the 天候 will soon get 罰金 fer sleepin' outdoors. I seen the way Jenks had his テント 直す／買収する，八百長をするd. Reckon me an' the boys can do it. But to-day we want to get through ploughin' before the rain...See them clouds comin' up out of the south-west? That means 嵐／襲撃する. Mebbe to-night or to-morrow or next day--but 嵐／襲撃する shore an' sartin."

"I hope Edd gets in before the rain," said Mrs. Denmeade. "Mertie would be sick if her new dress got spoiled."

"Ahuh! I reckon," returned Denmeade gruffly. Then as Lucy 機動力のある the steps to the porch he said to her, "You have the run of the place now, 行方不明になる Lucy, an' you can call on me or the boys any time."

"Who's the best carpenter?" queried Lucy.

"Wal, I reckon 刑事 is shore handy with 道具s," replied Denmeade. "An' he has time before an' after school. But 道具s is all-解雇する／砲火／射撃d 不十分な about hyar."

"Can we buy them at Cedar 山の尾根?"

"Shore. An' I reckon someone will be ridin' 負かす／撃墜する after the dance."

Lucy did not need to spend much more time looking around the cabins, inside or outside. The 所有／入手s of the Denmeades were so few that a ちらりと見ること had 十分であるd to enumerate them. Manifestly also their wants were few. But the 慰安 and health of a home did not depend upon how little was necessary. The children of 開拓するs should have some of the conveniences of civilisation. Lucy did not under-見積（る） the problem on her 手渡すs.

She 設立する that Mrs. Denmeade had 除去するd from the closet whatever had been there, leaving it for Lucy's use. This enabled Lucy to unpack most of her 所持品. When that was done she took pencil and pad and went outdoors to find a place to sit 負かす／撃墜する and think and 計画（する）.

One of the old 黒人／ボイコット hounds, a dignified and solemn dog, looked at Lucy as if he realised she should have company, and he went with her. How amused Lucy was to see the hound walk along with her, manifesting no 証拠 of friendliness other than his …を伴ってing her.

Lucy crossed the （土地などの）細長い一片 of 支持を得ようと努めるd to the 辛勝する／優位 of the field, and then walked along under the pines toward the slope. Through the green and 黒人／ボイコット of the forest she could see the ぼんやり現れるing red 塀で囲む. At the end of the field she 停止（させる）d. 深い dark woodland 合併するd upon the 辛勝する／優位 of the （疑いを）晴らすing. She sat 負かす／撃墜する under a 抱擁する pine, from which position she could see out across the open.

"Oh, I'll never be able to concentrate on anything here!" murmured Lucy, thrilled with the wildness and splendour of the forest. Birds and squirrels were boisterous, as if rejoicing at the spring. The 勝利，勝つd moaned through the tree-最高の，を越すs, a new sound to Lucy, stirring her 血. Most striking of all was the fragrance of pine. Lucy revelled a few moments in this 甘い wild 孤独, then made a valiant 成果／努力 to put her mind on her work. At the very 手始め she made 公式文書，認めるs on her pad. The fact that 支出 of 基金s for the betterment of living 条件s up here had been 信用d to her ありふれた sense and discretion made Lucy 極端に conscientious. She would 購入（する） only what was 絶対 necessary, and superintend the making of many useful things for the Denmeades. To this end she 適用するd herself to the 仕事 of choosing the articles she must buy and those she must make.

It turned out to be a fascinating 仕事, made 平易な by the course of 手動式の training she had taken at normal school. 目だつ の中で the articles selected to buy were 道具s and a sewing-machine. 道具s meant the 建設するing of 議長，司会を務めるs, （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs, closets, 棚上げにするs, and many other 世帯 articles; a sewing-machine meant the making of sheets, pillows, towels, curtains, （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する-covers, and wearing apparel.

Lucy pictured in her mind what the inside of that cabin would look like in a couple of months. It filled her with joy for them and pride for herself. The expense would be little; the 労働 広大な／多数の／重要な. She had already 納得させるd Denmeade that this 福利事業 work was not charity; in the long run it must be for the good of the 明言する／公表する.

Between such dreams and 計算／見積りs Lucy mapped out the letters and orders she would 令状 that afternoon. Then she would have to wait so long until the things arrived. Still, she 反映するd, a number of necessities could be 得るd at the 蓄える／店 in Cedar 山の尾根. She would 説得する Denmeade to go or send someone at once.

At length Lucy discovered that without thinking about it she had changed her position several times to get out of the shade into the sun. The 空気／公表する had grown 冷気／寒がらせる. Then she became aware of the moan of 勝利，勝つd in the pines. How loud, mournful, strange! Clouds were scudding up from the south-west. They were still broken, but much heavier and darker than they had been in the 早期に morning. They made 広大な／多数の／重要な dark 影をつくる／尾行するs sail along the rolling green crest of the forest. Gazing 上向き, Lucy was amazed to see that the clouds obscured the 縁 at the high points. From up there drifted 負かす／撃墜する a low, 安定した roar. 勝利，勝つd in the pines! It was a different sound from the sough in the 近づく-by tree-最高の，を越すs. Birds and squirrels had 中止するd song and chatter.

Once more Lucy 適用するd herself diligently to her 仕事, and for a while forgot herself. The 勝利，勝つd 増加するd to a 強風, intermittent, but 刻々と growing いっそう少なく broken. She heard it and thrilled, yet went on with her 人物／姿／数字ing. Suddenly a 激しい 衝突，墜落 somewhere in the 支持を得ようと努めるd の近くに at 手渡す 完全に 脅すd her. No 疑問 a dead tree had blown over. Nervously Lucy gazed about her to see if there were other dead trees. She 遠くに見つけるd several and many bleached gnarled 支店s shaking in the 勝利，勝つd. A 広大な／多数の／重要な primeval forest like this seemed to be a dangerous place.

"I always imagined it would be wonderful to live like an Indian--wild in the 支持を得ようと努めるd," soliloquised Lucy. "But I guess it might be fearful on occasions."

She became prey then to 相反する impulses--one to run 支援する to the cabin, the other to stay out in this roaring forest. For a moment the latter 支配するd her. She stepped out from under the pine into a glade and threw 支援する her 長，率いる. How the 勝利，勝つd whipped her hair! The odour of pine was now so strong that it was not far from 窒息させるing. Yet its sweetness seemed intoxicating. The 冷淡な 空気／公表する was exhilarating, in spite of its 増加するing 冷気／寒がらせる. Against the background of blue sky and grey cloud the pine crests waved wildly and thin streams of brown pine needles flew before the 強風.

Lucy's daring did not 延長する beyond a moment or so. Then the old 黒人／ボイコット dog appeared, to 注目する，もくろむ her solemnly and trot off. She followed as 急速な／放蕩な as she could walk, いつかs breaking into a little run. Soon she was breathless and light-長，率いるd. Such little exertion to tire her! Lucy recollected that high 高度s 影響する／感情d some persons thus. Her heart 続けざまに猛撃するd in her breast. It became 絶対 imperative that she go slower, or give out 完全に. Even then, when she reached the cabin porch she was glad to 沈む upon it with a gasp.

The golden 日光 was gone. A grey mantle appeared to be creeping over the forest world. The roar of the 勝利，勝つd now seemed behind and above the cabin. Presently Mrs. Denmeade, coming out for a pail of water, 遠くに見つけるd Lucy sitting there.

"嵐／襲撃する comin'," she said. "It'll blow for a while, then rain."

"Oh--I'm--so--out of--breath!" panted Lucy. "It was--wonderful, but--脅すd me...The children! Will they stay at school?"

"Not much. They'll come home, rain or 向こうずね. Edd is goin' to catch it good. Dave Claypool just 棒 by an' stopped to tell me he met Edd up on the mountain."

"Met E--your son! When?"

"This mornin'. Dave was ridin' through. He lets his hosses 範囲 up there. Said he'd run across Edd about fifteen miles 支援する 負かす／撃墜する the Winbrook 追跡する. Shore now Edd can 運動 a pack-train of burros. But they're 負担d 激しい, an' Edd will spare the burros before himself. I reckon he'll 攻撃する，衝突する the 縁 just about dark. An' if the 嵐／襲撃する breaks before then he'll have somethin' 堅い. Rain 負かす／撃墜する here will be snow up there. But he'll come in to-night shore."

Her 事柄-of-factness over what seemed exceedingly serious and her 信用／信任 in the return of her son through 強風 and 不明瞭 awakened in Lucy a first 評価 of the elemental strength of these backwoods people. Lucy 尊敬（する）・点d strength to 耐える above all virtues. How infinitely she herself had been 設立する wanting! She hurried to her room, conscious that again this Edd Denmeade had been 軍隊d upon her attention.

Lucy got out her 令状ing 構成要素s and 始める，決める herself to the important 仕事 of the letters she had planned. At intervals she 設立する her mind wandering, a thing not habitual with her. Yet the circumstances here were extenuating. And all the time she was aware of the 強風. It 急襲するd 負かす／撃墜する the chimney with hollow roar. She was able to think and 令状 終始一貫して through the hours. The Denmeades ate whenever some of them （機の）カム in hungry, a bad and 労働-消費するing habit, Lucy thought, which she would endeavour to break. She was glad, however, that there was no midday meal except Sundays. She grew cramped and 冷淡な from sitting so long on the uncomfortable 議長，司会を務める, 令状ing on her （競技場の）トラック一周. But she 遂行するd the 仕事 of a dozen letters, and an 大きくするing and copying of her 公式文書，認めるs.

This 業績／成就 afforded her 広大な／多数の／重要な satisfaction. Putting on a 激しい coat, she went outside to walk off the 冷気／寒がらせる in her 血. She 設立する Mrs. Denmeade and Allie carrying the day's wash up from the brook 負かす／撃墜する in the gully. Lucy 敏速に lent her 援助, and when she had made four trips, carrying a 激しい 重荷（を負わせる）, she was both out of breath and hot from the 成果／努力.

The grey mantle 総計費 had darkened. Only 時折の 不和s showed a glimpse of blue sky. The 空気／公表する was perceptibly damper. And the roar of 勝利，勝つd now had no break.

Lucy 残り／休憩（する）d a little, trying the while to 勝利，勝つ Liz and Lize to talk to her. They did not sidle away from her any longer, but had not yet reached the communicative 行う／開催する／段階.

Lucy was conscious of worry, of dread, and not until she saw Mary and Dan, with Mertie behind them, coming up the 小道／航路, did she realise the significance of her feelings. They were 安全な. And by the time they reached the gate the tall form of 刑事 （機の）カム stalking into sight.

Manifestly for them the 旅行 home through the forest, under the threshing boughs of the trees, was 単に an 出来事/事件 of school days. However, when Mertie heard from her mother that Edd had been seen 支援する up on the 縁 and would surely be caught in the 嵐／襲撃する, she gave vent to an excited 関心. Not for her brother's safety and 慰安, but for her birthday 現在の of the new dress! Mrs. Denmeade petted and soothed her. "Don't worry, Mertie," she 結論するd. "Reckon you せねばならない know Edd. There's 解雇（する）s of flour on them pack-burros. It ain't likely he'll see that flour spoiled, let alone your new dress."

"But, ma!" 抗議するd Mertie, miserably, "Edd's only human! An' you know how terrible 嵐／襲撃するs are up there."

"Wal, it was your fault Edd packed to Winbrook," retorted her mother. "He could of got the flour at Cedar 山の尾根, only one day's pack. But you had to have a city dress."

Mertie 沈下するd into sullen restless silence, and took no part in the 準備s for supper. The children gravitated to Lucy, who essayed to play with them on the 風の強い porch. The afternoon darkened. Presently the men returned from their 労働s, loud-発言する／表明するd and cheery, smelling of horses and newly ploughed earth. At the wash-（法廷の）裁判 they made much splashing.

"Wal, ma, we got the field ploughed, an' now let her rain," 発表するd Denmeade.

"Let her rain!" cried Mertie shrilly, as if driven. "That's all anybody cares. 嵐／襲撃する--rain--snow! For Edd to be caught out!"

"Aw, so thet's what ails you," returned her father. "Wal, don't you worry 非，不，無 about him."

During supper Denmeade again silenced his unhappy daughter, and though he drawled the けん責（する），戒告 in 冷静な／正味の, 平易な words, there was a 公式文書，認める in them that gave Lucy an idea of the アイロンをかける nature of these backwoodsmen. This was the only instance so far in which the slightest discord or 証拠 of 当局 had appeared in the Denmeade family. To Lucy they seemed so tranquil, so 始める，決める in their rugged 簡単.

After supper the grey twilight 深くするd and a misty rain blew in Lucy's 直面する as she stood on the porch. Above the sound of the 勝利，勝つd she heard a patter of rain on the roof.

"Reckon she'll 破産した／（警察が）手入れする 直接／まっすぐに," said Denmeade, as he passed Lucy, his 武器 十分な of 支持を得ようと努めるd. "I'm buildin' a 解雇する／砲火／射撃 fer you. It's shore goin' to 嵐／襲撃する."

By turning her ear to the north and …に出席するing 熱心に Lucy was able to distinguish between the two main sounds of the 嵐／襲撃する--the 急ぐ and gusty 暴力／激しさ of the 勝利，勝つd around the cabin, and the 深い mighty roar of the 強風 up on the 縁. She shivered with more than 冷淡な. At dark the fury of the 嵐／襲撃する burst. 激流s of rain fell, 溺死するing all other sounds. Lucy was 軍隊d 支援する against the 塀で囲む, but the rain, 運動ing under the porch roof in sheets, sent her indoors.

A 有望な スピードを出す／記録につける 解雇する／砲火／射撃 炎d and 割れ目d in the 射撃を開始する-place of the room she 占領するd. The children were sitting on the 床に打ち倒す, talking, and such was the roar on the roof and the bellow 負かす／撃墜する the chimney that Lucy could not hear a word they said. Evidently, however, something in the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 attracted them. Mary was looking at it, too, thoughtfully, even dreamily, her thin 直面する and large 注目する，もくろむs expressive of a childish hunger for something.

The hour seemed a restless, uncertain one for Lucy. How the 嵐／襲撃する 激怒（する）d and 攻撃するd! She had an almost irresistible 願望（する） to run out into it, a sensation at once 打ち勝つ by abject 恐れる. Even the porch, with its two open doors of lighted rooms, was as 黒人／ボイコット as pitch. Lucy knew she could not have gone a 棒 from the cabin without 存在 lost. The 強風 outside would howl and shriek accompaniments to the roar on the roof; now and then a gust of 勝利，勝つd sent a ボレー of raindrops, 厚い as a stream, against the 窓ガラスs. The red 解雇する／砲火／射撃 hissed with the water that dripped 負かす／撃墜する the chimney. Lucy walked from window to window, from the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place to the door; she sat 負かす／撃墜する to gaze with the children at the opalescent embers settling on the hearth; and she rose to pace the 床に打ち倒す. Her thoughts were wholly 支配するd by the sensations of the 嵐／襲撃する. At last Lucy put on her long 激しい coat and 勇敢に立ち向かうd the porch. But this time she went to the 支援する, where in the 物陰／風下 of the cabin she was out of the fury of 勝利，勝つd and rain. There she stood against the 塀で囲む, peering out into the blackness, feeling the whip of 勝利，勝つd, the 冷淡な wet sting of 飛行機で行くing あられ／賞賛する.

It had grown colder. The rain was 少なくなるing in 容積／容量 and some of it was 氷点の to sleet. While she cowered there the roar on the roof 沈下するd, and 徐々に the 争い of the elements around the cabin slowed and 軟化するd. Presently Lucy became aware of the terrific roar of the 嵐／襲撃する up on the 縁. It shook her heart. It seemed a continuous 雷鳴 and it roused in her unaccustomed feelings. How strange to realise that she both 恐れるd and loved the 黒人／ボイコット wild roaring 無効の out there.

She seemed thousands of miles from her home, from the 砂漠 where she had lived always, the hot glaring little city, with its sun-baked streets winter and summer, its throng of people, 意図 upon money-making, marrying, living. What a contrast they 現在のd to these few hardy families of the mountains! Lucy wondered if a race of people in their gregarious instincts, their despoliation and 破壊 of the wilderness, could not lose something 広大な／多数の／重要な and beautiful. She felt it ばく然と. How had men lived in the long ages before there were cities or 解決／入植地s?

How was it possible for this Edd Denmeade to find his way home, in this ebony blackness, under the roaring and 割れ目ing pines, 負かす／撃墜する over a two-thousand foot mountain 塀で囲む? The thing was incredible. Yet his father and his mother 推定する／予想するd him as a 事柄 of course. He had done it before. They 信用d him. Even the vain Mertie, にもかかわらず her 恐れるs and 疑問s, knew he would come. Then considering all this, what manner of Man was Edd Denmeade? Lucy no longer repudiated her 利益／興味. In her heart there was a vague longing for she knew not what, but in this 事例／患者 she imagined it 予定 to her 失望 at home, with Clara and her suitors, with the type of young men that had the good will of her father. They had received scant 儀礼 from Lucy. No understanding of 感情 stirred in Lucy. What could a boy of the backwoods be to her? But this wild-bee hunter was surely pretty much of a man, and Lucy was curious to see him.

She remained out on the porch until she was 完全に 冷淡な and wet, and still longer, until she had 納得させるd herself that she had a faint realisation of what a 嵐／襲撃する was in this high 木材／素質d country. Then she went in.

All the family, 含むing Uncle 法案, had 組み立てる／集結するd in her room. Denmeade, his brother, and 刑事 and Joe, were grouped 近づく the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place. Denmeade knelt on one 膝, in what Lucy later discovered was his characteristic 残り／休憩（する）ing position, his dark 直面する in the light, his big 黒人／ボイコット hat 押し進めるd 支援する on his 長，率いる. The others were sitting on the 床に打ち倒す, 支援するs to the 塀で囲む, listening to what he was 説. The mother and Allie were seated, silent, on the children's bed. Mertie, crouched on one of the 議長，司会を務めるs, 星／主役にするd sombrely into the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. Mary was bent over, so that she could catch the light on a 調書をとる／予約する. The children played as before.

As Lucy went in, it was Mary who got up to 申し込む／申し出 her 議長，司会を務める. Lucy, as she 前進するd to the 炎ing スピードを出す／記録につけるs, was astonished to see how wet her coat had become. She held it to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, most gratefully conscious of the warmth. Then at the moment Joe interrupted his father's talk.

"I hear bells. Reckon some of the burros got in. Edd won't be far."

"Wal, he'll be with the pack outfit. Rustle out thar," replied his father.

While Denmeade 補充するd the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 the others stamped out, their 刺激（する）s clanking. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie went into the kitchen. Mertie's apathy 消えるd and she 急ぐd out into the 不明瞭 of the porch. Her 発言する／表明する pealed out, calling to Edd. Likewise the children 答える／応じるd to the home-coming of their brother.

Lucy felt happy for all of them. Hanging up her coat, she wiped the raindrops from her 直面する and gave a touch here and there to her dishevelled hair. Then she stood, 支援する to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, palms turned to the genial heat, and, watching the door, she waited with 支えるd 利益／興味, with something of amusement, yet conscious of a vague unformed emotion.

Presently clamour of childish 発言する／表明するs, pitched high above the deeper ones of men, and the 強くたたく of 激しい boots, and jingle of 刺激（する）s, moved across the porch to the door of the cabin. Lucy stepped aside into the 影をつくる／尾行する. Then the light of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 streamed out of the door.

"In thar, all of you," にわか景気d Denmeade. "Let Edd get to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃."

It seemed to Lucy that a tall dark form 現れるd from the gloom into the light, and entered the door With the children and girls. For a moment there was a hubbub. The older members of the 世帯 （機の）カム in, somewhat 静かなing the melee.

"Mertie, here's your 現在の," said the new-corner. His 発言する／表明する seemed rather drawling and 深い. 解放する／撤去させるing himself from 粘着するing 手渡すs, he laid a large 小包, wrapped in a wet slicker, upon a 空いている 議長，司会を務める. Mertie let out a squeal, and pouncing upon the 一括, dropped to her 膝s and began to 涙／ほころび it open.

"Oh, Edd!...If you got it--wet!" she panted.

"No 恐れる. It's wrapped in paper an' oilskin, under the slicker," he said. Then he drew another 一括 from the inside of his 抱擁する fur-collared coat. "Liz! Lize! Danny!"

"Candy!" 叫び声をあげるd the children in unison. And straightway pandemonium broke loose.

When the young man threw his wet sombrero on the 床に打ち倒す 近づく the hearth, and 除去するd his rain-soaked coat, Lucy had a better chance to see what he looked like. Certainly his 直面する was not handsome, but she could not say how much of its dark, haggard rawness was 予定 to （危険などに）さらす. He did not change 表現 as he gazed 負かす／撃墜する upon those whom he had made happy. But Lucy's keen sight and 力／強力にする to read divined the fact that he worshipped Mertie and loved the children. He untied a wet scarf from his neck and threw that beside his sombrero. All the older members of the family were silently gazing 負かす／撃墜する upon the fortunate one. Mary seemed to be revelling in Mertie's excitement, yet, as she gazed up at Edd, her large 注目する，もくろむs questioned him.

"Mary, reckon I have somethin' for you in my pack," he said. "Wait till I warm my 手渡すs. I'm 近づく froze."

With that he strode to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and knelt before it, one 膝 on the 床に打ち倒す, in a posture Lucy had descried as characteristic of his father. Edd 延長するd big, strong, 有能な-looking 手渡すs to the 炎. They were 現実に stiff and blue. Seen nearer, his 直面する, with the firelight 向こうずねing 直接／まっすぐに upon it, was an open one, lean, smooth, with 目だつ nose and large 会社／堅い-lipped mouth and square chin. His 注目する，もくろむs were larger than those of the other Denmeades, light in colour, 意図 in gaze. Still, Lucy could not be 確かな she liked his 直面する. It looked bruised, pinched, blackened. His 手渡すs, too, were grimy. Water dripped from him and ran in little streams over the hearth to sizzle on the hot ashes. He seemed to bring with him the breath of the open, 冷淡な and damp, the smell of the pines and burros, odorous, 階級.

Gasps of delight emanated from those surrounding Mertie as she held up a white beribboned dress, and many were the mingled exclamations that followed. It was the mother who first 回復するd from the （一定の）期間. Peering into the 影をつくる／尾行する, she at last 遠くに見つけるd Lucy.

"There you are," she said. "I was wonderin' if you was seein' the circus...This is my oldest boy. Edd, 会合，会う 行方不明になる Lucy Watson from Felix. She's our home-teacher, come to live with us for a （一定の）期間."

Lucy spoke from the 影をつくる／尾行する. Edd peered out of the firelight, as if 位置を示すing her with difficulty. She did not see the slightest 指示，表示する物 that he was surprised or 利益／興味d. What had she 推定する／予想するd from this much-talked-of wild-bee hunter?

"Can't see you, but 売春婦d-do just the same," he drawled.

Then Denmeade 前進するd to lean his tall form Against the mantel.

"Dave 棒 負かす／撃墜する 早期に--said he'd seen you, an' figgered you'd 攻撃する，衝突する the 縁 追跡する before the 嵐／襲撃する 破産した／（警察が）手入れするd."

"勝利，勝つd held us 支援する all afternoon," replied the son. "An' some of the packs slipped. Reckon I'd made it shore but for that. The 嵐／襲撃する 攻撃する，衝突する us just 支援する from the 縁. I'll be dog-goned if I didn't think we'd never get to where the 追跡する starts 負かす／撃墜する. Hard 勝利，勝つd an' snow 権利 in our 直面するs. Shore was lucky to 攻撃する，衝突する the 追跡する 負かす／撃墜する before it got plumb dark. I led my hoss an' held on to Jennie's tail. Honest I couldn't see an インチ in 前線 of my nose. I couldn't hear the bells. For a while I wasn't shore of anythin'. But when we got 負かす／撃墜する out of the snow I reckoned we might get home. All the burros but Baldy made it. I didn't 行方不明になる him till we got here. He mighty have slipped over the cliff on that 狭くする place. It shore was wet. Reckon, though, he'll come in. He was packin' my （軍の）野営地，陣営 outfit."

"Edd, come an' eat, if you're hungry," called his mother from the kitchen.

"Nary a bite since sun-up. An' I'm a-rarin' to 料金d," he replied, and 集会 up his smoking coat, scarf, and sombrero, he rose.

"Boy, did Blake buy yore honey?" queried his father, …を伴ってing him toward the door.

"I reckon. Every bucket, an' I whooped it up to a dollar a gallon."

"Whew! Dog-gone me! Why, Edd, you'll make a bizness of your bee huntin'!" ejaculated Denmeade.

"Shore I will. I always meant to," 主張するd the son. "Pa, if I can find an' raise as much as five hundred gallons this summer, I'll sell every pint of it."

"No!" Denmeade's exclamation was one of mingled 疑問, amaze, and wondering 評価 of a fortune. They crossed the porch into the kitchen, from which Lucy heard them but indistinctly. Then Mrs. Denmeade appeared at the さらに先に door.

"Lucy, take the candy away from the children an' put it where they can't reach it," she called. "Else they'll gorge themselves an' be sick."

Lucy approached this 疑わしい 仕事 with infinite tact, kindliness, and 説得／派閥. Liz and Lize were presently 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd upon, but Dan was a different proposition. He would not listen to 推論する／理由. When he 設立する Lucy was 会社／堅い he 試みる／企てるd to 妥協, and failing of that, he gave in ungraciously. Flouncing 負かす／撃墜する on his sheepskin rug, he pulled the rag coverlet over him. Lucy could see his 注目する，もくろむs glaring in the firelight.

"Danny, don't you undress when you go to bed?" asked Lucy gently.

"Naw!" he growled.

"Don't you ever?" she went on.

"Not any more. The kids do, but not me."

"Why not you?" 需要・要求するd Lucy. "It's not healthy to sleep in your 着せる／賦与するs. Tell me, Danny. I'm your home-teacher, you know."

"Nobody ever said nuthin' to me," retorted the lad. "Pa an' Joe an' 刑事 sleep in their 着せる／賦与するs. An' Edd--why, I've sleeped with him up in the loft when he never took off nuthin'. Went to bed 権利 in his boots an' 刺激（する）s."

"Oh, indeed!" murmured Lucy constrainedly, somewhat taken aback. "井戸／弁護士席, Danny, all the same it's not a healthy thing to do, and I shall teach you not to."

"Teacher, you'd make me sleep naked?" he 抗議するd. "Aw, it'd be 冷淡な in winter, an' I never have enough covers nohow."

"Danny, I shall make you night-着せる／賦与するs to sleep in. Nice soft warm woolly stuff."

"No long white thing like Mertie sleeps in," he 主張するd belligerently.

"Any way you want. Shirt and pants, if you like," said Lucy.

"Then I can wear them all day, too," he 再結合させるd with 利益／興味, and lay 負かす／撃墜する.

Lucy turned her attention to the twins, very pleased to find them growing いっそう少なく shy with her.

"Can we have some, too?" asked Lize timidly.

"Have what, my dear?" queried Lucy, as she drew the children to her.

"Them Danny'll have to sleep in."

"Indeed you shall! Long white nightgowns, like the little princess in the fairy story."

The twins had never heard of princesses or fairies but they manifested the most human trait of children--love of stories. Lucy held them 入り口d while she undressed them and put them to bed. She was quick to realise her 力／強力にする over them. Her victory was 保証するd.

Then Denmeade entered, carrying some sticks of 支持を得ようと努めるd.

"Reckon you can put them on, if you want to keep up the 解雇する／砲火／射撃," he said. "Wal, you've put the kids to bed. Now, 行方不明になる Lucy, shore that will please ma."

When Mrs. Denmeade （機の）カム in with towel and 水盤／入り江 she appeared astounded to find the children undressed and in bed.

"You rascals never did it all by your lonesome," she averred. "Teacher has been takin' you in 手渡す. But she forgot your dirty 直面するs an' 手渡すs."

"Teacher telled us stories," whispered Liz rapturously.

"Candy an' stories all at once!" exclaimed the mother as she （権力などを）行使するd the towel. "Reckon that'll make bad dreams...Stop wigglin'. Don't you ever want a clean 直面する?...An' your teacher is tired an' needs sleep, too."

After Mrs. Denmeade had gone Lucy の近くにd the door, catching as she did so a glimpse into the dimly lighted kitchen with its dark 直面するs, and she dropped the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 in place やめる instinctively. The 活動／戦闘 made her wonder why she did it, for last night she had left the door unbarred. But to-night she had 設立する the Denmeades walking in and out, as if she were not 住所／本籍d there. She did not put it beyond any one of them to burst unbidden in upon her at any hour. And she wished for the テント Mr. Jenks had 申し込む／申し出d. Yet, suppose she had been in a テント to-night, out there alone in the blackness, with a flimsy 避難所 総計費 and a scant 床に打ち倒すing under her feet! It 現実に gave her a （軽い）地震.

Lucy made no 成果／努力 to hurry to bed. 製図／抽選 the 議長，司会を務める closer to the dying 解雇する／砲火／射撃, she toasted her 手渡すs and feet and 脚s that had felt like ice all evening. Outside, the 勝利，勝つd moaned under the eaves, and from high on the 縁 （機の）カム that thrilling roar. Rain was pattering 刻々と on the roof, a most pleasant sound to 砂漠 ears. Heat Lucy knew in all its 長引かせるd variations; but 冷淡な and rain and snow were strangers. She imagined she was going to love them.

徐々に as the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 died 負かす／撃墜する to a pale red glow the room darkened. It seemed 十分な of 深い warm 影をつくる／尾行するs, 慰安ing Lucy, 緩和 the 緊張する under which she had unconsciously 労働d.

The event that had hung over the Denmeade home ever since she reached it had been consummated--the bee hunter had returned. Lucy had no idea what she had 推定する／予想するd, but whatever it had been, it had not been realised. An agreeable 失望 夜明けd upon her. Edd Denmeade had not struck her as bold, or as a いじめ（る） or a backwoods lout, foolish over girls. His 無関心／冷淡 to her presence or 外見 had struck her singularly. Her 救済 held a hint of pique.

"I think I had a poor opinion of him because everybody talked of him," she mused. "He fooled me."

But that could not account for her sensations now. Never before in her life had Lucy welcomed the firelit 影をつくる／尾行するs, the seclusion of her room, to think about any young man. During school, too, she had imagined she had been 落ちるing in love. This feeling which grew strangely upon her now was vastly dissimilar from that mawkish 感情. She could analyse nothing 明確に. Edd Denmeade had impressed her profoundly, how or why or just what moment she could not tell. Had she been repelled or attracted? She fancied it was the former. She could be repelled by his raw, uncouth, barbarian presence, yet be fascinated by the man of him. That hurried return through the 嵐／襲撃する, 負かす／撃墜する over the fearful 追跡する, in a Stygian blackness--a feat 非，不，無 the いっそう少なく heroic because it had been 成し遂げるd to please a shallow little peacock of a sister--that called to something 深い in Lucy. She thought of her sister Clara, selfish, unloving, thoughtless of others. Lucy felt that she and Edd Denmeade had something in ありふれた--a sister going the wrong way!

She 解任するd his look as Mertie had frantically torn at the 一括. Serene, strong, somehow understanding! It flashed over Lucy, intuitively as much as from deduction, that Edd Denmeade knew his sister's 証拠不十分 and loved her perhaps all the more because of it. That thrilled her, warmed her heart, as did her memory of his smile at the twins, Liz and Lize.

But all the 残り／休憩（する） was 理解できない. Her pride, not of family, but of personal attainments and consciousness of her 力／強力にする to rise above her 駅／配置する, 妨げるd any romantic thought of Edd Denmeade. He was a backwoodsman. She had come there to teach his people and their 親族s and 隣人s how to 緩和する the squalor of their homes. The distance between her and them could not be 橋（渡しをする）d. So her 利益／興味 and 賞賛 must have been impersonal: it was the strange 憤慨 which grew on her, the sense of 存在 repelled by a hunter of the 支持を得ようと努めるd, that was personal and intimate.

Lucy crouched there before the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 till the red embers faded. The rain pattered 刻々と, the 勝利，勝つd 嘆く／悼むd, the wild night wore on. 軍隊d thoughts, trying to solve riddles of her mind and heart, did not bring her tranquillity. At night her imagination and emotion were always more active. Lucy did not 信用 them. She fought the insidious drifting に向かって dreams, repelled it, and went to bed sure of herself.

一時期／支部 V

On Mertie Denmeade's birthday several of her girl schoolmates 棒 up from the school with her. They were to stay 夜通し and go 支援する to school next morning. Lucy could not help wondering where they were going to sleep.

の中で these girls was Sadie Purdue, whom Lucy 観察するd with attention. Sadie 所有するd but little charm, so far as Lucy could see. Her 直面する and 人物／姿／数字 were commonplace, not to be compared with Mertie's, and her complexion was pitted and coarse fibred, 井戸／弁護士席 ふさわしい to her bold 注目する，もくろむs and smug 表現. Her shoulders were plump, her 手渡すs large, her feet clumsy. Lucy could not but wonder what Edd Denmeade saw in this girl. She 反映するd then that it was absurd for her to have 仮定／引き受けることs or opinions, until she knew more of these people. Every one of these Jacks had their Jills. It seemed 信じられない for Lucy to pass 批判的な judgment on this Sadie Purdue and not 含む her companions. Lucy 設立する them colourless, civil, hardy girls, somewhat like Allie Denmeade. She was 厳粛に astonished to find that she had an inexplicable antagonism toward Sadie. For that 推論する／理由 she went out of her way to engage Sadie in conversation.

The girl, 同様に as her companions, was exceedingly curious about Lucy's work. She asked 非常に／多数の questions, the gist of which appeared to be a greedy 利益／興味 in what they all were going to 伸び（る） through Lucy's presence.

"We live 'way 負かす／撃墜する 近づく Cedar 山の尾根," she 知らせるd Lucy. "I stay with my cousin, Amy Claypool, while I'm goin' to school. This's my last 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語, thank goodness."

"What will you do then?" 問い合わせd Lucy. "Teach school?"

"Me teach? 法律s no! couldn't teach. Reckon a girl in this country has nothin' to do but marry when she leaves school. I've had 申し込む／申し出s, but I'm in no hurry."

"Do girls up here marry so young?" asked Lucy.

"From fifteen up. I'm sixteen, same as Mertie."

Lucy encouraged the girl to talk, which seemed to be very 平易な to do. Sadie was impressed by Lucy's 利益／興味, and besides that manifestly had 動機 of her own for 設立するing a repute. Lucy gathered that neither Sadie nor Mertie 手配中の，お尋ね者 to marry one of these bee-追跡（する）ing, corn-raising, 支持を得ようと努めるd-chopping "jacks." They aspired to homes in Winbrook, or at least Cedar 山の尾根. But they were not averse to 存在 法廷，裁判所d and taken to dances.

"Trouble is, when a fellow keeps company with you, he ain't long 満足させるd with just Courtin'," confided Sadie, giggling. "He wants to marry--wants a woman. Here's Edd, Mertie's brother. He took me to one dance an' spent a Sunday callin' on me. Asked me to marry him!...When he'd never even kissed me or put his arm 一連の会議、交渉／完成する me!--The big boob! I told him he hadn't learned much from his honey-bee huntin'."

Lucy 設立する that 発言／述べる a difficult one to answer, and she was at some 苦痛s to 隠す her own reaction. Fortunately Sadie was 急ぐd off by her several friends for the 目的 of a 共同の attack upon Mertie, to make her 陳列する，発揮する the birthday dress. It amused Lucy to see how Mertie 辞退するd and 影響する／感情d modesty, when underneath she was 燃やすing to 明らかにする／漏らす herself in the new dress. At last she 許すd herself to be 説得するd. "All 権利, but only you girls can see me."

They were in the room Lucy 占領するd. Mertie 閉めだした the door, 説: "I don' mind you, teacher. But you mustn't tell."

その結果, with utter 欠如（する） of modesty, and obsessed by a strange frenzy, Mertie donned the dress, to create びっくり仰天 and rapture の中で her friends. By a lucky chance, which Lucy 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd more than the others, the dress 現実に fitted the girl, and changed her wondrously. Many were the exclamations uttered, and one 設立する lodgment in Lucy's memory. "Mertie," said Amy Claypool soberly, "you an' Sadie call Edd a big boob. But I think he's grand."

Late in the afternoon Mrs. Denmeade and Allie began to spread the porch （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with a birthday dinner for Mertie and her 訪問者s. Several young men had ridden in, 真っ先の of whom Lucy recognised as Sam Johnson. These young people arranged themselves around the porch and began what seemed to Lucy a remarkable 展示 of banter and absurdity.

The children dragged Lucy out on the porch, where Sam Johnson 成し遂げるd the office of introduction that Mertie neglected or omitted by choice. Gerd Claypool was a blue-注目する，もくろむd young 巨大（な） with tawny hair, and Hal Miller was a lean, rangy cowboy type, solemn of 直面する, droll of speech. These new 訪問者s manifested enough 利益／興味 in Lucy to 納得させる her that it was not pleasing to Mertie and Sadie, so Lucy made excuses and left them to their peculiar fun. She played with the children, helped Mrs. Denmeade, and then sat in her room, the door and window of which were open. Part of the time Lucy was aware of the banter going on, but she did not become acutely 利益／興味d until the Denmeade boys （機の）カム on the scene.

"Wal, if here ain't the ole bee hunter, home 早期に an' all shaved nice an' clean," drawled Sam Johnson.

"Mertie's birthday, Sam," replied Edd. "How are you all?"

"Jest a-rarin' to go," said Gerd Claypool.

"Edd, I reckon we'd like a lick of that honey マリファナ of yours," 追加するd Hal Miller.

"I gave ma the last half-gallon for Mertie's party," replied Edd. "You might get some, if you don't 支援する on your halter too long."

"What's become of all your honey?" queried Sam with 利益／興味. "I remember you had a lot."

"Sold. An' I'm 申し込む／申し出d a dollar a gallon for all I can fetch to Winbrook."

Sam whistled. "Say, you ain't such a dog-gone fool as we thought, chasin' bees all the time."

"I'll make it a 商売／仕事," said Edd.

"Edd, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to save some of your honey," interposed Sadie Purdue slyly.

"What you mean?" asked Edd bluntly.

"Girls like honey," she answered, in a tormenting トン no one could mistake.

"Reckon I savvy," returned Edd with good humour. "But honey words an' honey ways with girls don't come natural to me, like with Sam."

His reply raised a howl of laughter at Sam's expense.

"Wal, I ain't noticin' that I ever go to any dances alone," 再結合させるd Sam sarcastically.

Lucy could see from the 影をつくる／尾行する of her room through the door most of the group of young people on the porch. Sam leaned behind Sadie, who sat by the porch rail. Gerd and Hal 占領するd seats on the canvas packs. The other girls sat on a （法廷の）裁判. 刑事 was the only one of the Denmeade boys in sight. He appeared rather out of it, and stood in the background, silent, listening, with a rather pleasant smile on his keen 直面する.

It was most 利益／興味ing and instructive for Lucy to 観察する and hear these young people. What struck her most was the simple, unrestrained 表現 of what she divined as a 原始の 楽しみ in tormenting. At the 底（に届く） of it was the unconscious satisfaction at another's 苦痛. Sadie's 表現 was a teasing, joyful malignance. Manifestly she was revelling in the fun at the boys' expense. Mertie wore a bored look of 優越, as if she were 許容するing the attentions of these young men for the moment. Amy Claypool's 直面する, honest and comely, was 花冠d in smiles. The boys 近づく them wore lazy, bantering 表現s, without selfish or unfriendly hint. But to the 極度の慎重さを要する Lucy, used to the better educated, their talk seemed 天然のまま, almost 残虐な.

For a while the 単独の topic of conversation was the dance on Friday night. It 表明するd the wholesome and happy regard these 青年s and maidens held in the only recreation and social 機能（する）／行事 that fell to their lot. Personalities and banterings were forgotten for the moment and other wonderful dances were remembered; conjectures as to 出席, music, ice cream, were indulged in. Presently, however, when they had exhausted the more wholesome reactions to this dance 支配する they 逆戻りするd to the 必然的な banter.

"Say, 刑事, have you 設立する a girl tall enough to take to the dance--one you wouldn't have to stoop 'way over to reach?" drawled Sam Johnson.

刑事's youthful 直面する turned ruddy. The attention suddenly and 突然に thrown upon him 原因（となる）d him 激しい 当惑. The 目だつ bone in his throat worked up and 負かす／撃墜する.

"Boy, yore handy with 道具s," interposed Hal. "Make a pair of stilts for that fat little sister of 地雷 yore 甘い on. She's four feet eight an' 重さを計るs one fifty. Reckon you'd make Sam an' Sadie look sick."

Other sallies, just as swift and laugh-刺激するing, gave the poor boy no time to 回復する, even if he had been able to 報復する. It was his sister Allie who （機の）カム to the 救助（する） from the door of the kitchen.

"Sadie, who're you goin' with?" she 問い合わせd sweetly.

"Sam. He's the best ダンサー in this country," she 発表するd.

"So it's settled then," 再結合させるd Allie casually. "When I asked him the other day who he was goin' with I 肉親，親類d of got a hunch it might not be you."

Sadie flashed a surprised and resentful look up at Sam. He took it, 同様に as the mirth roused by Allie's covert 発言／述べる, with an equanimity that showed him rather 外交の.

"Sadie, I told Allie you hadn't 受託するd my 招待する, which you hadn't," he said.

"Reckon it wasn't necessary," she retorted, in a トン that 伝えるd the impression of an understanding between them.

"Wal, Sadie," drawled Edd's slow, 冷静な／正味の 発言する／表明する, "I reckon you'll find it necessary to hawg-tie Sam for dances--or any other 肉親，親類d of shindig."

This sly speech from Edd Denmeade gave Lucy an 予期しない and delightful thrill. Almost she joined in the hilarity it stirred. Even the self-conscious Mertie burst into laughter. For a moment the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs had been turned; Sam was at a loss for a retort; and Sadie gave a (n)艦隊／(a)素早いing glimpse of her cat-like nature under her smugness and pleasant 保証／確信.

"Edd, have you asked any girl yet?" she 問い合わせd sweetly.

"Nope. Not yet. I've been away, you know," he replied.

"'Course you're goin'?"

"Never 行方不明になるd a dance yet, Sadie."

"It's gettin' late in the day, Edd," she went on 本気で. "You oughtn't go alone to dances, as you do いつかs. It's not fair to break in on boys who have partners. They just have to 始める，決める out those dances...Edd, you せねばならない be findin' you a 正規の／正選手 girl."

Sadie's 発言する／表明する and 直面する were as a transparent mask for the maliciousness of her soul.

"Shore, Edd," put in Sam, "an' you せねばならない hawg-tie her, too."

"Funny aboot Edd, ain't it?" interposed Gerd. "The way he can see in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Say, he's got 注目する，もくろむs! He can line a bee fer half a mile. But he can't line a girl."

"Nope, you're wrong, boy," replied Edd, with evident 抑制. "Never had no trouble linin' a girl. But I 港／避難所't got the soft-soap you fellows use."

"Who are you goin' to ask to the dance?" 主張するd Sadie.

They nagged him, then, with this query, and with advice and suggestions, and with （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that no 事柄 what girl he asked he would find she had already 受託するd an 招待. It must have been their way of having fun. But to Lucy it seemed 残虐な. Almost she felt sorry for Edd Denmeade It struck her that his friends and 親族s must have some good 推論する／理由 for so unmercifully flaying him.

For, にもかかわらず the general bantering, they had made him the centre and the butt of their peculiar way of enjoying themselves. The girl Sadie seemed the instigator of this 強調 thrown upon Edd, and Sam ably seconded her.

Amy Claypool, however, manifested a kindlier spirit, though 明らかに she did not realise the tirade was little short of a jealous brutality.

"Edd, I'd ask the new schoolmarm," she said, lowering her 発言する／表明する. "She's awful pretty an' nice. Not a bit stuck-up."

Lucy heard this suggestion, and at once became a prey to amusement and 狼狽. Why could not the young people, and their 年上のs, too, leave her out of all reckoning? Her pulse quickened with an excitation that displeased her. How her very ears seemed to 燃やす!

Sadie Purdue burst into a peal of laughter. "Amy, you're crazy!" she exclaimed. "That city girl wouldn't go dancin' with a wild-bee hunter!"

This 肯定的な 主張 did not produce any mirth. No 疑問 Sadie had no 意向 now of 存在 funny. A red 位置／汚点／見つけ出す showed in her cheek. The sudden 捨てる of boots and clank of 刺激（する）s attested to the fact that Edd Denmeade had leaped to his feet.

"Sadie Purdue, I reckon it's no 不名誉 to 追跡（する） bees," he said はっきりと.

"Who said it was?" she retorted. "But I've been の中で town folks. You take my hunch an' don't ask her."

Edd stalked off the porch, coming into 範囲 of Lucy's sight when he got 負かす／撃墜する into the yard. His stride seemed to be that of a man who was hurrying to get away from something unpleasant.

"Sadie, you shore don't know it all," said Amy mildly. "If this home-schoolmarm wasn't a nice an' 肉親，親類d sort she'd not be up heah. Fun is fun, but you had no call to 侮辱 Edd."

"侮辱 nothin'," snapped Sadie. "I was only tryin' to save his feelin's."

"You never liked Edd an' you don't want anyone else to," returned Amy. "I know two girls who might have liked Edd but for you."

Lucy's heart warmed to this 穏やかな-発言する／表明するd Amy Claypool. She did not make the least show of spirit. Sadie turned petulantly to Sam, and there was a moment of rather 緊張するd silence.

"Come an' get it, you birthday party," called Allie from the door.

That call relieved the 状況／情勢, and merriment at once 埋め立てるd the young people. Lucy was glad to see them dive for seats at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. She was conscious of a strength and depth of 利益／興味 やめる out of 割合 to what should have been natural to her. Still, she had elected to 請け負う a serious work の中で these mountaineers. How could she help but be 利益／興味d in anything that 付随するd to them? But the wild-bee hunter! Quick as a flash then Lucy had an impulse she 決定するd to 満足させる. Would Edd Denmeade give these guests of his sister's the last bit of the honey upon which he 始める，決める such 蓄える／店? Lucy felt that he ought not to do so and would not, yet she contrarily hoped that he might. There appeared to her only one way to ascertain, and that was to walk by the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and see. にもかかわらず her 決意, she hesitated. Then fortunately the problem was solved for her.

Allie, sailing out of the kitchen door, 始める，決める a pan rather noisily upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "There's the last of Edd's honey. Fight over it!"

The next few moments' 観察 afforded Lucy the satisfaction of seeing the birthday guests 現実に engaged によれば Allie's suggestion. From that scene Lucy formed her impression of the deliciousness of wild-bee honey.

Lucy did not lay 注目する，もくろむs upon Edd Denmeade until late the に引き続いて morning, when, after the 訪問者s and school children had ridden away, he 現在のd himself before her where she played with the twins on the porch.

"Mornin'. Reckon I'd like a few words with you," he said.

"Why, 喜んで!" replied Lucy, as she sat up to gaze at him.

Edd was standing 負かす／撃墜する in the yard, 持つ／拘留するing his sombrero in his 手渡すs and turning it edgewise 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. On the moment he did not look at her. Seen now at の近くに 範囲, with all the stains of that terrible ride home 除去するd from garb and 直面する, he appeared vastly different. He was 労働ing with thought.

"Ma an' pa have been tellin' me about you, but I reckon I'm not 満足させるd."

"Yes? Is there anything I can tell you?" said Lucy, relieved. She had 現実に been afraid he would ask her to go to the dance.

"Shore. I want to know about this here work you're goin' to do."

Then he looked up to 会合，会う her 注目する，もくろむs. Lucy had never met just such a ちらりと見ること. His 注目する，もくろむs were so （疑いを）晴らす and grey that they seemed expressionless. Yet Lucy conceived a vivid impression of the honesty and 簡単 of the soul from which they looked. その結果 Lucy took the 苦痛s to explain やめる at length the nature of the work she had undertaken の中で his people. He listened intently, standing motionless, watching her with a 安定した gaze that was disconcerting.

"Pa an' ma talked more things you were goin' to get the 明言する／公表する to buy for us," he said reflectively. "I'm wonderin' if they don't take more to that."

"It would be only natural," 答える／応じるd Lucy 真面目に. "I must have time to show actual good, rather than 伸び（る）."

"I reckon. Pa's sendin' me to Cedar 山の尾根, where I'm to 地位，任命する your letters an' buy all that outfit you want. I'm takin' three burros to pack. Reckon I'll put the sewin' machine on Jennie."

"Oh--a little burro to carry it--all alone!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Shore. Jennie packed the kitchen stove up that 追跡する you come on. An' she packed a hundred an' fifty 続けざまに猛撃するs of honey to Winbrook."

"井戸／弁護士席, I'll say that Jennie is a wonderful little beast of 重荷（を負わせる）," replied Lucy.

"Now--you 目的（とする） to stay with us awhile, an' then go to Claypool's an' Johnson's an' Miller's an' Sprall's?"

"Yes, that is my 計画（する）, but no 限定された time is 始める，決める. I have all the time there is, as I heard your Uncle 法案 say."

"Wal, it's a bad idea. It won't do," he 宣言するd.

"How? Why?" queried Lucy anxiously.

"First off, you're too young an' pretty," he said, wholly unconscious of the language of compliment.

"Oh!" returned Lucy, almost 混乱させるd. "But surely, Mr. Denmeade--"

"Nobody ever called me mister," he interrupted.

"Indeed!...I--井戸／弁護士席--surely my 青年--and my good looks, as you are 肉親，親類d to call them, need not stand in my way?"

"Shore they will. If you were an old woman, or even middle-老年の, it might do. But you're a girl."

"Yes, I am," 再結合させるd Lucy, puzzled and amused. "I can't 否定する that."

Manifestly he regarded his 明らかにする 声明 as 十分な 証拠 on the point, whatever this was; for he went on to say that the several families would quarrel over her, and it would all end in a a 列／漕ぐ／騒動.

"Reckon no 事柄 what pa said I'd never let you go to Sprall's," he 結論するd 簡単に.

"You...May I ask what 商売／仕事 it would be of yours?"

"Wal, somebody has to take these here things on his shoulders, an' I reckon most of them 落ちる on me," he replied.

"I don't understand you," said Lucy 強制的に.

"Wal, somethin' wrong is always happenin' up here の中で us people. An' I reckon I'm the only one who sees it."

"Wrong! How could it be wrong for me to go to Sprall's?" 抗議するd Lucy. "From what I hear they need me a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 more than any family up here."

"行方不明になる, I reckon you'd better not believe all you hear," he returned. "If you was to ride over to Sprall's you'd say they'd せねばならない be washed an' dressed, an' their cabin 燃やすd. But that's all you'd see unless you stayed a day or so."

"Oh!...Suppose I'd stay?" queried Lucy.

"You'd see that was long enough."

"But don't you understand I'm here to help poor families--no 事柄 how dirty or ignorant or--or even wicked?" cried Lucy poignantly.

"Shore I understand. An' I reckon it's your goodness of heart, an' of these people who sent you. But it won't do, maybe not for us, an' shore an' 確かな never for such as the Spralls."

"You must tell me why, if you 推定する／予想する me to 支払う／賃金 the least attention to what you say," retorted Lucy stubbornly.

"Shore! can't talk about the Sprall women to a girl like you," he 抗議するd. "If ma won't tell you, it's no 職業 for me. But I reckon there's no need. You're not goin' to Sprall's."

Lucy was at a loss for words. His 明らかにする 主張 did not seem to 動かす her 怒り／怒る so much as a 有罪の判決 that for some 推論する／理由 or other she would not go to Sprall's.

"I've heard, since I've been here, that there was bad 血 between you and Bud Sprall. It must have been your mother who said it," replied Lucy slowly, trying to keep her temper.

"Nope. The bad 血 is on Bud's 味方する. Reckon if there'd been any on 地雷 I'd have killed him long ago...Now, 行方不明になる, you're a city girl, but you せねばならない have a little sense. If I told you I couldn't let Mertie stay where Bud Sprall was--you'd understand that, I reckon."

"Yes. I am not やめる so stupid as you seem to think," retorted Lucy.

"Wal, for the same 推論する／理由 I'd not let you go, either...Now we're wastin' time talkin' about Sprall's. To come 支援する to this here work of yours, I'm sorry I can't see it favourable like pa an' ma. But I just can't."

"I'm sorry, too," replied Lucy soberly. ". It'll be discouraging to have even one person against me. But why--why?"

"I reckon I can't 人物／姿／数字 that out so quick," he replied. ". It's the way I feel. If you was goin' to live の中で us always I might feel different. But you won't last up here very long. An' suppose you do teach Liz an' Lize an' Danny a lot of things. They've got to grow up an' live here. They might be happier knowin' いっそう少なく. It's what they don't know that don't make any difference."

"You're terribly wrong, Edd Denmeade," replied Lucy with spirit.

"Ahuh! Wal, that's for you to 証明する," he returned Imperturbably. "I'll be goin' now. An' I reckon I'll fetch your outfit in about midday to-morrow."

Lucy 星／主役にするd after the tall 人物／姿／数字 as it stalked with a flapping of chaps keeping time with a clinking of 刺激（する）s. Edd Denmeade was six feet tall, slender, yet not lean like his brothers. He was built like a 狭くする wedge, only his 団体／死体 and 四肢s were 一連の会議、交渉／完成するd, with small waist, small hips, all giving an impression of 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の suppleness and strength. Lucy had seen riders of the 範囲 whose form 似ているd this young bee hunter's. They had been, however, ぎこちない on their feet, showing to best advantage when 機動力のある on horseback. This Denmeade had a long, quick, springy stride.

When he had passed out of sight 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路 Lucy let the children play alone while she pondered over his thought-刺激するing words. She realised that he was 権利 in a way, and that it might be possible to do these children more 害（を与える） than good. But never if she could only impress them lastingly. The facts of the 事例／患者 were as plain as printed words to her. These backwoods people were many 世代s behind city people in their 開発.

In a 公正に／かなり intelligent and 幅の広い way Lucy had しっかり掴むd at the 根底となるs of the question of the 進化 of the human race. Not so many thousand years 支援する all the human family, scattered 広範囲にわたって over the globe, had lived nomad lives in the forests, 治める／統治するd by 条件s of food and water. さらに先に 支援する, their progenitors had been barbarians, and still more remotely they had been 洞穴 men, fighting the 洞穴 耐える and the sabre-toothed tiger. Lucy had seen pictures in a 科学の 調書をとる／予約する of the bones of these men and beasts. In ages 支援する all the wandering tribes of men had to 追跡（する） to live, and their problems were few. Meat to eat, 肌s to wear, 保護 from beasts and 荒廃させるing 禁止（する）d of their own 種類! Yet, even so, through the long ages, these savages had 進歩d mentally and spiritually. Lucy saw that as a 法律 of life.

These backwoods people were 簡単に a little closer to the old order of 原始の things than their more fortunate brethren of civilisation. Even if they so willed with implacable tenacity they could not for ever 持つ／拘留する on to their 天然のまま and elemental lives. They could never 避ける the line of 進歩. Edd Denmeade's father was a backwoodsman; Edd himself was a bee hunter; his son would most likely be a forest 特別奇襲隊員 or lumberman, and his grandson perhaps become a 農業者 or a 労働者 in the city.

自然に this 巨大（な） boy of the 支持を得ようと努めるd understood nothing of all this. Yet he had a quaint philosophy which Lucy felt she understood. In a sense the unthinking savage and the 原始の white child were happier than any children of civilised peoples. In a way it might be a pity to 略奪する them of their instincts, educate them out of a 純粋に natural 存在. But from the very 夜明け of life on the 惑星 the 前進する of mind had been 必然的な. Lucy was familiar with many writers who ascribed this fact to nature. Her personal 有罪の判決 was that beyond and above nature was God.

If Edd Denmeade was not stupid and stubborn she believed that she could enlighten him. It might be 利益／興味ing to teach him; yet, on the other 手渡す, it might 要求する more patience and kindliness than she 所有するd. Evidently he was the strongest factor の中で the young Denmeades, and perhaps の中で all these young people. にもかかわらず the unflattering hints which had fostered her first impression, she 設立する that, after talking 本気で with him, she had a better opinion of him than of any of the other young men she had met. In all fairness she was bound to 収容する／認める this.

All the 残り／休憩（する） of the day and evening Lucy 設立する the thoughts Edd had roused running in her mind, not wholly unsatisfying. Somehow he roused her combativeness, yet, 見解（をとる）d just as one of the Denmeades, she warmed to the problem of helping him. Moreover, the success of her 投機・賭ける with this family no 疑問 hinged mostly upon 変えるing the 年上の son to her support. Perhaps she could find an avenue open to her through his love of Mertie and devotion to the children.

Next morning 設立する Lucy more energetic and active mentally than she had been so far. She had 残り／休憩（する）d; the problem she 直面するd had 転換d to a 事柄 of her own 力／強力にするs. にもかかわらず, neither the children, nor helping Mrs. Denmeade, nor reading over some half-forgotten treatises 親族 to her work, 利益／興味d her to the point of 解任するing Edd Denmeade from mind. Lucy realised this, but 辞退するd to bother with any reflection upon it.

She was in her room just before the noon hour when she heard Uncle 法案 stamp up on the porch and drawl out: "Say, 物陰／風下, hyar comes Edd drivin' the pack-burros."

Denmeade strode out to exclaim. "So soon! Wal, it do （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 hell how that boy can rustle along with a pack-outfit."

"激しい 負担, too. Jennie looks like a camel," replied Uncle 法案. "Reckon I'll lend a 手渡す on packin'."

Lucy やめる unnecessarily 手配中の，お尋ね者 to run out to see the burros, a 願望（する） that she stifled. She heard the tinkle of their bells and the patter of their little hoofs as they （機の）カム up to the porch.

"Wal, son, you must been a-rarin' to git home," drawled Denmeade.

"Nope. I just 緩和するd them along," replied Edd. "But I packed before sunup."

"Fetch all 行方不明になる Lucy's outfit?"

"Some of it had to be ordered. Sewin' machine an' a lot of 乾燥した，日照りの goods. It'll be on the 行う／開催する／段階 next week, an' I'll pack it then. Reckon I had about all I could pack to-day, anyhow."

"Say, Edd," called Allie's lusty 発言する／表明する from the kitchen, "who'd you go an' 嵐／襲撃する for the dance?"

"Reckon I 港／避難所't asked nobody yet," replied Edd laconically.

"You goin' to stay home?" 再結合させるd Allie, her large でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる appearing in the kitchen doorway. Her 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 直面する 表明するd surprise and 悔いる.

"Never stayed home yet, Allie, did I?"

"No. But Edd, you mustn't go to any more dances alone," said his sister solicitously. "It makes the boys mad, an' you've had fights enough."

"Wal, you didn't notice I got licked bad, did you?" he drawled.

Allie went 支援する into the kitchen, where she talked volubly in the same 緊張する to her mother.

"Edd, reckon we'd better carry this stuff in where 行方不明になる Lucy can keep the kids out of it, huh?" queried Denmeade.

"I shore say so. It cost a lot of money. I hope to goodness she makes out with it."

Lucy heard his quick step on the porch, then saw him, 重荷（を負わせる）d with bundles and boxes, approaching her door. She rose to 会合，会う him.

"Howdy! I got 支援する pronto," he said. "Pa thinks you'd better have this stuff under your 注目する，もくろむ. Where'll we stack it? Reckon it'll all make a pile."

"Just 始める，決める light things on the beds, 激しい ones on the 床に打ち倒す. I'll look after them," replied Lucy. "Indeed you made splendid time. I'm very 感謝する. Now I shall be busy."

Some time during the afternoon, when the curious members of the 世帯 had 満足させるd themselves with an exhaustive scrutiny of the many articles Lucy had in her room, and had gone about their work and play, Edd Denmeade 現在のd himself at the door.

"Reckon I'd like to ask you something," he said, rather breathlessly and low.

"Come in," replied Lucy, looking up from where she knelt の中で a 混乱 of articles she had bought.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" he asked.

Lucy hesitated. His shyness and 苦悩 manifestly 衝突／不一致d. But tremendous as must have been this 問題／発行する for him, he had come out 率直に with it.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Thank you, Edd, but I must 拒絶する／低下する," she replied. "You see what a mess I'm in here with all this stuff. I must straighten it out. To-morrow work begins."

He 注目する，もくろむd her with something of a change in his 表現 or feeling, she could not tell what. "Reckon I savvied you'd say no. But I'm askin' if you mean that no for good. There's a dance every week, an' you can't help bein' asked. I'm givin' you a hunch. If any schoolmarm stayed away from dances, folks up here would believe she thought she was too good for us."

"Thank you. I understand," replied Lucy, impressed by his 誠実. "Most assuredly I don't think I'm too good to go to a dance here, and enjoy myself, too."

"Maybe, then--it's just me you reckon you'd not like to go with," he returned, with just a tinge of bitterness.

"Not at all," Lucy 急いでd to reply. "I'd go with you the same as with anyone. Why not?"

"Reckon I don't know any 推論する／理由. But Sadie Purdue was pretty shore she did...You wouldn't really be ashamed of me, then?"

"Of course not," replied Lucy, at her wits' end to 会合，会う this 状況／情勢. "I heard you spoken of very 高度に by Mrs. Lynn at Cedar 山の尾根. And I can see how your parents regard you. At my home in Felix it was not the custom for a girl to go to a dance upon such slight 知識 as ours. But I do not 推定する／予想する city customs up here in the 支持を得ようと努めるd."

"Reckon I like the way you talk," he said, his 直面する lighting. "Shore it doesn't rile me all up. But that's no 事柄 now...Won't you please go with me?"

"No," answered Lucy, decidedly, a little nettled at his persistence, when she had been 肉親，親類d enough to explain.

"Shore I didn't ask any girl before you," he 控訴，上告d plaintively.

"That doesn't make any difference."

"But it means an awful lot to me," he went on doggedly.

It would never do to change her mind after 辞退するing him, so there seemed nothing left but to shake her 長，率いる smilingly and say she was sorry. Then without a word he strode out and clanked off the porch. Lucy went on with the work at 手渡す, becoming so 利益／興味d that she forgot about him. いつか later he again 現在のd himself at her door. He was clean shaven; he had 小衝突d his hair while wet, plastering it smooth and glossy to his 罰金-形態／調整d 長，率いる; he wore a light-coloured flannel shirt and a red tie; and new blue-ジーンズ trousers. Lucy could not help seeing what a 広大な／多数の／重要な 改良 this made in his 外見.

"Reckon you 港／避難所't thought it over?" he queried hopefully.

"What?" returned Lucy.

"About goin' to the dance?"

"I've been very busy with all this stuff, and 港／避難所't had time to think of anything else."

"Shore I never 手配中の，お尋ね者 any girl to go with me like I do you," he said. "Most because Sadie made fun of the idea."

This did not appear 特に flattering to Lucy. She wondered if the young man had really been in love with that smug-直面するd girl.

"Edd, it's not very nice of you to want me just to 復讐 yourself on Sadie," 再結合させるd Lucy 厳しく.

"Reckon it's not all that," he replied hurriedly. "Sadie an' Sam an' most of them rake me over. It's got to be a sore point with me. An' here you （頭が）ひょいと動く up, the prettiest and stylishest girl who ever （機の）カム to Cedar 山の尾根. Think what a （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 I'd have on them if I could take you. An' shore that's not sayin' a word about my own feelin's."

"井戸／弁護士席, Edd, I must say you've made 修正するs for your other speech," said Lucy graciously. "All the same, I said no and I meant no."

"行方不明になる Lucy, I 断言する I'd never asked you again if you'd said that for good. But you said as much as you'd go some time. Shore if you're ever goin' to our dances why not this one, an' let me be the first to take you?"

He was earnest; he was pathetic; he was somehow most difficult to resist. Lucy felt that she had not been 願望（する）d in this way before. To take her would be the 広大な／多数の／重要な event in his life. For a moment she 労働d with vacillation. Then she 反映するd that if she 産する／生じるd here it would surely lead to other 義務s and very likely to 感情. Thereupon she 常習的な her heart, and this time gave him a いっそう少なく kindly 拒絶. Edd dropped his 長，率いる and went away.

Lucy spent another hour unpacking and arranging the 非常に／多数の working 構成要素s that had been brought from Cedar 山の尾根. She heard Mrs. Denmeade and Allie 準備するing an 早期に supper, so they could ride off to the dance before sunset. Lucy had finished her 仕事 for the afternoon and was waiting to be called to supper when again Edd appeared at the door.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" he asked, 正確に as he had the first time. Yet there seemed some subtle change in both トン and look.

"井戸／弁護士席, indeed you are persevering, if not some other things," she replied, really annoyed. "Can't you understand plain English?...I said no!"

"Shore I heard you the first time," he retorted. "But I reckoned, seein' it's so little for you to do, an' means so much to me, maybe you'd--"

"Why does it mean so much to you?" she interrupted.

"'原因（となる） if I can take you I'll show them this once, an' then I'll never go again," he replied.

It cost Lucy 成果／努力 to turn away from his 控訴，上告ing 直面する and again 否定する him, which she did curtly. He disappeared. Then Mrs. Denmeade called her to supper. Edd did not show himself during the meal.

"Edd's all het up over this dance," 観察するd Mrs. Denmeade. "It's on account of Sadie's sharp tongue Edd doesn't care a 非難する for her now an' never did care much, if my reckonin' is 権利. But she's mean."

"法律s! I hope Edd doesn't fetch that Sally Sprall," interposed Allie. "He said he was dog-goned minded to do it."

"That hussy!" ejaculated Mrs. Denmeade. "Edd wouldn't take her."

"Ma, he's awful 始める，決める on havin' a girl this dance," 答える／応じるd Allie.

"I'll bet some day Edd gets a better girl than Sadie Purdue or any of her 一族／派閥," 宣言するd the mother.

A little while later Lucy watched Mrs. Denmeade and Allie, with the children and Uncle 法案, ride off 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路 to disappear in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Edd had not returned. Lucy 結論するd he had ridden off as had his brothers and their father. She really regretted that she had been obdurate. Coming to think about it, she did not like the idea of 存在 alone in the cabin all night. Still, she could 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 herself in and feel perfectly 安全な.

She walked on the porch, listening to the murmur of the stream and the barking of the squirrels. Then she watched the sun 始める，決める in golden glory over the yellow-and-黒人／ボイコット cape of 塀で囲む that jutted out toward the west. The day had been pleasantly warm and was now growing 冷静な／正味の. She drew a 深い breath of the pine-laden 空気／公表する. This wild country was 製図／抽選 her. A sense of gladness filled her at the thought that she could stay here 無期限に／不明確に.

Her reflections were interrupted by the 割れ目 of アイロンをかける-shod hoof on 激しく揺する. Lucy gave a start. She did not want to be caught there alone. Peering through the foliage, she 遠くに見つけるd Edd striding up the 小道／航路, 主要な two saddled horses. She was immensely relieved, almost glad at sight of him, and then began to wonder what this meant.

"If he's not going to ask me again!" she soliloquised, and the paradox of her feeling on the moment was that she was both pleased and irritated at his persistence. "The 神経 of him!"

Edd led the two horses into the yard and up to the porch. His stride was that of a man who would not easily be turned 支援する. In spite of her 支配（する）／統制する, Lucy felt a thrill.

"Reckon you thought I'd gone?" he queried as he 直面するd her.

"No; I didn't think about you at all," returned Lucy, which speech was not literally true.

"Wal, you're goin' to the dance," he drawled, 冷静な／正味の and 平易な, with a 公式文書，認める in his 発言する／表明する she had never heard. "Oh--indeed! I am?" she exclaimed tartly.

"You shore are."

"I am not," flashed Lucy.

With a 肺 he reached out his long 武器 and, wrapping them 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her, he 解除するd her off the porch as easily as if she had been an empty 解雇（する）. Lucy was so astounded that for an instant she could not move 手渡す or foot. A knot seemed to form in her breast. She began to shake. Then, awakening to this 乱暴／暴力を加える, she began to struggle.

"How dare you? Let me 負かす／撃墜する I 解放（する） me!" she cried.

"Nope. You're goin' to the dance," he said, in the same drawling トン with its peculiar inflection.

"You--you ruffian!" burst out Lucy, suddenly beside herself with 激怒（する）. Frantically she struggled to 解放する／自由な herself. This 猛烈な／残忍な energy only augmented her emotions. She tore at him, 格闘するd and writhed, and then in desperation fraught with sudden 恐れる she began to （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 him with her 握りこぶしs. At that he changed his 持つ／拘留する on her until she seemed strung in アイロンをかける 禁止（する）d. She could not move. It was a terrible moment, in which her 長，率いる reeled. What did he mean to do with her?

"Reckon I'll have to 持つ／拘留する you till you やめる fightin'," he said. "Shore it'd never do to put you up on Baldy now. He's a gentle hoss, but if you kicked around on him I reckon he might 傷つける you."

"Let--me--go!" gasped Lucy hoarsely. "Are--you crazy?"

"Nope. Not even riled. But shore my patience is wearin' out."

"Patience! Why, you lout--you brute--you wild-bee hunter!" raved Lucy, and again she 試みる／企てるd to break his 持つ／拘留する. How utterly 権力のない she was! He had the strength of a 巨大（な）. A sudden panic 攻撃する，非難するd her fury.

"My God! You don't mean--to 傷つける me--害（を与える） me?" she panted.

"You dog-gone fool!" he ejaculated, as if utterly astounded.

"Oh!...Then what--do you mean?"

"I mean nothin' 'cept you're goin' to that dance," he 宣言するd ruthlessly. "An' you're goin' if I have to hawg-tie you. Savvy?"

その結果 he 解除するd her and 始める，決める her in the saddle of one of the horses, and threw her left foot over so that she was astride.

"No kickin' now! Baldy is watchin' out of the corner of his 注目する，もくろむ," said this wild-bee hunter.

The 侮辱／冷遇 of her position, astride a horse with her dress caught above her 膝s, was the last Lucy could 耐える.

"Please let--me 負かす／撃墜する," she whispered. "I'll--go--with you."

"Wal, I'm shore glad you're goin' to show sense," he drawled, and with 活動／戦闘 markedly in contrast to his former ones he helped her dismount.

Lucy staggered 支援する against the porch, so weak she could hardly stand. She 星／主役にするd at this young backwoodsman, whose bronzed 直面する had paled わずかに.

He had bruised her 武器 and terrified her. 打ち勝つ by her sensations, she burst into 涙／ほころびs.

"Aw, don't cry!" Edd expostulated. "I'm sorry I had to 軍隊 you...An' you don't want to go to a dance with red 注目する，もくろむs an' nose."

If Lucy had not been so utterly shocked she could have laughed at his solicitude. Hopeless indeed was this backwoodsman. She strove to 回復する 支配（する）／統制する over her feelings, and presently moved her 手渡すs from her 直面する.

"Is there any place 負かす／撃墜する there--to change--where a girl can dress?" she asked huskily. "I can't ride horseback in this."

"Shore is," he said gaily.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席," returned Lucy. "I'll get a dress--and go with you."

She went to her room and, 開始 the closet, she selected the prettiest of the several dresses she had brought. This, with slippers, 徹底的に捜す, and 小衝突 and mirror, she packed in a small 支配する. She seemed stunned, locked in a 肉親，親類d of maze. Kidnapped! 軍隊d by a wild-bee hunter to go to a backwoods dance! Of all adventures possible to her, this one seemed the most incredible! Yet had she not been selfish, heartless? What 権利 had she to come の中で such 天然のまま people and 試みる／企てる to help them? This 乱暴／暴力を加える would end her ambition.

Then hurriedly slipping into her riding 着せる／賦与するs, Lucy took the 捕らえる、獲得する and returned to the porch.

"Wal, now that's 罰金," said Edd, as he reached for the 支配する. He helped her 開始する and 縮めるd the stirrups without speaking. Then he put a big 手渡す on the 鞍馬 of her saddle and looked up at her.

"Shore now, if it'd been Sadie or any girl I know, she'd have gone in an' 閉めだした the door," he said. "I just been thinkin' that over. Shore I didn't think you'd 嘘（をつく）."

Lucy endeavoured to 回避する her gaze. Her horror had not faded. But again the 簡単 of this young man struck her.

"Do you want to 支援する out now an' stay home?" he went on.

"You are making me go by 軍隊," she returned. "You said you'd hawg-tie me, didn't you?"

"Wal, reckon I did," he replied. "But I was riled an' turrible 始める，決める on takin' you...Your havin' a chance to lock yourself in! Now you didn't do it an' I savvied you wouldn't."

Lucy made no reply. What was going on in the mind of this half savage 存在? He fascinated while he repelled her. It would have been 誤った to herself had she 否定するd the fact that she felt him struggling with his instincts, unconsciously fighting himself, reaching out blindly. He was a living proof of the 進化 of man toward higher things.

"Wal, reckon I'll let you off," he 宣言するd at length.

"Are you afraid I'll tell what a brute you were?" she flashed sarcastically.

His lean 直面する turned a dark red and his 注目する，もくろむs grew piercing.

"Hell, no!" he ejaculated. "Shore I don't care what you tell. But I'd hate to have you think same as Sadie an' those girls."

"It doesn't 事柄 what I think," she replied. "You'd never understand."

"Wal, I would, if you thought like them."

"Is it possible you could 推定する／予想する me to think anything but hard of you--after the way you 扱う／治療するd me?" she 需要・要求するd, with returning spirit.

"Hard? Reckon I don't mind that," he returned ponderingly. "Anyway, I'll let you off, just because you wasn't tricky."

"No, you won't let me off," 主張するd Lucy. "I'm going to this dance...and you'll take the consequences!"

一時期／支部 VI

At the corral gate Edd Denmeade swung his long length off his horse and held the gate open for Lucy to ride through.

"Wal, want to go 急速な／放蕩な or slow?" he asked as he 機動力のある again.

"囚人s have no choice," retorted Lucy.

Evidently that 発言／述べる effectually nipped in the bud any その上の 願望（する） for conversation. His grey 注目する，もくろむs seemed to be piercing her, untroubled yet 尋問. He put his horse to a trot. Lucy's 開始する, without 勧めるing, fell in behind. His 平易な gait 証明するd to be most agreeable to her. He was a pacer, and Lucy recognised at once that he was the 肉親，親類d of a horse it was a 広大な／多数の／重要な 楽しみ to ride. He appeared to be eager, spirited, yet 要求するd no constant watching and 持つ／拘留するing.

The 追跡する led into the forest, a wide, dusty, winding path 十分な of all 肉親，親類d of 跡をつけるs, one of which Lucy thought she recognised as 刑事's. She had noticed his enormous feet. Patches of manzanita, clamps of live oak, thickets of pine, 国境d the 追跡する. Above these towered the stately rugged-barked 君主s of the forest. The last of the afterglow of sunset flowed rosily on the clouds; through the green lace-work of trees gleamed the gold of the wandering 塀で囲む above her. 影をつくる／尾行するs were lying low in the ravines 長，率いるd away from the 追跡する. Presently this level of woodland ended and there was a sharp 降下／家系, 負かす／撃墜する which the 追跡する zigzagged by 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s. Then again the forest appeared level. Lucy heard the dreamy hum of a waterfall. Here Edd took to a swinging lope, and Lucy's horse, as before, fell into the faster stride.

The forest grew darker and cooler. The 追跡する 負傷させる in and out, always hiding what was beyond. いつかs Edd's horse was out of sight. Lucy 設立する herself in a strange 論争 of mind. にもかかわらず her 怒り／怒る and the absurdity of her 存在 dragged 事実上 a 囚人 to this dance, the novelty of the 状況／情勢 and the growing sensations of the ride seemed to be 連合させるing to make her enjoy them, whether she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to or not. That would be a humiliation she must not 苦しむ. Yet no 疑問 the horse Baldy was the finest she had ever ridden. She had to fight herself to keep from loving him. Nor could she help but revel in this lonely, fragrant 追跡する through the wild dales and glades. They 棒 out of levels and 負かす／撃墜する steps, and crossed 急ぐing brooks; and it appeared that Edd kept going a little faster all the time. Yet he never looked 支援する to see how she fared. No 疑問 he heard her horse.

Twilight turned the greens and browns to grey. In the denser parts of the forest Lucy could scarcely see the 薄暗い pale 追跡する ahead. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of a 解雇する／砲火／射撃. It disappeared as she loped along, and then 再現するd. Then, all too soon, she thought, they 棒 into a （疑いを）晴らすing 支配するd by a large low building, half スピードを出す／記録につけるs and half rough boards. A 解雇する／砲火／射撃 燃やすd brightly under a 抱擁する pine 近づく the 辛勝する／優位 of the （疑いを）晴らすing, and it was surrounded by noisy boys and girls. Horses were haltered to saplings all around. Wagons and queer-looking 乗り物s attested to the fact that a road led to this forest school-house.

Edd 停止（させる）d at the 後部 of the building, and, dismounting, he 始める，決める Lucy's 支配する on the ground and turned to help her off. But Lucy ignored him and slipped quickly 負かす／撃墜する. She was warm, throbbing from the きびきびした exertion of riding, and in spite of herself not wholly unresponsive to the adventure.

"Wal, we're shore here," drawled Edd happily, no 疑問 熱心に alive to the shouts of the young people 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. "You can dress in there."

He led her to a door at the 支援する of the school-house. Lucy 機動力のある the high スピードを出す／記録につける steps to enter. The room was 明らかにする, a small 新規加入 built against the building. There was no one in it, a fact that relieved Lucy. A lighted lamp stood on a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. On one 味方する was a built-in couch covered with 乾燥した，日照りのd pine boughs. Besides these articles of furniture there wag a box to serve as a 議長，司会を務める.

Lucy の近くにd the door and hurriedly 始める，決める about the 商売／仕事 of dressing. She was not in any hurry to go out to 会合，会う Edd and the people at this dance; but she 設立する it expedient to do so, 借りがあるing to the 冷淡な. The 明らかにする room was like a barn. Once dressed, Lucy rather regretted bringing her best and most attractive gown. She had selected it あわてて and in a moment of 強調する／ストレス. Excitement and exertion had left her pale, with 注目する，もくろむs darker than usual. She could not spare time on her hair, but it looked the better for that.

"If this mirror doesn't 嘘（をつく） I never looked half so 井戸／弁護士席," she murmured. "Now, Mr. Edd Denmeade, wild-bee hunter and wild kidnapper, we'll see!"

Lucy's mood did not 許容する the maxims and 抑制s she had 始める，決める for herself. On the moment she was ready to abandon her 心にいだくd ambition to 後継する in 福利事業 work. Gorillas and 無法者s and bee hunters were a little beyond her ken. Edd Denmeade had laid 持つ／拘留する of her in a savage manner, to which the dark-blue 示すs on her white 武器 could attest. Lucy did not stop to analyse her 怒り／怒る and the 限界s to which it might 運動 her. One thing at least was （疑いを）晴らす to her, and it was that she would use all a woman's guile and charm to make Edd Denmeade rue this night. At first she had ーするつもりであるd to go straight to his father and mother and tell of the 侮辱／冷遇 that had been done her. But she had changed her mind during the ride, and now that she was dressed in her best her mood underwent その上の change. She had brought a light-blue silk scarf to go with her white gown, and throwing this 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her 明らかにする shoulders she sallied 前へ／外へ. As she stepped 負かす／撃墜する to the ground the 有望な 炎 from the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 blinded her, yet she saw a tall dark form detach itself from the circle there and approach her.

"You shore dressed pronto," drawled Edd.

Lucy put her 手渡す on his arm and walked beside him, perfectly aware of his long 星／主役にする. He led her 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the school-house to a 前線 入り口, where another （人が）群がる of boys and girls whispered and gaped.

"Our old fiddler's late," said her 護衛する, "an' I reckon the ギャング（団） is rarin' to dance."

Edd had to 押し進める himself through a （人が）群がる just inside the door, and he did it in a rather imperative way. Once through this line, Lucy saw a large 明らかにする board 床に打ち倒す, then a large room lighted by many lamps, and many people sitting and standing around the 塀で囲むs. Edd was 主要な her across the room toward a corner where there were a stove and a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Here was congregated another group, 含むing women and children. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie （機の）カム to 会合，会う them; and if Lucy had 手配中の，お尋ね者 any 証拠 of creating a sensation, she had it now.

"Wal, ma, here we are," drawled Edd as coolly as if there were no 緊張するd 状況／情勢. Perhaps for him there was 非，不，無.

"For goodness' sake!" exclaimed his mother, in delight. "Lucy, I'm shore awful glad to see you here. You fooled us bad. That boy of 地雷 is a fox."

Lucy's murmured reply did not 含む any of the epithets she might have laid upon Edd Denmeade. Allie appeared even more delighted to see her.

"Oh, it was good of you to come!" she whispered, taking Lucy's arm and squeezing it. "You look perfectly lovely. An' all the boys will die."

"I hope it'll not be so bad as that," laughed Lucy, 軟化するing 突然に. The warmth of her welcome and the extravagant 賞賛する of her 外見 were too much for her. Whatever she felt toward Edd Denmeade, she could not 延長する to these simple, impulsive people. This was their social life, the one place they gathered to have 楽しみ, and here they seemed very different. Lucy was at once the cynosure of all 注目する，もくろむs, and was surrounded by old and young alike. The twins, Liz and Lize, after their first blank bewilderment as at an apparition in white, clung to her with the might of conscious pride of 所有／入手. Denmeade and Uncle 法案 迎える／歓迎するd her with wrinkled 直面するs 花冠d in smiles. Lucy met Claypools, Millers, Johnsons, and numberless others whose 指名するs she could not remember. Edd brought young men, all lean, rangy 巨大（な）s, whom she could not have distinguished one from another. It 夜明けd on Lucy that he 手配中の，お尋ね者 most of the boys there to 会合，会う her and dance with her. Indeed, he showed no selfish 利益／興味. But Lucy did not really look at Edd until Mrs. Denmeade, during an opportune moment, whispered to her:

"Lucy, I reckon Edd's the proudest boy in the whole world. Pa said the same. We never seen him this way before. He was never happy at our dances. But you've done him good by comin', an' I'm thankin' you."

その結果 Lucy 軍隊d herself to gaze upon the 護衛する who had gone to such an extreme to bring her to this dance. And she was to discern that, whatever his 不品行／姦通 toward her, he was now wearing his laurels with becoming modesty. For Lucy could not blind herself to the fact that she was the 星／主役にする attraction of this dance, and that Edd had brought his 競争相手s to a 明言する／公表する of envy. Both circumstances pleased her. Seldom had she ever been the belle of a dance. Every young man who met her begged the 特権 of dancing with her. And as introductions were quick and many she could not remember 指名するs. How she enjoyed seeing Sam Johnson beg Edd for a dance with her! And Edd showed no rancour, no remembrance of 侮辱s, but with a 儀礼 that would not have ill become one in higher walks of life he gratified Sam. Lucy 設立する the 状況／情勢 different from what she had 心配するd. To 復讐 herself upon Edd Denmeade she had 決定するd to be frigid to him and as 甘い as she could make herself to every other boy there, 特に Sam Johnson. Not yet did she repudiate that unworthy 解決する, though something was working on her--the warmth of her welcome--the 楽しみ she was giving--the honour she had unwittingly conferred upon this 天然のまま woodsman, the 簡単 with which he took his 勝利.

It 夜明けd upon Lucy that there was only one 推論する／理由 why she could not 完全に enjoy this dance, and it was because of what she called the 残虐な circumstances of her coming. Why had she not been willing and glad to come? Too late! The 侮辱／冷遇 had been （罪などを）犯すd and she could not forget it. にもかかわらず, she felt 動かす in her something besides the 願望（する） to 向こうずね and attract for the 単独の 目的 of making Edd Denmeade miserably jealous. It was an honest realisation that she could like these people and enjoy herself.

Commotion and stamping of feet and merry 発言する／表明するs rose from the 前線 of the school-house. Lucy was 知らせるd that the music had arrived. She saw an old man proudly waving a violin and (1)偽造する／(2)徐々に進むing his way to the tiny 壇・綱領・公約. The children screeched and ran for him. Edd joined the group with whom Lucy was standing. Then a loud twang from the fiddler 始める，決める everyone to 見込み. When he began to play the couples moved out upon the 床に打ち倒す. Edd said no word, but he reached for Lucy.

"Wait. Let me watch a moment," she said. "I want to see how you dance."

"Wal, shore we're no 広大な／多数の／重要な shucks at it, but we have fun."

Soon the 床に打ち倒す was half 十分な of wheeling, gliding couples, with more 落ちるing in line every moment. Their dancing had only one feature in ありふれた with what she understood about dancing, and that was they caught the rhythm of the old fiddler's several chords.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Denmeade, I think I can catch the step," said Lucy.

As he took 持つ／拘留する of her it was not possible to keep from 強化するing somewhat and to 持つ／拘留する 支援する. Still, she was to ascertain that Edd showed no thought of 持つ／拘留するing her closely. How serious he was about this dancing! He was surprisingly 平易な on his feet. At first Lucy could not 落ちる in with his way of dancing; 徐々に, however, she caught it, and after several 一連の会議、交渉／完成するs of the room she was keeping time with him. It 要求するd a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of 成果／努力 and 集中 for Lucy to live up to her repute as a ダンサー. Manifestly Edd Denmeade did not talk while he danced. In fact, 非，不，無 of the ダンサーs talked. They were deadly serious about it, and the 表現s on different 直面するs 高度に amused Lucy. She could not see that dancing held any sentimental 適切な時期s for these young people. It seemed to Lucy a bobbing, gyrating 業績／成果, solemnly enjoyed by boy and girl in markedly loose 接触する. Really they danced wholly with their own 意図 and energy. Lucy 設立する Edd's arm as rugged and unyielding as the 支店 of an oak. At last the dance ended, to Lucy's 救済.

"Shore you can dance!" exclaimed Edd heartily. "Like a feather! If you hadn't leaned on my arm I'd not have known you was there. New 肉親，親類d of dancin' for me!"

Lucy did not deign to reply. He led her 支援する to the corner, where he 設立する her a seat beside his mother. "Shore I hope you dance them all 負かす／撃墜する," he whispered. "Reckon I wouldn't be in Sam Johnson's boots for a lot."

"What did he mean?" 問い合わせd Lucy of his mother, after he had left them.

"Dancin' anyone 負かす／撃墜する is to make him give up--tire him out," she replied. "An' that about Sam Johnson is funny. Sam is reckoned to be the best ダンサー in these parts. An' so is Sadie. Wal, as everybody seen 権利 off, Sadie can't 持つ／拘留する a candle to you. An' Sam is goin' to find it out."

"Someone will surely dance me 負かす／撃墜する," replied Lucy, with a laugh. "I am out of practice."

It developed that the time between dances was long, and given over to much hilarity and promenading around. The children took advantage of this 適切な時期 to romp over the 床に打ち倒す. Lucy soon was surrounded again, so that she could not see very much of what was going on. Sam Johnson （人命などを）奪う，主張するd her for the next dance. He struck Lucy as 存在 something of a 田舎の beau, やめる taken with himself, and not above intimating that she would surely like dancing with him better than with a big-footed bee hunter.

As a 事柄 of fact, when the fiddler started up again Lucy 設立する Sam's 誇る to be true. He was a surprisingly good ダンサー and she enjoyed dancing with him. But it was not this that 誘発するd her to be prodigal of her smiles, and to approach audacity, if not actual flirtation, to captivate Sam. She did not stop to question her 動機. He and his girl Sadie had been 大部分は 責任がある Edd Denmeade's affront to her. Yet Lucy did not dream that she was 支持する／優勝者ing Edd. She had been 深く，強烈に roused. The 原始の instincts of these young people were calling to the unknown in her.

Once in the whirling maze of 紅潮／摘発するd 直面するs Lucy 設立する herself looking 権利 into Sadie Purdue's 注目する，もくろむs. Lucy nodded smilingly. Her 迎える／歓迎するing was returned, but Sadie failed to hide her jealousy and 憤慨.

When that dance ended Lucy was 包囲するd by the young men, and 徐々に she gave herself up to the novelty of the occasion. Now and then she saw Edd dancing or …に出席するing someone, but he did not approach her. Mrs. Denmeade 明らかに took 広大な／多数の／重要な pride in Lucy's 人気. The children 徐々に drooped and were put to sleep in the corner at the 支援する of the stove. Lucy had to take a peep at them, some dozen or more of curly-長，率いるd little boys and girls, and several babies, all worn out with excitement and now 急速な／放蕩な asleep.

Dance after dance followed, stealing the hours away. By midnight, when the intermission and supper were 発表するd by Mr. Denmeade, it seemed to Lucy that she had 許すd her impulsiveness and 憤慨 to carry her away. Sam Johnson had more than lived up to the 評判 Edd had given him. Only Lucy's tact saved him from utterly neglecting Sadie; and as it was he made a fool of himself. Mr. Jenks, the teacher, did not dance, and 充てるd himself to the older people. He had not 設立する 適切な時期 for more than a few words with Lucy, but several times she had caught him intently watching her, 特に while she was with Sam. This, more than any other thing, made her 反映する that perhaps she had already forgotten the ideal she had propounded to him. She 苦しむd a moment of 悔いる; then, when at the intermission Edd 現在のd himself before her, 冷静な／正味の and nonchalant, she could not help 存在 反抗的な.

"Wal, reckon I'll have to lick somebody before this night's over," he drawled as he led her across the room.

"Indeed! How 利益／興味ing!" replied Lucy icily.

"Shore will, unless somebody 支援するs 負かす／撃墜する on what he said...Ma wants you to 始める，決める with her at supper. Teacher Jenks has somethin' to say to you. Shore tickles me...Why, Lucy Watson, you've made this night the wonderfulest of my life! I've had enough dancin' an' gettin' even an' crawlin' of these here corn-huskers to last for ever."

Lucy was afraid that for her, too, something wonderful lurked under the commonplaces of this experience, but she could not 自白する that Edd Denmeade had created it. She felt how little she was to 悔いる that he had surprised her by not living up to the status of boor and ruffian. Instead of this he had turned out to be something approaching a gentleman. He became an enigma to her. It must be that he had no conception of his rude seizure of her person, his utter 無視（する） of her feelings. Yet here at the dance he had 除去するd himself, content to see her whirled about by his cousins and friends, 簡単に radiating with the pride of 存在 her cavalier.

"Reckon I'll help 料金d this outfit," he said, leaving her in a seat between his mother and Mr. Jenks.

"井戸／弁護士席, I'd hardly have known you," said the school teacher with a smile and cordial 迎える／歓迎するing.

"Wal, I said the same," averred Mrs. Denmeade. "Shore she just looks lovely."

Lucy had the grace to blush her 楽しみ. "I 宣言する this night will 廃虚 my 約束 as a 福利事業 労働者. Too many compliments!"

"Not your 約束, but your 可能性," whispered Mr. Jenks 意味ありげに. "Young lady, I ーするつもりである to talk to you like a Dutch uncle."

"Indeed, I hope you do," replied Lucy soberly. "Then I'll have something to tell you."

A 軍団 of young men, の中で whom was Edd, passed 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room, 分配するing 挟むs and coffee, cake and ice cream. Soon the large hall-like place hummed with 発言する／表明するs. Every seat along the 塀で囲むs was 占領するd. Around the 入り口 clustered a group of 青年s who had come without partners, and it was plain they felt their misfortune. にもかかわらず, they had 設立するd some 肉親，親類d of 和合 between themselves and other boys' partners. Lucy's keen susceptibilities しっかり掴むd the fact that many of the girls welcomed this 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s.

Presently Mr. Jenks 設立する 適切な時期 to say, "You have created a havoc, 行方不明になる Lucy."

"Have I? 井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Jenks, I'm surely afraid that I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to," she 自白するd.

"I am not joking," he continued more 真面目に. "Indeed, I make all allowance for a girl's natural vanity and 楽しみ in 存在 admired. You are 'shore good fer sore 注目する，もくろむs,' as I heard one old codger say. You have 嵐／襲撃するd this schoolhouse （人が）群がる. If looks could kill, Sadie Purdue would have had you dead hours ago. They all say, 'Sam is gone!'...It would be funny--if it were anything else but up in this backwoods."

"Oh, have I forgotten myself?" exclaimed Lucy aghast.

"Pray don't misunderstand," said Mr. Jenks あわてて. "I think you very modest and nice, considering the unusual 状況／情勢. But you have forgotten your 福利事業 work. Of course I don't see how you can 避ける these dances. And that's the rub. Your 人気 will make enemies の中で the girls and fights の中で the boys."

In self-defence Lucy 関係のある 簡潔に and vividly how Edd Denmeade had 掴むd her and held her 権力のない, 脅すing to tie her, until in her shame and 恐れる she had 同意d to come to the dance.

"I'm not surprised," said Mr. Jenks 厳粛に. "These fellows are built that way, and Edd is really what they call him, a wild-bee hunter. I believe that 暗示するs almost an Indian's 関係 to the 支持を得ようと努めるd. But you must not mistake Edd and do him 不正. It never 夜明けd on him that 暴力／激しさ would be a profanation to a girl such as you...Could you honestly 告発する／非難する him of the least boldness--you know what I mean?"

"No, I'm bound to 自白する that he 扱うd me as if I were a boy or an old 解雇（する）," replied Lucy honestly.

"井戸／弁護士席, then, try to understand him. It will not be 平易な. He's a savage. But savages are closer to nature than other men, and somehow the better for it...What surprises me is that Edd has not made any fuss yet over Bud Sprall's attentions to you."

"Bud Sprall!" exclaimed Lucy with a start of amaze. "Have I met him?"

"Wal, I reckon," as Edd would say, 再結合させるd the teacher, amused at Lucy's びっくり仰天. "You have danced twice with Bud, and showed that you liked it."

"Oh, but I didn't know," wailed Lucy. "I didn't catch half the 指名するs...Show him to me."

The school teacher managed presently, in an unobtrusive manner, to 示す which one of Lucy's partners had been the disreputable Bud Sprall.

"That handsome young fellow!" she burst out incredulously.

"Handsome, yes; Bud's good-looking enough and he can dance. But he is not just the fellow you can have dangling after you."

"I took him for one of the relations. There're so many. And I didn't see anything wrong with him except, come to think of it, he might have been drinking a little. But he was not the only one upon whom I （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd drink."

"White mule! These boys will fetch a 瓶／封じ込める to the dances. It's the one objectionable feature about their social family 事件／事情／状勢s. 自然に white mule kicks up fights."

"Oh, how unfortunate! How thoughtless of me not to know what I was doing!" cried Lucy.

"Don't be 苦しめるd," he returned kindly. "No 害（を与える） yet. But I advise you to 避ける Bud hereafter."

"I'm sure I 約束d him another dance," said Lucy in perplexity.

"Get out of it, then. And that's the worst of it. Bud will be sore and make trouble, unless you are very clever."

"Oh dear! How can I get out of a dance I've 約束d?...And that Sam Johnson I was nice to him, deliberately. He's such a conceited fellow. I'm afraid I let him think he'd made a wonderful impression on me."

"行方不明になる Watson, I have an inspiration," 再結合させるd Mr. Jenks animatedly. "Confide in Edd. Get him to help you out of your 窮地."

"Edd! How could I? Impossible!" replied Lucy heatedly.

"Of course that's for you to say. But if you don't, and cannot extricate yourself, I imagine you will only get in deeper."

Lucy, seeing Mrs. Denmeade approaching with friends, was unable to continue discussing the 状況／情勢 with Mr. Jenks. The parents of the children 現在の were eager to talk to Lucy, and they asked innumerable questions. Before she realised the (n)艦隊／(a)素早いing by of the supper hour the fiddler started one of his several tunes, and there followed a 急ぐ of ダンサーs to the 床に打ち倒す.

Edd did not 展示（する） any かなりの alacrity in approaching her for this first number after the intermission.

"Want to dance this with me?" he queried coolly.

"Isn't it customary?" replied Lucy as she ちらりと見ることd over the ダンサーs to select some she knew.

"Shore. But if you don't want to dance with me I'd as lief not have you."

"Oh, really!...Would you 推定する／予想する me to be dying to dance with you?" retorted Lucy with sarcasm.

"Nope. I'm not thinkin' about myself. But you think I am. My folks all reckon you're havin' the wonderfulest time. Wal, I hope so, but I've a hunch you're not. For I've been watchin' you. I saw you with Mr. Jenks."

"Really, it'd only be honest to 自白する that--that I'm enjoying myself--when I forget how I happened to come," said Lucy.

"So I reckoned. An' you can have this dance with anyone you want."

"But--you brought me here. Won't it look strange if you don't dance with me?" she queried with 関心.

"Wal, the strangest thing that ever happened in this school-house was for a Denmeade's girl to dance with a Sprall," he returned 激しく.

"Oh! I am not your girl...And I had not the remotest idea I was dancing with Bud Sprall. I only just 設立する out. Mr. Jenks told me."

"Say, you didn't know it was Bud Sprall you danced with twice?" he 需要・要求するd, with piercing 注目する，もくろむs of 疑問.

"絶対 no. I never caught his 指名する," 自白するd Lucy.

"Wal, I'll be dog-goned! I wish everybody knew that. Shore I can tell my folks," he said ponderingly.

"Edd, I'm afraid I 約束d him another dance--after supper," went on Lucy nervously. She realised there was an undercurrent here, a 軍隊 of antagonism やめる beyond her. When his 直面する turned white she was nearer the truth. 突然の he wheeled to leave her, but Lucy was quick to catch his sleeve and draw him 支援する. The ダンサーs （人が）群がるd them to the 塀で囲む.

"Do not leave me alone," she said 速く. "Remember that I am a stranger here. You brought me against my will. I can hardly be 非難するd for dancing with Bud Sprall when I did not know who he was."

"Reckon that's all 権利," he replied, gazing 負かす／撃墜する on her. "But you was 甘い on Bud, an' you've shore turned Sam Johnson's 長，率いる."

Lucy strove valiantly to keep her temper and find her wits. She began to have an inkling why Mr. Jenks was so 関心d over her predicament.

"Suppose I was? Didn't you deserve to be punished?" she queried.

"Reckon I don't savvy you," he 再結合させるd doubtfully. "Shore you strike me a little like Sadie Purdue."

"We are all women. にもかかわらず, I don't consider that a compliment. But...you brought me here. I've made a mess of it. I was--井戸／弁護士席, never mind now. Only, it's your 義務 to help me not make, it worse."

"Who's sayin' I wouldn't help you?" he queried.

"You started to leave me."

"Wal, you said you'd another dance with Bud."

"But I didn't know who he was. Now I do know, I won't dance with him. I don't want to. I'm very sorry I 失敗d. But he seemed nice and--and---"

"Bud has a way with girls," said Edd 簡単に, "Shore he's slicker than Sam."

"Will you take me home?" she asked 緊急に.

"Shore. But I reckon that'd make worse talk. You'd better stay an' let me take care of you."

"I--I'll do what you want me to," replied Lucy faintly.

"Wal, dance this with me. Then I'll hang around an' keep an 注目する，もくろむ on you. Keep out of that （犯罪の）一味-around dance where they change partners all the time. When Bud or Sam comes up, you give me a look, an' I'll be there pronto. Shore all your dances are 地雷, an' I don't have to give any more to Bud or Sam."

"Thank you. I--I hope it turns out all 権利," replied Lucy.

While she danced her mind was active. She regretted her 無分別な 決意 to make this 天然のまま backwoods 青年 jealous. He had certainly disappointed her in that regard. After awakening to the 状況／情勢, first through her conversation with Mr. Jenks and later with Edd, she realised she had jeopardised her 福利事業 work. No 事柄 what affront she had 苦しむd; she should not have been so silly, so 無謀な, so undeserving of the 信用 placed in her. Yet what 誘発! Her 神経s tingled at the thought.

When the dance ended Edd 放棄するd her to one of his cousins, and 徐々に Lucy lost her worry for the time 存在. The next dance was the （犯罪の）一味-around, which Lucy 辞退するd to enter, remaining beside Mrs. Denmeade. Here she had 適切な時期 to watch, and enjoyed it immensely. The dancing grew 急速な／放蕩な and furious. When the ダンサーs formed in a （犯罪の）一味 and wheeled madly 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room, shrieking and laughing, they shook the school-house till it 動揺させるd.

It developed that Edd Denmeade was more than a match for Bud Sprall when he 現在のd himself for the dance Lucy had 約束d. But the 交換 of 冷静な／正味の speech struck Lucy 熱心に with its 公式文書，認める of menace. Sprall's dark handsome 直面する 表明するd a raw, 悪意のある hate. Denmeade wore a laconic mask, transparent to any 観察者／傍聴者. The advantage was his. Finally Sprall turned to Lucy.

"I ain't blamin' you, for I know you want to dance with me," he said. "Reckon I'll not forget. Good night."

Sam Johnson was not so 平易な to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of. Manifestly he and Edd were friends, which fact made the 衝突／不一致 devoid of rancour.

"Wal, Sam, see here," drawled Edd finally. "You go an' fetch Sadie up. Reckon I'd like a dance with her. You've only had five dances with 行方不明になる Lucy. This here one will be six, if Sadie is willin' to 貿易（する） off. So fetch her up."

"Edd, I 港／避難所't got Sadie for this dance," ガス／煙d Sam. "Then you're out of luck. For I shore won't give up my partner."

Sam tramped away in high dudgeon. Lucy danced once 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room with Edd, and then joined the group outside eating ice cream beside the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. 夜明け was grey in the east. How dark the forest and mournful the 勝利，勝つd! Lucy 辛勝する／優位d nearer the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. She had become conscious of extreme 疲労，（軍の）雑役, and longed for this unforgettable night to end.

にもかかわらず, she danced until daylight. Her slippers were worn through. Her feet were dead. Never before in her life had Lucy expended such physical energy. She marvelled at those girls who were 気が進まない to let the old fiddler off.

Lucy changed the white dress and slippers for her riding 着せる／賦与するs. Though the morning was frosty, she did not feel the 冷淡な. How she could ever ride up to the Denmeade cabin she had no idea.

"Better get me on your horse before I 減少（する）," she told Edd.

He 手配中の，お尋ね者 her to remain there at the school-house with the children and girls, who were not to go home until evening. Mrs. Denmeade and Mrs. Claypool were getting breakfast for those who stayed. Lucy, 辞退するing, was 説得するd to drink a cup of coffee. Then Edd put her up on Baldy. All around the （疑いを）晴らすing boys and girls were 開始するing horses, and some of the older folk were 運動ing off in wagons. Gay good-byes were 交流d. Lucy 棒 into the 支持を得ようと努めるd with the Denmeades.

At first the saddle and 動議 seemed a 救済 after such incessant dancing. But Lucy soon discovered that her strength was almost spent. Only ばく然と did she see the beauty of the forest in the （疑いを）晴らす, crisp, fragrant morning. She had no sense of the stirrups and she could not catch the swing of the horse. The Denmeades trotted and loped on the levels, and walked up the slopes. Lucy could not have 耐えるd any one 肉親，親類d of riding for very long. She barely managed to hang on until they reached home.

The sun was rising in rosy splendour over the eastern 塀で囲む. Wild turkeys were gobbling from the 山の尾根 behind the cabin. The hounds rang out a chorus of bays and barks in welcome.

Lucy almost fell out of the saddle. Edd was there beside her, quick to lend a 手渡す.

"Wal, I reckon it was a night for both of us," he said. "But shore I don't want another like it, unless what I pretended was really true."

Murmuring something in reply, Lucy limped to her room, and barring the door she struggled to 除去する her boots. They might as 井戸／弁護士席 have been 十分な of thorns, considering the pangs they gave her.

"Oh--oh--what a--terrible night!" she gasped, 落ちるing on the bed, fully dressed. "Yet--I know I wouldn't have 行方不明になるd it--for worlds...Oh, I'm dead! I'll never wake up!"

一時期／支部 VII

It was midsummer. The mornings were pleasant, the days hot and still, the evenings 蒸し暑い and purple, with 集まりd clouds in the west.

The July rains had left the 山の尾根s and open patches and the 辛勝する／優位s of the clearings colourful and fragrant with flowers. Corn and 茎 and beans were green and wavy in the fields. A 安定した line of bees flew by the cabin porch, to and fro from 蜂の巣s to 支持を得ようと努めるd. And a drowsy murmuring hum made music 負かす／撃墜する by-the shady stream.

At sunrise the home of the Denmeades seemed to be a rendezvous for the frisky chipmunk and chattering red squirrel, for squalling blue jay and whistling 強硬派 and cawing crow, and for the few wild singing birds of the locality. At noon the 支持を得ようと努めるd were locked in hot, drowsy stillness; the pine needles did not quiver; heat 隠すs rose smokily from the glades. At evening a melancholy pervaded the wilderness.

One Saturday Lucy sat meditating in the テント that had long been her abode. It was 据えるd out under the pines on the 辛勝する／優位 of the gully. The boys had built a 壇・綱領・公約 of rough-hewn boards, and a 枠組み of 政治家s, over which the canvas had been stretched. The 床に打ち倒す was high above the ground, so that Lucy had long lost the 恐れる of snakes and tarantulas. Indeed this outdoor home had grown wonderfully dear to her. By day she heard the tiny patter of pine needles on the テント; at night the 冷静な／正味の 勝利，勝つd blew through, and in the moonlight 影をつくる／尾行するs of swaying 支店s moved above her.

Lucy had problems on her mind. As far as the Denmeades were 関心d, her 福利事業 work had been successful beyond her dreams. The time was approaching when in all fairness she must go to another family. She would 熱心に 悔いる leaving this place she had learned to love, yet she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do 同様に by others as she had done by the Denmeades. When to go--that was part of the problem.

Another 乱すing factor （機の）カム in the 形態／調整 of a letter from her sister Clara. It had shocked her and induced a regurgitation of almost forgotten emotions. The letter lay open in her （競技場の）トラック一周. It must be reread and considered and decided upon--事柄s Lucy was deferring.

The last and perhaps most perplexing question 関心d Edd Denmeade. Lucy had to go 支援する in retrospect. The trouble between Edd and her 時代遅れの 支援する to the dance in May, the one which he had 軍隊d her to …に出席する. Lucy had gone to other dances since then, but Edd had never …に出席するd another. She might in time have forgiven him for that 展示 of his primitiveness, but すぐに afterward he had precipitated something which resulted in their utter estrangement. The bee hunter was the only one of the Denmeades who had not wondrously 利益d by her work. He had lost by her presence. He had gone 支援する さらに先に. He 展示（する）d 調印するs of becoming a 独房監禁 wanderer in the 支持を得ようと努めるd most of the time, a violent and dangerous young man when he did mingle with people. Lucy had 軍隊d upon her the undoubted fact that she was the 原因（となる） of this. No one else knew yet, not even Edd's mother. Lucy could not take unadulterated pride and joy in her success. She did not see how she could have 避けるd such a 状況／情勢, yet 悔いる haunted her. And now with 決定／判定勝ち（する）s to make she vacillated over the important ones, and brought to mind the scene that had turned Edd Denmeade aside from the happier 影響（力）s and 仕事s which she had 課すd upon his family.

すぐに after that dance Edd had come up to her where she sat on the corral 盗品故買者 watching the boys roping and shoeing a horse.

"I reckon I'm goin' to ask you a question," he 発表するd. Almost his トン was the 冷静な／正味の drawling one habitual with him; here, however, there seemed something 深い, 必然的な behind his words.

"Goodness! Don't ask me to go to another dance," laughed Lucy.

"Reckon I'll never dance again, unless--" He broke off. "An' what I'm goin' to ask you I've asked other girls. Shore this is the last time."

"井戸／弁護士席, what is it?" queried Lucy, suddenly perturbed. "Will you marry me?"

Notwithstanding the fact that she was startled, Lucy burst into mirth. It must have been the opposite to what she felt, a nervousness 表明するing itself in laughter. But it appeared to be unfortunate.

"I--I beg 容赦, Edd," she made haste to say. "Really! didn't mean to laugh at you. But you--you surprised me so...You can't be serious."

"Reckon I don't know just what I am," he replied grimly. "But I'm askin' you to marry me."

"Because you want a home and a woman? I heard your father say that."

"Shore. That's the way I've felt. Reckon this is more. I've told my folks an' relations I was askin' you. 手配中の，お尋ね者 them to know."

"Edd, I cannot marry you," she replied 厳粛に.

"Why not?" he 需要・要求するd. "You're here. You want to work for us. An' I reckon I could help you as much as you could me."

"That's true. You could help me a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. But I'm sorry I can't marry you."

"Reckon you're too good for a backwoodsman, a wild-bee hunter who's been jilted by other girls," he 主張するd, with a strange, 深い utterance.

"No. You're wrong," 宣言するd Lucy, both touched and 怒り／怒るd by his speech. "I don't think I'm too good. That dance you dragged me to cured me of my vanity."

"Wal, then, what's the 推論する／理由?" he went on. "Ma says you're goin' to stay の中で us people for years. If that's so you'll have to marry one of us. I'm askin' you first."

"Edd, an honest girl could not marry a man she didn't love," replied Lucy. "Nor can a man be honest asking a girl whom he does not love."

"Shore I am honest. I'm no liar," he retorted. "I'm just plain man. I don't know much of people or 調書をとる／予約するs. But I know the 支持を得ようと努めるd, an' reckon I can learn what you want me to."

"I don't mean honest in that sense," 再結合させるd Lucy. "I mean you don't love me."

"Love you! Are you like Sadie, who told around that I'd never kissed her?"

"No, I'm not like Sadie," answered Lucy with rising temper.

"Wal, I'm askin' your 容赦," he said. "Shore you're different from Sadie...As for this love you girls talk about I don't know--I always felt a man should keep his 手渡すs an' his lips to himself until he had a wife."

"Edd, I 尊敬（する）・点 you for that," replied Lucy 真面目に. "And understand you better...But love is not kisses and all that."

"Wal, what is it, then?"

"It is something beautiful, spiritual 同様に as physical. It is a longing for the 福利事業, the happiness, the good of someone 同様に as the sweetness of 願望（する）. For a woman love means what Ruth said in the Bible, 'Whither thou goest, I will go. Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God.'...A man who loves a woman will do anything for her--sacrifice himself. The greater his sacrifice the greater his love. And last he せねばならない feel that he could not live without the 反対する of his affections."

"Wal, I reckon I don't love you," replied Edd ponderingly.

"Of course you don't. You're only thinking of yourself," 再結合させるd Lucy.

"Reckon I can't help what I think. Who put all this in my 長，率いる?"

"Edd, you 港／避難所't got anything in your 長，率いる," retorted Lucy, unable to 抑制する her pique and 軽蔑（する）. "That's the trouble. You need education. All your people need education more than anything else."

"Wal, why don't you teach me same as you do Liz and Lize?" he complained.

"You're a grown man!" ejaculated Lucy. "You want to molly me! And you talk like a child."

"Shore I could make you marry me--same as I made you go to the dance," he said ruthlessly.

For an instant Lucy 星／主役にするd at him, too stunned to reply. The 簡単 of his words and 有罪の判決 was as monstrous as the idea they 伝えるd. How strange that, though a fury suddenly 炎上d up in her breast, she had a 疑問 of herself, a 恐れる that he could do what he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do with her!

"Make me marry you! Never!" she burst out thickly.

"Shore I'd not care what you said," he replied.

Lucy's amaze and wrath knew no bounds. "You--you--" She choked, almost unable to 表明する herself. "You savage! You couldn't even love yourself. You're---" She was utterly at a loss to find words. "Why, you're a fool--that's what you are!...If you について言及する marriage again I'll give up my work here and leave."

Then and then only did it seem to 夜明け upon him that there was something wrong with his mind. He gave Lucy a blank, dead 星／主役にする, as if he saw something through her. The vitality and intensity withered out of his 直面する. He dropped his 長，率いる and left her.

That scene had been long weeks past. For days Edd had remained out in the 支持を得ようと努めるd, and when he returned there was a difference in him. 非，不，無 of the family, however, 明らかに せいにするd it to Lucy. But she knew. At first, such was her antagonism, she did not care what he did or what became of him; but 徐々に, as the weeks wore on and she had such wonderful success with her work, while he grew wilder and stranger, she began to pity instead of despising him. Poor backwoods boy. How could he help himself? He had been really superior to most of his cousins and friends. Seldom did he do any work at home, except with his bees. Rumour credited him with fights and brawls, and visits to the old moonshiner who distilled the アルコール飲料 called white mule. His mother worried incessantly. His father passed from 関心 to grief. "Dog-gone me!" he ejaculated. "Edd's 長，率いるd like them Sprall boys. An' who'd ever think it!"

Likewise, Lucy passed from pity to worry, and from that to a 良心-stricken 告訴，告発. If for no other 推論する／理由 she was to 非難する because she had come to Cedar 山の尾根. This 落ちる of Edd's was taking the sweetness out of her success. Could the teaching of a few children balance the 廃虚 of their brother? How impossible not to 告発する／非難する herself of the change in him! She felt it every time she saw him.

At last Lucy saw 明確に that her 義務 consisted in a choice between giving up her 福利事業 work there and winning Edd Denmeade 支援する to what he had been before she （機の）カム. Thought of abandoning that work would scarcely stay before her consciousness, yet she 軍隊d herself to think of it. She had 設立する a congenial, uplifting vocation for herself. But it was one that she could give up, if it were 権利 to do so. There were other things she could find to do. Coming to think of the change in the Denmeade 世帯, the cleanliness and brightness, the 排除／予選 of unsanitary habits, the saving of 労働, the 開発 of the children's minds, she could not 説得する herself that it would be さもなければ than cowardice for her to やめる now.

"I must stay," soliloquised Lucy, at last seeing 明確に. "If I やめる now, all my life I'd be bitter because I failed of the 適切な時期 I prayed for...Then, if I stay I must save Edd Denmeade...It would be 福利事業 work of the noblest 肉親，親類d...What it costs me must not 事柄."

Lucy deliberately made the choice, for good or ill to herself, with her 注目する，もくろむs wide open and all her faculties alive to the nature of her 仕事 and the 限界s it might 需要・要求する. Her home life had 慣れさせるd her to sacrifice. That thought brought her 支援する to Clara and the letter which lay open in her （競技場の）トラック一周. With a wrench of her spirit she took it up and reread:

Felix,

July 10.

Dearest Lucy,

I （機の）カム 支援する from Mendino to find you gone. I deserved my 失望, because I've never written you. But, Lucy, it wasn't because I'd forgotten. I was ashamed. I eloped with Jim, as you know, because father had no use for him. 井戸／弁護士席, if I had listened to you I'd not be 哀れな and alone now. Jim turned out worse than anyone thought. He didn't even marry me. I'm as much to 非難する for the whole 商売／仕事 as he. The most shameful thing for me, however, was to discover I didn't love him. I was just crazy.

Father shut the door in my 直面する. I've been staying with an old schoolmate, Mamie Blaize, who has been 肉親，親類d. But, Lucy, I can't stay here. Felix will be no place for me, after they find out.

I went to the 明言する／公表する Department who 雇う you. From them I got your 演説（する）／住所. The woman there was very nice. She spoke of your success, and that you had 覆うd the way for 広範囲にわたる 福利事業 work in other parts of the 明言する／公表する. Lucy, I'm proud of you. It was always in you--to do good.

I'm not very 井戸／弁護士席 or very strong. Won't you please let me come out there and stay with you? I'll get 井戸／弁護士席 and work my fingers to the bone for you. Let me show you I've had my bitter lesson. I need you, Lucy, dear, for いつかs I grow 無謀な. I have horrible （一定の）期間s of blues. I'm afraid. And if you fail me I don't know what in the world I'll do. But you won't fail me. I seem to feel that 深い inside me. It makes me realise what I 欠如（する）d.

Send me money at once to come, and tell me what to do--how to get there. Please, Lucy, I beg you. I'm in the dust. To think after 軽蔑（する）ing your love and advice I'd come はうing on my 膝s to you. 裁判官 what has happened to me by that. Hurry and 令状.

Love,

Clara.

This letter saddened Lucy more because of its 復活 of memory of the beloved little sister than the news it 含む／封じ込めるd. Lucy had never 推定する／予想するd anything but 大災害 for Clara. It had come, and speedily; Clara had been away from Felix a year and a half. She was now nearly nineteen. This frank letter 明らかにする／漏らすd a different girl.

Lucy re-read it, pondered over what she 自白するd, wept over the 廃虚 of her, yet rejoiced over the 明らかな birth of soul. Clara had never been one to beg. She had been a sentimental, headstrong girl and she could not be 抑制するd. Lucy forgave her now, 悲しみd for the pitiful end of her infatuation for the cowboy Jim Middleton, and with a 急ぐ of the old sisterly tenderness she turned to her （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する to answer that letter. Her 返答 was impulsive, loving, 完全にする, with never a word of reproach. She was 受託するing Clara's changed 態度 toward life as an augury of hope for the 未来. She would help take the 重荷（を負わせる） of 責任／義務 for that 未来. It was never too late, Clara must 再建する her life の中で new people, and if her 不名誉 became public she could never return to Felix. Better perhaps that Felix become only a memory!

Lucy 結論するd that letter with 利益／興味ing bits of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） about this wilderness country, the beauty of its forests, and the 孤独 of its backwoods homes. She did not 含む any 発言／述べるs anent the stalwart young backwoodsmen or their susceptibilities to the charms of young girls. Even as she thought of this Lucy 解任するd Clara's piquant, pretty 直面する, her graceful form, her saucy 挑発的な ways. How would Edd Denmeade, and that 罰金 静かな brother Joe, 答える／応じる to the presence of the pretty sister? Lucy had to 追い散らす 疑惑s. The die was cast. She would not fail the erring Clara. Enclosing a money order on her office, Lucy 調印（する）d the letter and stamped it with an 空気／公表する of finality and a feeling of 救済 and happiness. It had taken a calamity to 運動 Clara to her heart and 保護.

"There!" she breathed low, almost with a sob. "That's done, and I'm glad...Come to remember, that's the second 決定／判定勝ち（する） in regard to my problem. There was a third--when should I leave the Denmeades?...I can't leave just yet. I will stay. They have begged me to stay...It cannot 事柄, just so long as I do my 義務 by these other families."

Then Lucy assuaged her 良心 and derived a strange joy out of the 決定／判定勝ち（する）s she had made. Where might they lead her? The 広大な／多数の／重要な forest 武器 of the wilderness seemed to be twining 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her. She was 答える／応じるing to unknown 影響（力）s. Her ideals were making pale and 薄暗い the dreams she had once 心にいだくd of her own personal 未来--a home--children--happiness. These were not for everyone. She sighed, and cast away such 感情.

"Edd would say I'm bogged 負かす／撃墜する in 福利事業 work," she said. "Now to go out and begin all over again!"

It seemed 重要な that as she stepped out of her テント she 遠くに見つけるd Edd stalking up the 小道／航路 toward the cabin. He had not been home for days and his ragged apparel showed 接触する with the 支持を得ようと努めるd. As Lucy 停止（させる）d by the gate to wait for him, she felt her heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 faster. Whatever sensations this wild-bee hunter roused, not one of them was commonplace.

"Good morning, Edd," said Lucy cheerfully, as if that 迎える／歓迎するing had always been her way with him. "You're just the person I want to see. Where have you been so long?"

"Howdy!" he replied as he stopped before her. He gave her one of his piercing looks, but showed no surprise. He appeared thin, hard, hungry, and 緊張するd. He had not shaved for days, and his dark downy 耐えるd 高めるd the strange wild atmosphere that seemed to 粘着する 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him. "I've been linin' new bees. Reckon it was high time I 始める，決める to work. It's shore a 罰金 year for bees. You see, there wasn't much rain. A 雨の spring makes lots of yellow-jackets, an' them darn insects kill the wild bees an' steal their honey. This 乾燥した，日照りの season keeps 負かす／撃墜する the yellow-jackets. Reckon I'll have my best year findin' honey. Lined two trees to-day."

"When will you get the honey?" 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Not till after 霜 comes. October is best."

"Will you take me some day when you line bees and also when you get the honey?" asked Lucy, 急落（する），激減（する）ing headlong into her chosen 仕事. She 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 燃やす her 橋（渡しをする）s behind her. If she listened to 警告を与える and selfish 疑問s she could never keep to her 決定／判定勝ち（する）. She 推定する／予想するd her 審議する／熟考する request to amaze Edd and 原因（となる） him to show 憤慨 or bitterness. But he 展示（する）d neither.

"Shore will. Any time you say," he drawled, as he dragged his 追跡するing rope to him and coiled it.

"I've news for you. I'm having my sister Clara come out to live with me," she 発表するd.

"Shore that'll be good," he replied with 利益／興味. "How old is she an' what's she like?"

"Clara is nearly nineteen. She's blonde, very different from me. And very pretty."

"Wal, you're light-長，率いるd yourself, an' I reckon not so different."

"Edd, are you 支払う／賃金ing me a compliment?" she asked archly.

"Nope. I just mean what I say. When'll your sister come?"

"If all goes 井戸／弁護士席 she'll arrive in Cedar 山の尾根 on the 行う／開催する／段階 Wednesday week. But someone must ride in to-morrow so my letter can catch Monday's 行う／開催する／段階."

"Give it to me. I'm ridin' to Cedar 山の尾根 this afternoon."

"Edd, did you ーするつもりである to go anyway?"

"Wal, reckon I didn't," he 宣言するd honestly. "I've had about enough of town."

"You've been drinking and fighting?"

"Shore," he answered 簡単に, as if there were no 不名誉 大（公）使館員d to that.

"I don't want you to go to town with my letter unless you 約束 me you'll neither drink nor fight," she said 真面目に.

Edd laughed. "Say, you're takin' 利益／興味 in me mighty late. What for?"

"Better late than never. I 辞退する to discuss my 推論する／理由s. But will you 約束?"

"Wal, yes, about the white mule. Sorry I can't 約束 about fightin'. I've too many enemies I've ticked, an' if I happened to run into one of them, drunk or no drunk, they'd be a-rarin' to get at me."

"Then I'd rather you stayed away from Cedar 山の尾根."

"Wal, so would I. Honest, Lucy, I'm sort of sick. Don't know what it is. But to-day in the 支持を得ようと努めるd I began to feel a little like my old self. It's bee huntin' I need. To get away from people!"

"People will never 傷つける you, Edd. It's only that you will not like them...Tell me, have you had trouble with Bud Sprall?"

"Nope. Funny, too. For Bud's been lookin' powerful hard for me. He never goes to town an' I never go to dances, so we 港／避難所't bucked into each other."

"What's this trouble between you and Bud? Doesn't it date 支援する to that dance you took me to?"

"Wal, it's part because of somethin' he said about you at that dance. I'd have （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 him half to death 権利 there, only I didn't want to spoil your good time."

He seemed apologising to her for a softness that he regretted.

"About me!" exclaimed Lucy in surprise. "What was it?"

"Reckon I'm not hankerin' to tell," he replied reluctantly. "Shore I always 非難するd myself for lettin' it happen. But that night I was plumb locoed."

"Edd, if it is something you can tell me, do so at once," 需要・要求するd Lucy.

"Wal, I can tell it 平易な enough," returned Edd, with a smile breaking the hardness of his grimy 直面する. "Bud just bragged about peepin' through the 割れ目s of the shed 支援する of the schoolhouse. Swore he watched you undress."

"Oh--the こそこそ動く!" burst out Lucy, suddenly 炎上ing.

"Wal, don't let the idea upset you," drawled Edd. "For Bud was a liar. He never saw you. He just hatched that up after you wouldn't give him the other dance."

"How do you know?" queried Lucy, in swift 救済.

"Reckon I didn't know that night. But shore I 設立する out afterward. I 棒 負かす／撃墜する to the schoolhouse an' looked. There wasn't a 割れ目 in that shed anywheres. Not a darn one! You can bet I was careful to make shore. Bud just lied, that's all. He's always been a liar. But I reckon I 持つ／拘留する it as much against him as if he had seen you...An' now there's more I'm sore about."

Lucy did not delve into her mind to ascertain why she had no impulse to 無効にする Edd's 怒り／怒る against Bud Sprall. The 支配する seemed natural to Edd, but it was embarrassing for her.

"How about my letter?" she asked, ignoring his last speech.

"Gerd's ridin' in to-day an' he'll go by here. Fetch me the letter an' I'll see he gets it."

Lucy ran 支援する to her テント, and 安全な・保証するing it she returned to 手渡す it to Edd, with a word as to its importance.

"Shore. More trouble for us backwood boys!" he ejaculated, 友好的に, as he grinned.

"Trouble! What do you mean?" she asked, though she knew perfectly 井戸／弁護士席.

"Another pretty girl ridin' in," he 再結合させるd, with a hint of pathos, "an' one that wouldn't an' couldn't care a darn for the likes of us."

"Edd, that is unkind," 抗議するd Lucy, uncertain how to 会合，会う such speeches of his. There seemed only one course to 追求する, and that called on all her courage.

"Reckon it is. I'm not as 肉親，親類d feelin' as I used to be."

"Indeed you're not," returned Lucy あわてて. "And I want to talk to you about that. Not now. Some time when you're 残り／休憩（する）d and cheerful...Come here. I want to show you what I have done during this last absence of yours."

She led him across the open （疑いを）晴らすing and along a new-削減（する） path into the 支持を得ようと努めるd. It ended 突然の on the 辛勝する／優位 of the gully. A board walk had been 築くd on 政治家s, 延長するing some yards out over the gully, to a point just above the spring. By means of a pulley and rope a bucket could be lowered into the spring and 運ぶ／漁獲高d up 十分な of water, at very little 支出 of energy. Lucy 論証するd it with 緩和する, showing the 広大な／多数の／重要な saving of time and 成果／努力. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie had been compelled to make many trips a day to this spring, going 負かす／撃墜する the 法外な 追跡する and climbing 支援する.

"Now what do you say to me? I thought that out and had your father and Uncle 法案 put it up," 宣言するd Lucy with pride.

Edd appeared to be either dumbfounded or 大いに impressed. He sat 負かす／撃墜する rather 突然の, as if this last manifestation of Lucy's practical sense had taken something out of him.

"Simple as A B C," he ejaculated. "Why didn't pa or me--or somebody think of that long ago? I reckon ma an' Allie are ashamed of us."

His torn 黒人／ボイコット sombrero fell to the ground, and as he wiped his moist 直面する with a 国／地域d scarf his 長，率いる drooped. How tremendously he seemed to be struggling with a stolid mind! He 似ているd a man learning to think. Finally he looked up squarely at her.

"Reckon I'm about licked," he 宣言するd. "I've been dyin' hard--行方不明になる Lucy Watson from Felix. But 厚い as I am I'm shore no darned fool. This here 職業 to make fetchin' water 平易な for ma an' Allie is shore enough to make me kick myself. It makes me understand what you mean. I was against you. Every time I （機の）カム home ma showed me somethin' new. Shore that livin'-room, as they call it now, seemed no place for my boots an' 刺激（する）s an' chaps--for me. But I couldn't help seein' a difference in ma an' Allie an' the kids. They began to look like that room, with its furniture an' curtains an' pictures an' rugs an' 有望な both day an' night. Reckon I can't tell you just how, but it felt so to me. Clean 着せる／賦与するs, pretty things, must mean a lot to women an' kids...An' so I'm comin' 負かす／撃墜する off my hoss an' I'm thankin' you."

"Then you really believe I'm helping to make your people live better and happier?" asked Lucy 真面目に.

"It's hard for me to knuckle, but I do. I'm not blind. You've been a blessin' to us," he replied with emotion.

"But--Edd," she began hurriedly, "I--I 港／避難所't helped you."

"Me!...Wal, some fellows are beyond helpin'. I'm a savage. A big fool!...Only a wild-bee hunter!"

As his 長，率いる drooped and his bitter reply ended Lucy divined the havoc that had been wrought by those hard words of hers, uttered long weeks before, in an 怒り／怒る she could not brook. He had taken them to heart. Lucy yearned to 撤回する them, but that was impossible.

"Edd, 裁判官d by my 基準 for men, you were--what I called you," she said. "But I was 不正な. I should have made allowance for you. I was hot-tempered. You 侮辱d me. I should have slapped you good and hard."

"Wal, reckon I could have stood that," he replied. "You must have heard what Sadie an' other girls called me. An' you said it, too. Shore that was too much for me."

"If you'll 約束 not to--to talk the way you did then--never again, I'll 許す you," said Lucy hesitatingly.

"Wal, don't worry, I'll shore never do it again. But I'm not askin' you to 許す me," he returned bluntly, and rising, he stalked away toward the cabin.

Lucy realised that somehow she had been too impulsive, too 迅速な in her approach toward friendliness. Perhaps the old lofty 優越 had unwittingly cropped out again. にもかかわらず, something had been 伸び（る）d, if only her deeper insight into this wild-bee hunter. He was vastly ignorant of an infinite number of things Lucy knew so 井戸／弁護士席. Somehow she had not （許可，名誉などを）与えるd him a depth of emotion, a strength of individuality, the same that がまんするd in her. Because he was a backwoodsman she had 否定するd him an intimate personal sense of himself. She had not tried to enter into his way of looking at life or people or things. As far as he was 関心d she had been a poor 裁判官 of humanity, a poor teacher. No 平易な 仕事 would it be to change him. Her reflection brought out the fact that the 簡潔な／要約する conversation with him had only 追加するd to her 関心. His 自白 gratified her exceedingly. She had 手配中の，お尋ね者 more than she knew to have him see that she was helping his people to a better and happier life. How powerfully this 動機 of hers had 掴むd 持つ／拘留する of her heart! It had become a passion. He had called her a blessing to his family. That was 甘い, moving 賞賛する for Lucy. No 事柄 how he had been 傷つける in his 天然のまま sensitiveness, he surely was 感謝する to her. He was not wholly unapproachable. Only she must be tactful, clever, sincere. The last seemed the most important. Perhaps Edd Denmeade would see through tact and cleverness. Lucy pondered and 回転するd in mind the 複雑さ of the 状況／情勢. It must be made so that it was no longer コンビナート／複合体. The 解答 did not 夜明け on her then, but she divined that she could learn more about him through his love of bees and the forest where he roamed.

Mary Denmeade 遠くに見つけるd Lucy sitting by the path to the spring, and, as always, she ran to her. The children could not get enough of Lucy's companionship. Through her their little world had 広げるd wonderfully. Games and 調書をとる／予約するs, work and play, had already made incalculable differences. These backwoods children were as keen mentally as any children Lucy had been associated with in the city and vastly easier to 利益／興味.

"Here you are," cried Mary excitedly, her 注目する，もくろむs wide. "Edd is scolding Mertie. She's awful mad. So's ma. But ma is mad at Mertie and Mertie's mad at Edd."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mary. Perhaps I had better not go in yet," returned Lucy. "What's the trouble? Isn't it very strange for Edd to scold anyone, much いっそう少なく Mertie?"

"Strange? I don't know. He never scolds any of us but Mertie. Ma says it's because he loves her best...行方不明になる Lucy, Edd's not like he used to be. He stays away more an' when he does come home he's no time for us. Mertie said he was moony about you."

"Was that what 原因（となる）d the trouble?" asked Lucy quickly.

"Oh, no. Mertie said that a long time ago...I wasn't in the kitchen, but I peeped in and heard him say: 'Mert, you've been ridin' with Bud Sprall again.' An' Mertie said: 'I've no such thing. But It'd be no 商売／仕事 of yours if I had.' An' Edd said: 'Don't 嘘（をつく） to me. Someone saw you.' Then Mertie had one of her bad （一定の）期間s. She raved an' cried. Ma took her part Edd got 持つ／拘留する of Mertie an' said he'd choke the truth out of her. He looked awful. Ma made him let Mertie go. An' Edd said: 'Wal, you stayed last night at Claypool's. Now what time did you get there after school?' Mertie said she couldn't remember. She had the reddest 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs in her cheeks an' she couldn't look at Edd."

"Mary, did you listen to all that?" asked Lucy disapprovingly, as the child 停止（させる）d to catch her breath.

"I couldn't help 審理，公聴会," went on Mary. "But I did peep in the door. But they didn't see me. Edd said: 'I had a hunch before, Mert Denmeade. An' yesterday when I was told by someone who seen you I just 棒 負かす／撃墜する to Claypool's, an' I 設立する out you didn't get there till 近づく dark. Took you three hours to ride from school to Amy's home! I asked Amy when she seen you last. She looked darn queer, but I made her tell. You went off 負かす／撃墜する the road with Sadie Perdue.' Then ma pitched into Mertie so mad that I run."

Lucy soothed the excited child and importuned her not to tell anyone else about the family quarrel and that perhaps it was not so much against Mertie as it looked. Mary shook her 長，率いる dubiously, and presently, finding Lucy preoccupied, she gravitated toward the other children playing in the yard.

This was not the first time Lucy had been cognisant of an upset の中で the Denmeades 借りがあるing to Mertie's peculiar ways of 存在 happy. She had been the idol of the family, 単独で, no 疑問, because of her prettiness. Lucy considered Mertie a vain little ignoramus with not enough character to be 現実に bad. にもかかわらず, Lucy 反映するd, she might be as mistaken in Mertie as she had been in Edd. Of all the Denmeades, this second daughter was the easiest to 影響（力） because of her vanity. Lucy had won the girl's regard with a few compliments, a few hours of 指示／教授／教育 in dressmaking, and perhaps that was why Lucy did not value it very 高度に. Still, for Edd's sake, and, more 本気で considered, for the girl's sake also, Lucy was now 用意が出来ている to go to any 苦痛s to bring about a happier relation between brother and sister.

Perhaps, however, before she could be （刑事）被告 of 干渉 in personal 事件／事情／状勢s she had better wait until her 肉親，親類d offices were 招待するd.

On her way 支援する to her テント she heard the gate chain clank violently, and upon turning she 遠くに見つけるd Edd stalking away, 黒人／ボイコット as a thundercloud. Should she let him go or 停止（させる） him? Inspirations were not altogether rare with Lucy, but she had one now that thrilled her. This was her 適切な時期. She called Edd. As he did not appear to hear, she raised her 発言する／表明する. Then he wheeled to approach her.

"My, but you were tramping away 急速な／放蕩な and furiously!" said Lucy amiably.

"Reckon I was. What you want?"

"Are you in any 広大な／多数の／重要な hurry?"

"No, I can't say I am. Fact is I don't know where I'm goin'. But I'm a-rarin' to go, just the same." His 発言する／表明する was 緊張するd with spent passion and his lean 直面する seemed working 支援する to its 意図, still 表現.

"Come over in the shade and talk with me," said Lucy, and led him into the pines to a nook overlooking the gully, where she often sat. Plain it was that Edd followed her under compulsion. But this rather 刺激するd than inhibited Lucy.

"Don't go away angry," she began, and seating herself on the clean, brown pine mats, she clasped her 膝s and leaned 支援する to look up at him.

"Reckon it's not with you," he 再結合させるd, 製図／抽選 his breath hard.

"Of course not. I know what's wrong. Mary heard you quarrelling with Mertie. She told me...Now, Edd, I wouldn't for worlds 干渉する your 事件／事情／状勢s. But my 職業 is as wide as your 支持を得ようと努めるd. It's hard for me to tell where to leave off. The question is, if I can be good for Mertie, you want me to, don't you?"

"Wul, I shore do," he 宣言するd 強制的に. "More'n once I had a hunch to ask you. But I--I just couldn't."

"You should have. I'm sorry I've been so--so offish. It's settled, then. Now tell me what you think is wrong with Mertie."

"Reckon I don't think. I know," he replied ひどく. "Mertie is just plain no good. All she thinks of is her 直面する an' of somethin' to deck herself in so she'll attract the boys. Any boy will do, though she sticks up her nose at most of them, just the same. She's got one beau, Bert Hall, who lives in Cedar 山の尾根. Bert is 甘い on Mertie an' I know she likes him best of all the fellows who run after her. Bert owns a ranch an' he's got a 株 in his father's sawmill. Course he wants to marry Mertie an' Mertie wants to run wild. Dance an' ride! I reckon Sadie Purdue hasn't helped her 非，不，無...Wal, this summer Mertie has taken on 空気／公表するs. She says if she's old enough to be asked to dances an' to marry, she's her own boss. Pa an' ma can't do nothin' with Mertie. I used to 持つ／拘留する her 負かす／撃墜する. But shore--I've a hunch my time is past."

"井戸／弁護士席?" queried Lucy, as he ended haltingly. "I understand. What about this Bud Sprall?"

"Mertie always liked that 黒人／ボイコット-直面するd pup!" 宣言するd Edd darkly. "She's been meetin' him on the sly. Not alone yet, but with Sadie, who's got the same 肉親，親類d of 利益／興味 in Bud's pard, a hoss-wrangler who lives over Winbrook way. Mertie lied about it...Wal, if I can't break it up one way I can another."

"You mean you'll go to Bud Sprall?" queried Lucy 即時に.

"I shore do," he said tersely.

"You two will fight--perhaps 流出／こぼす 血," went on Lucy intensely. "That might be worse than Mertie's 事件／事情／状勢 with Bud, whatever it is. Edd, surely it is just a flirtation."

"Reckon I fooled myself with ideas like that," returned Edd bluntly "Boys an' girls up here do their flirtin' at dances. Straight out, 行方不明になる Lucy, this here sneakin' has a bad look. I know Sadie Purdue. She jilted me because I was too slow. Reckon she'd never have married me. Funny thing is she never would, even if she'd 手配中の，お尋ね者 to, because I 設立する her out. Nobody but you knows that. Wal, Mertie is 厚い with Sadie. An' they're meetin' these boys. Reckon you know how it will end, unless we stop it. Bert's an 平易な-goin' boy. But Mertie could go too far...You see, 行方不明になる Lucy, you 港／避難所't guessed yet just how--how 厚い many of us backwoods boys an' girls get. Not me! That's one 推論する／理由 why I'm a big boob...An' I always hoped an' prayed I could keep Mertie different. Shore it goes 肉親，親類d of hard to see I'm failin'."

"Edd, you've failed yourself," 主張するd Lucy ringingly. "You're on the 負かす／撃墜する grade yourself. You've taken to the 瓶／封じ込める and to fights. How can you 推定する／予想する to 影響（力） your sister to go straight if you're no good yourself?"

"By God! that shore's been--eatin' into me!" he ejaculated huskily, and hid his sombre 直面する in his grimy 手渡すs.

"Oh, I'm glad you see it!" cried Lucy, putting a 手渡す on his shoulder. "Edd, you must come 支援する to your old self."

"Yes, I reckon I have to," he agreed. "If only it's not too late--for Mertie!"

"Let us hope and pray it is not," 再結合させるd Lucy 真面目に. "I'm shocked at what you say, but yet I feel 絶対 sure Mertie is still good. She's vain, she's wild. I know her 肉親，親類d. And, Edd, I 約束 to 充てる myself to Mertie. I must go to Felix for a week this 落ちる. I'll talk about that to Mertie, 持つ／拘留する it out to her. I'll take her with me. Oh, I know how to manage her. We'll marry her to Bert before she knows it."

"Wal, what ma said about you is shore true," he said, 解除するing his dark 直面する stained with 涙／ほころびs. "An' I'll make you a 約束."

"Yes?" queried Lucy encouragingly.

"I'll go 支援する to my wild-bee huntin'."

Lucy divined the 輸入する of that strange 約束 and she rejoiced over it, happily proud for him and the Denmeades.

一時期／支部 VIII

The news that Lucy's sister was coming spread all over the 即座の country. Lucy was hugely amused at the number of gallants who visited Denmeade's on Sunday and 設立する transparent excuses to interview her. There was no use to try to 避ける them on the 問題／発行する that portended.

Lucy 展示（する）d Clara's picture with conscious pride, and did not みなす it necessary to explain that the likeness 時代遅れの 支援する several years. She was both delighted and 関心d over the sensation it created. Of all the boys she had met there, Joe Denmeade appeared to be the quietest and nicest, the least given to dances, white mule, and girls. Lucy experienced one 激烈な／緊急の qualm of 良心 before she approached Joe to ask him to 会合，会う her sister at Cedar 山の尾根. That qualm was born of a 恐れる that Joe might 会合，会う his downfall in Clara. She silenced it with the 辞職するd 有罪の判決 that circumstances were beyond her. What a feeble little woman she was!

Sunday afternoon on the Denmeade porch 設立する the usual visiting （人が）群がる 大部分は augmented. Sam Johnson paid his first call for weeks, this time without Sadie. He seemed いっそう少なく debonair and obtrusive than had been his wont. Least of all did he question Lucy about the pretty sister, but he drank in all that was said. Lucy watched Sam closely as he looked at Clara's picture; and soberly she 裁判官d by his 表現 that, unless, as she devoutly hoped, Clara had changed, there would be some love-lorn gallants haunting the Denmeade homestead.

"When's she comin'?" queried Sam.

"I'll hear in to-morrow's mail. Wednesday or Saturday," replied Lucy.

"Reckon you're goin' in to 会合，会う her?"

"Indeed I am. Joe will 運動 me to town from the school-house. Mr. Jenks has 申し込む／申し出d his buckboard."

"Joe! So he's the lucky cub?" snorted Sam. "Reckon you'd need a man."

Lucy's choice was news to all the listeners, 含むing Joe himself, who, as usual, sat 静かに in the background. She had 発射 him a quick ちらりと見ること, as if to 伝える they had an understanding. その結果 Joe 展示（する）d surprising 資格s for the 信用 she had 課すd upon him.

"Sam, you don't get the hunch," he drawled. "行方不明になる Lucy's sister isn't a 井戸／弁護士席 girl. She's goin' to need 残り／休憩（する）!"

The （人が）群がる was quick to しっかり掴む Joe's 輸入する, and they laughed their glee and joined in an unmerciful bantering of the 広大な／多数の／重要な backwoods flirt.

After supper, as Lucy sat on the steps of her テント, Joe approached her.

"Now, teacher, how'd you come to 選ぶ on me?" he asked plaintively.

"選ぶ on you! Joe, you don't mean--"

"Reckon I mean 選ぶ me out, as the lucky boy," he interrupted. "I'm just curious about it."

Lucy liked his 直面する. It was so young and clean and brown, square-jawed, 罰金-lipped, with 注目する，もくろむs of grey 解雇する／砲火／射撃!

"Joe, I chose you because I think you will give my sister a better impression than any other boy here," replied Lucy with 審議.

"Aw, teacher!" he 抗議するd, as shyly as might have a girl. "Are you jokin' me? An' what you mean by this heah impression?"

"Joe, I ask you to keep what I tell you to yourself. Will you?"

"Why, shore!"

"My sister is not 井戸／弁護士席 and she's not happy. It would give her a bad impression to 会合，会う first thing a fellow like Sam or Gerd or Hal, who would get mushy on sight. Edd now would be too 冷淡な and strange. I ask you because I know you'll be just the same to Clara as you are to me. Won't you?"

"An' how's that, teacher?" he queried, with his frank smile.

"Why, Joe, you're just yourself!" answered Lucy, somewhat taken at a disadvantage.

"Never thought aboot bein' just like myself. But I'll try. I reckon you're not savvyin' what a big 職業 you're givin' me. I mean pickin' me out to take you to town. If your sister comes on Saturday's 行う／開催する／段階 every boy under the 縁 will be there in Cedar 山の尾根. Reminds me of what I heard teacher Jenks say once. Some men are born 広大な／多数の／重要な an' some have greatness thrust on them. Shore I'm goin' to be roped in that last outfit."

"I like you, Joe, and I want you to live up to what I think of you."

"行方不明になる Lucy, are you shore aboot me bein' 価値（がある） it?" he asked solemnly.

"Yes, I am...To-morrow you stay till the mail comes for Mr. Jenks. He'll have 地雷. Then we'll know whether Clara is coming Wednesday or Saturday. I'd like you to borrow Edd's horse Baldy for Clara to ride up from the school-house. Any horse will do for me. We'll have to leave 早期に."

"It'd be better. I can 運動 in from the school-house in three hours. The 行う／開催する／段階 arrives anywheres from eleven to four. I'm givin' you a hunch. We want to be there when it comes."

The に引き続いて day when Joe 棒 home from school he brought Lucy's mail, の中で which was the important letter from Clara--only a 公式文書，認める, a few lines あわてて scrawled, 十分な of a wild 感謝 and 救済, with the news that she would arrive at Cedar 山の尾根 on Saturday.

"It's settled, then, she's corning," mused Lucy dreamily. "I don't believe I was 絶対 sure. Clara was never reliable. But now she'll come. There seems some 肉親，親類d of 運命／宿命 in this. I wonder will she like my wild, lonesome country."

Lucy had imagined the 続いて起こるing days might drag; she had reckoned 誤って, for they were singularly 十分な of 利益／興味 and work and thought. Edd had taken to coming home 早期に in the afternoons, serious and moody, yet 意図 on making up for his 無関心／冷淡 toward Lucy's activities with his family. He veered to the opposite extreme. He would spend hours listening to Lucy with the children. He was not above learning to 削減（する） animals and birds and 人物／姿／数字s out of paper, and his clumsy 試みる／企てるs roused delight. Lucy had, in a way vastly puzzling to the Denmeades, 後継するd in winning Mertie to a 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益／興味 in 手動式の training, which she now 株d with Mary. Edd 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know the why and wherefore of everything. He lent 刑事 a 手渡す in the carpentry work, of which Lucy invented no end. And he showed a strange absorption at 半端物 moments in the children's fairy-story 調書をとる／予約するs. He was a child himself.

自然に, during the late afternoon and 早期に evening hours of the long summer days he （機の）カム much in 接触する with Lucy. She 招待するd his co-操作／手術 in even the slightest 仕事s. She was always asking his help, always inventing some 推論する／理由 to 含む him in her little circle of work and play. She 設立する time to ask him about his bee 追跡（する）ing, which was the one 支配する that he would talk of 無期限に／不明確に. Likewise she excited and 刺激するd an 利益／興味 in reading. As he read very slowly and laboriously, he liked best to listen to her, and 利益（をあげる）d most by that, but Lucy always saw he was left to finish the passage himself.

At night when all was dark and still, when she lay wide-注目する，もくろむd and thoughtful under the shadowy canvas, she would be 直面するd by an appalling realisation. Her sympathy, her friendliness, her smiles and charms, of which she had been deliberately prodigal, her love for the children and her good 影響（力） on Mertie--all these had begun to 勝利，勝つ 支援する Edd Denmeade from the sordid path that had 脅すd to lead to his 廃虚. He did not know how much of this was 借りがあるing to personal 接触する with her, but she knew. Edd was unconsciously drawn toward a girl, in a way he had never before experienced. Lucy felt he had no thought of 感情, of 願望（する）, of the old obsession that he "must find himself a woman." Edd had been stung to his soul by his realisation of ignorance. She had pitied him. She had begun to like him. Something of pride, something elevating, …に出席するd her changing 態度 toward him. What would it all lead to? But there could be no turning 支援する. Strangest of all was for her to feel the 夜明け of real happiness in this service.

Saturday morning arrived earlier for Lucy than any other she remembered. It （機の）カム in the dark hour before 夜明け, when Joe called her to get up and make ready for the 広大な／多数の／重要な ride to Cedar 山の尾根--to 会合，会う Clara Lucy dressed by lamp-light and had her breakfast in the 薄暗い, pale obscurity of daybreak. Mrs. Denmeade and Edd were the only others of the 世帯 who had arisen. Even the dogs and the chickens were asleep.

It was daylight when Lucy arrived at the corrals, where the boys had the horses saddled.

"I'd like to ride Baldy as far as we go horseback," said Lucy.

"Shore," replied Edd. "An' I reckon you'd better ride him 支援する. For he knows you an' he might not like your sister. Horses have likes an' dislikes, same as people."

"Oh, I want Clara to have the 楽しみ of riding him."

"Shore she'll take a 向こうずね to him, an' then you'll be out of luck," drawled Edd as he held the corral gate open.

"Indeed, I hope she takes a 向こうずね to Baldy and everything here," 宣言するd Lucy 真面目に.

"Me an' Joe, too?" he grinned.

"Yes, both of you."

"Wal, I reckon it'll be Joe...Good-bye. We'll be lookin' for you all about sundown."

Joe 棒 into the 追跡する, 主要な an extra horse, which would be needed upon the return; and he 始める，決める off at a gait calculated to make time. Lucy followed, not forgetting to wave a gloved 手渡す 支援する at Edd; then she gave herself up to the 説得力のある sensations of the hour and thoughts of the day.

There were scattered clouds in the sky, pale grey, pearly white where the light of 夜明け touched their eastern 辛勝する／優位s, and pink 近づく the 広大な／多数の／重要な 有望な ゆらめく above the 縁. The forest seemed asleep. The ぼんやり現れるing 塀で囲む wandered away into the soft misty distance.

Joe did not take the school-house 追跡する, but the wilder and いっそう少なく travelled one toward Cedar 山の尾根. The woodland was dark, grey, 冷静な／正味の. Birds and squirrels had awakened noisily to the 商売／仕事 of the day. Deer and wild turkeys ran across the 追跡する ahead of the horses. The freshness and fragrance of the forest struck upon Lucy as something new and 甘い. Yet the wildness of it seemed an old familiar delight. Green and brown and grey enveloped her. There were parts of the 追跡する where she had to ride her best, for Joe was making 急速な／放蕩な time, and others where she could look about her, and breathe 自由に, and try to realise that she had grown to love this wilderness 孤独. Her grandfather had been a 開拓する, and her mother had often spoken of how she would have preferred life in the country. Lucy imagined she had 相続するd instincts only of late cropping out. How would her sister 反応する to this lonely land of trees and 激しく揺するs? Lucy hoped against hope. There was a 傷をいやす／和解させるing strength in this country. If only Clara had developed mind and soul enough to 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it!

Lucy 井戸／弁護士席 remembered the dark ravine, murmurous with its swift stream, and the grand 巨大（な） silver spruces, and the mossy 激しく揺するs twice as high as her 長，率いる, and the gnarled roots under banks suggestive of homes for wild cats, and the amber eddying pools, 深い like 井戸／弁護士席s, and the 急ぐing 早いs.

The climb out of this 深い endlessly sloped canyon brought sight of sunrise, a rose and gold burst of glory over the 黒人／ボイコット-fringed 縁. Then a きびきびした trot through a はしけ and drier forest ended in the （疑いを）晴らすing of the Johnsons.

早期に as was the hour, the Johnsons were up, as was 証拠d by curling blue smoke, （犯罪の）一味ing 一打／打撃 of axe, and the clatter of hoofs. Mr. Jenks, too, was stirring, and soon 遠くに見つけるing Lucy, he 急いでd to come out to the 盗品故買者.

"Mawnin', folks," he drawled, imitating the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing 方式 of speech. "行方不明になる Lucy, I shore forgot this was your 広大な／多数の／重要な day. Reckon I'm out of luck, for I'll not be here when you 運動 支援する. I'm going to visit Spralls', to see why their children are absent so much from school."

"Mr. Jenks, will you please take 公式文書，認める of these Spralls, so you can tell me about them?" asked Lucy 熱望して. "I feel that I must go there, in spite of all I hear."

"Yes, I'll get a fresh line on them," he replied. "And if that isn't enough to keep you away I'll find other means."

"Oh, you are conspiring against me," cried Lucy reproachfully.

"Yes, indeed. But listen, I've news for you," he went on as Joe led the unsaddled horses inside the 盗品故買者. "Your sister's coming has given me a wonderful idea. When she gets 井戸／弁護士席, which of course she will do here very quickly, why not let her take my school? 事件／事情／状勢s at my home are such that I must return there, at least for a time, and this would 供給する me with a most welcome 適切な時期."

"I don't know," replied Lucy doubtfully. "Clara had a good education. But whether or not she could or would 請け負う such a work, I can't say. Still, it's not a bad idea. I'll think it over, and wait awhile before I speak to her."

Mr. Jenks made light of Lucy's 疑問s, and argued so insistently that she began to wonder if there were not other 推論する／理由s why he 手配中の，お尋ね者 a vacation. She had an intuitive feeling that he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to give up teaching, at least there, for good. They conversed a few moments longer, until Joe drove up in the buckboard. Then Mr. Jenks helped Lucy to 開始する the high seat beside Joe, and bade them a merry good-bye.

Whatever the 追跡する had been, the road was jarringly new to Lucy. There developed ample 推論する／理由 for Joe's advice to "hang on to the 鞍馬," by which he must have meant anything to 持つ／拘留する on to, 含むing himself. The big team of horses went like the 勝利，勝つd, bowling over 激しく揺するs, ruts, and roots as if they were not there at all. Lucy was hard put to it to remain in her seat; in fact, she 後継するd only part of the time.

"Say--Joe," cried Lucy, after a 特に sharp turn, which the buckboard 一連の会議、交渉／完成するd on two wheels, and Lucy frantically clung to Joe, "are you--a 正規の／正選手--driver?"

"Me? Say, I'm reckoned the best driver in this heah country," he 宣言するd.

"Heaven 保存する me--from the worst," murmured Lucy.

"You 選ぶd me out, 行方不明になる Lucy, an' I shore mean to （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 that outfit of boys in to Cedar 山の尾根," said Joe. "The whole darned caboodle of them will be there. Gerd an' Hal slept heah all night with Sam. An' they're already gone. Suppose the 行う／開催する／段階 （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域s us to Cedar 山の尾根!...Say, Sam is up to anythin'."

"運動 as 急速な／放蕩な as you want, only don't upset me--or something awful!" returned Lucy 猛烈に.

On the long 降下／家系 of the cedared 山の尾根 Joe held the big team to a trot. Lucy 回復するd her breath and her composure. When at last they turned out of the 小衝突 into the main road of the little town Lucy was both thrilled and relieved.

"Wal, heah we are, an' we （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 the 行う／開催する／段階," drawled Joe.

"You must be a wonderful driver, Joe, since we 現実に got here," averred Lucy. "But there'll be no need to 運動 that way going 支援する--will there?"

"Reckon we want Clara to know she's had a ride, don't we?" he queried coolly.

"Joe!"

"What'd you 選ぶ me out for? Reckon I've got to be different from that outfit. Look at the hosses. Whole string of them!"

"You mean the boys will waylay us?" queried Lucy, anxiously.

"Like as not they'd 破産した／（警察が）手入れする this heah buckboard if I left it long enough. Shore they'll 推定する／予想する to 会合，会う Clara an' have a chance to show off. But we'll fool them. When the 行う／開催する／段階 comes you 得る，とらえる her. Go in to Mrs. Lynn's an' get some grub to pack with us. Don't eat in there. Sam'll be layin' for that. Hurry out an' we'll leave pronto, before the ギャング（団） get their breath."

"But, Joe, why all this--this 恐れる of the boys, and the 急ぐ?" queried Lucy.

"Reckon you know the boys. They'll be up to tricks. An' on my 味方する, since you 選ぶd me, I want to have Clara first."

"Oh, I--see!" ejaculated Lucy. "Very 井戸／弁護士席, Joe. I 信用 you, and we'll do your way."

They reached the 地位，任命する office, where Joe reined in the team. Lucy 遠くに見つけるd a porch 十分な of long-legged, big-sombreroed, clean-shaven young men, whose 直面するs flashed in the sun.

"行方不明になる Lucy, I'll 料金d an' water the hosses," said Joe. "Reckon you need a little stretch after that nice 平易な ride."

"It'll be welcome," 宣言するd Lucy, getting 負かす／撃墜する. "You keep an 注目する，もくろむ open for the 行う／開催する／段階 while I run in to see Mrs. Lynn."

By going into the hotel 入り口 Lucy 避けるd the boys slowly gravitating toward her. Mrs. Lynn 迎える／歓迎するd her most cordially, and was 平等に curious and informative. Lucy took advantage of the moment, while she was chatting, to peep out of the window. The cavaliers of Cedar 山の尾根 lounged on the porch, and stalked to and fro. One group in particular roused Lucy's amused 疑惑s. Sam Johnson was conferring most 真面目に with several of his cronies, two of whom were Hal Miller and Gerd Claypool. They were not 特に amiable, to 裁判官 from their 直面するs. A gesture of Sam's attracted Lucy's gaze toward two picturesque riders, lean and dark and striking. She recognised the handsome 直面する and 人物／姿／数字 of one of them. Bud Sprall! The other was a taller, lither man, with flashing red 直面する and 炎上ing hair of gold. Young, bold, 悪意のある, dissipated as he appeared, the virility and physical beauty of him charmed Lucy's 注目する，もくろむ.

"Who is that man--there, with Bud Sprall?" queried Lucy, trying to appear casual.

Mrs. Lynn peeped out. "I was askin' my husband that very question. He didn't know the fellow's 指名する. Pard of Bud's, he said. Two of a 肉親，親類d! Some of the boys told him Bud was 厚い with cowboys of the 縁 outfit. This one is new in Cedar 山の尾根."

Presently as Joe appeared 運動ing the buckboard to a shady place under a cottonwood, some 棒 from the 前線 of the 地位，任命する office. Through the window, which was open, Lucy caught amusing and 重要な 発言／述べるs.

"Howdy, boys!" drawled Joe, in answer to a 部隊 of greetings.

"What you-all doin' here with them work 着せる／賦与するs on?" queried one.

"Joe, yore shore kinda young to 取り組む this hyar city proposition," said another.

"Wal, Joe, I reckon you can't 運動 that big team with your left 手渡す," 主張するd a third banteringly.

"Hey, Joe, I see you're a Denmeade all over," said another. "But take a hunch from Edd's 冷淡な tricks."

These 発言／述べるs and others in 類似の vein attested the 支配的な idea in the minds of these young countrymen--that a new girl was soon to appear upon the scene, and that only one 態度 was possible. She was to be seen, fought over humorously and さもなければ, and to be won. It afforded Lucy much amusement, yet it was also thought-逮捕（する）ing.

She went out and climbed to a seat beside Joe, careful to appear very vivacious and smiling. The 影響 was to silence the bantering boys and to 原因（となる）, on the part of Sam and several others, a 漸進的な 辛勝する／優位ing toward the buckboard. Lucy appeared not to notice the attention she was receiving, and she やめる bewildered Joe with a flood of rather irrelevant talk. Then one of the boys shouted that the 行う／開催する／段階 was coming.

That checked all fun-loving impulses in Lucy. Her heart gave a 解除する and began to 続けざまに猛撃する against her 味方する. Glimpses she caught of the dusty 井戸／弁護士席-remembered 行う／開催する／段階, while many thoughts flashed through her mind. Would Clara come, after all? How much had she changed? Would she be as 甘い and repentant and 控訴，上告ing as her letters had 暗示するd? What a 状況／情勢 would arise if she did not like this wilderness country! Then a thrilling, palpitating joy that Clara had at last yearned for her!

The 行う／開催する／段階 wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the corner of cottonwoods, and the old driver, with 広大な／多数の／重要な gusto and 認識／意識性 of his importance, 運ぶ／漁獲高d the sweaty horses to a 停止（させる） in 前線 of the 地位，任命する office.

Lucy leaped 負かす／撃墜する and ran. There were four or five 乗客s, and a 広大な／多数の／重要な 蓄える／店 of 捕らえる、獲得するs, boxes, and bundles, all of which she saw rather indistinctly. But as she reached the 行う／開催する／段階 she （疑いを）晴らすd her 注目する，もくろむs of 涙／ほころびs and gazed up expectantly, with a numbness encroaching upon her tingling 神経s. Clara might not have come.

There was a hubbub of 発言する／表明するs. Manifestly others of these 乗客s had friends or 親族s waiting.

"Hallo--Lucy!" cried a girl's excited, rather broken 発言する／表明する.

Lucy almost 叫び声をあげるd her reply. Behind a 激しい old woman, laboriously descending the 行う／開催する／段階 steps, Lucy 遠くに見つけるd a わずかな／ほっそりした, tall, 隠すd girl 覆う？ in an ultra-流行の／上流の gown and hat the like of which had not been seen at Cedar 山の尾根. Lucy knew this was her sister, but she did not recognise her. As the girl stepped 負かす／撃墜する to the ground she threw 支援する her 隠す, 公表する／暴露するing a pale 直面する, with big haunting blue 注目する，もくろむs that seemed to 緊張する at Lucy with hunger and sadness. Indeed it was Clara--vastly changed!

"Sister!" cried Lucy, with a sudden 急ぐ of tenderness. Clara met her embrace, mute and shaking. How strange and 十分な that moment! Lucy was the first to think of the onlookers, and gently 解放する／撤去させるing herself from 粘着するing 手渡すs she burst out: "Oh, I didn't know you. I was afraid you'd not be in the 行う／開催する／段階...I'm so glad I'm half silly....Come, we'll go in the hotel a moment...Don't mind all this （人が）群がる."

Thus Lucy, talking 速く, with no idea of what she was 説, led Clara away; but she was acutely aware of the 猛烈な／残忍な clutch on her arm and the pearly whiteness of her sister's cheek. Lucy did not dare look at her yet. The sitting-room inside the hotel happened to be 空いている. Clara did not seem to be able to do anything but 粘着する mutely to Lucy.

"You poor dear! Are you that glad to see me?" murmured Lucy, 持つ／拘留するing her の近くに.

"Glad--My God!" whispered Clara huskily. "You'll never--know how glad. For you've never--been without--friends, love, home, strength."

"Oh, Clara, don't--don't talk so!" cried Lucy, in 苦しめる. "Don't break 負かす／撃墜する here. Outside there are a lot of young backwoods boys, curious to see you. We can't 避ける that. They are nice, clean, 罰金 chaps, but crazy over girls...Don't cry. I'm so glad to see you I could cry myself. を締める up. We'll hurry away from here. There's a long ride in a buckboard and a short one on horseback. You'll love the horse you're to ride. His 指名する is Baldy. You'll love the 支持を得ようと努めるd. I live in a テント, 権利 in the pines."

This 会合 had 証明するd to be 突然に poignant. Lucy had 用意が出来ている herself for a few moments of 強調する／ストレス, but nothing like this. Clara seemed utterly changed, a stranger, a beautiful, frail, haunted-注目する，もくろむd young woman. Lucy was 深く，強烈に shocked at the havoc in that 直面する. It told her story. But strange as Clara seemed, she yet radiated something Lucy had never felt in the old days, and it was love of a sister. That やめる overpowered Lucy's heart. It had come late, but not too late.

"Clara, I hope you're strong enough to go on to-day--to my home," said Lucy gently.

"I'm not so weak as that," replied Clara, 解除するing her 直面する from Lucy's shoulder. It was 涙／ほころび-stained and convulsive. "I was 打ち勝つ. I--I never was sure--till I saw you."

"Sure of what?" asked Lucy.

"That you'd take me 支援する."

"You can be sure of me for ever. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know you want to come...Let us sit here a few moments. As soon as you 残り／休憩（する） a little and compose yourself we'll start. I've ordered a lunch which we'll eat as we ride along."

"Ought I not to tell you--about my trouble--my 不名誉--before we go?" asked Clara, very low.

"Why should you--now?" 再結合させるd Lucy, in surprise.

"It might--make a difference."

"Oh no! You poor unhappy girl. Do you imagine anything could change me? Forget your troubles," returned Lucy tenderly.

"I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to--at least when I met you after so long a 分離. But those tall queer men outside. Such 注目する，もくろむs they had! They must know about me."

"Only that you're my sister and coming to stay with me," said Lucy hurriedly. "They've ridden into town to see you--会合，会う you. Don't worry. They won't 会合，会う you. I have told only that you were ill."

Clara seemed passionately 感謝する for Lucy's thoughtfulness. She had little to say, however, yet listened strainingly to Lucy.

A little later, when they left the hotel, Clara had dropped the 隠す over her white 直面する, and she clung closely to Lucy. 一方／合間 Joe had driven up to the high porch, from which Lucy helped her sister into the buckboard.

"Clara, this is Joe Denmeade," said Lucy, as she stepped in beside Clara.

Joe quaintly doffed his 抱擁する sombrero and spoke rather bashfully. Lucy was pleased to see his 罰金 brown, frank 直面する smile in the sunlight.

"Wal, reckon we're all heah," he said briskly. "The 行う／開催する／段階 driver gave me five valises--four big an' one small. They were tagged Clara Watson. I packed them in. An' if that's all the baggage we can be movin' along."

"That is all, thank you," returned Clara.

"行方不明になる Lucy, did you fetch the lunch?" asked Joe, with his 注目する，もくろむ on the boys, who had nonchalantly sauntered closer to the buckboard.

"I have it, Joe. 運動 away before--" whispered Lucy.

Sam Johnson, the 真っ先の of the group, stepped 今後 to put a foot on the wheel of the buckboard. His manner was supremely casual. No actor could have done it better.

"Howdy, Joe! Good afternoon, 行方不明になる Lucy," he drawled blandly.

Lucy replied pleasantly, and introduced him to Clara, and after they had 交流d greetings she 追加するd: "Sorry we've no time to 雑談（する）. We must hurry home."

Sam made rather obtrusive 成果／努力s to pierce Clara's 隠す. Then he 演説（する）／住所d Joe: "My hoss went lame comin' in, an' I reckon I'll ride out with you."

"Awful sorry, Sam," drawled Joe, "but I've got a 負担. Heah's 行方不明になる Clara's five valises, an' a pack of トラックで運ぶ for ma."

"I won't mind ridin' in the 支援する seat with the girls," 再結合させるd Sam, in the most 融通するing 発言する／表明する.

"Shore reckon you wouldn't," returned Joe dryly. "But this heah's Mr. Jenks's buckboard an' he asked me particular not to 負担 激しい. So long, Sam."

Joe whipped the reins smartly, and the team started so suddenly that Sam, who had been leaning from the porch with one foot on the wheel, was upset in a most ridiculous manner. The boys on the porch let out a howl of mirth. Lucy could not repress a smile.

"Serves him 権利," said Joe. "Sam's shore got a 神経. All the time with Sadie in town!"

"Joe! Did you see her?" asked Lucy quickly.

"I shore did. She was across the road, peepin' out of Bell's door when Sam got that 流出／こぼす."

Lucy, relieved 同様に as amused at the quick start, turned to find Clara 除去するing the 隠す. Her 直面する was lightened by a smile. Slight as it was, it thrilled Lucy.

"Young men are--funny," she said, with a tinge of bitterness.

"Indeed they are," vouchsafed Lucy heartily; "井戸／弁護士席, we're 解放する／自由な of that （人が）群がる. Joe, are they apt to ride after us?"

"Like as not," drawled Joe. "But the road is 狭くする. They shore can't pass us, an' all they'll get will be our dust."

"Suppose we eat lunch while we don't have to 持つ／拘留する on," 示唆するd Lucy. "Presently the road will be rough, and--to say the least, Joe 運動s."

"Let him 運動 as 急速な／放蕩な as he can," replied Clara tensely. "Oh--the 微風 feels so good! The 空気／公表する seems different."

"Clara, you'll find everything different up here. But I'm not going to say a word till you ask me....Now, let's eat. We'll not get supper till dark or later...薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s with jam. Chicken--and pie. Joe, I overheard one of those boys speak of your 運動ing with one 手渡す. So, surely you can 運動 and eat at the same time?"

"I reckon," 再結合させるd Joe. "But see heah, 行方不明になる Lucy. Gerd Claypool said that, an' he shore didn't mean I'd be usin' my 解放する／自由な 手渡す to eat."

"Joe, do you think me so dense? Don't those boys ever think sense about girls?"

"Never that I reckoned. Edd used to 嘘（をつく） worse than any of them. But he's over it, I guess, since you same, 行方不明になる Lucy!"

その結果 Clara's quick ちらりと見ること caught Lucy blushing, though she laughed merrily.

"Joe Denmeade! That is a doubtful compliment...Come, you'd better begin to eat--this and this and this...Clara, I get ravenously hungry up here. It's the wonderful 空気／公表する. I hope it will 影響する／感情 you that way."

その結果 they fell to eating the ample lunch, during which time Lucy made merry. にもかかわらず she took occasion now to 観察する Clara, unobtrusively, at opportune moments. Out in the （疑いを）晴らす 有望な sunlight Clara seemed indeed a pale frail flower. Always as a girl she had been pretty, but it would have been trivial to call her so now. Her 直面する had strangely altered, and the only features remaining to 動かす her memory were the violet 注目する，もくろむs and golden hair. They were the same in colour, though Clara's 注目する，もくろむs, that had once been audacious, merry, almost bold in their 有望な beauty, were now 影をつくる／尾行するd 深く，強烈に with 苦痛. Clara had been an unconscionable flirt; to-day no trace of pert provocativeness was manifest. Indeed, 苦しむing, shock, whatever had been the calamity which was 記録，記録的な／記録するd there, had 除去するd the callow coarseness of thoughtless adolescence, and had left a haunting, 悲劇の charm. Lucy thought the 変形 almost incredible. It 似ているd that birth of soul she had divined in Clara's letters. What had happened to her? Lucy shrank from the truth. Yet her heart swelled with wonder and ache for this sister whom she had left a wild girl and had 設立する a woman.

By the time the lunch had 消えるd Joe was 運動ing up the 狭くする ジグザグの road 主要な to the 高さ of the cedared 山の尾根. Here he 中止するd to look 支援する 負かす／撃墜する the road, as if no longer 推定する／予想するing the boys to catch up with him. But he lived up to his 評判 as a driver.

"Reckon you froze them off," he said at length. "Sam, anyhow. He'll shore never get over bein' 捨てるd on the porch."

Lucy, talking at 無作為の, discovered that Clara was intensely 利益／興味d in her 福利事業 work in this backwoods community. Thus encouraged, Lucy began at the beginning and told the story of her 進歩 in every 詳細（に述べる） possible, considering that Joe was there to hear every word. In fact, she talked the hours away and was amazed when Joe drove into the Johnson （疑いを）晴らすing.

"What a hideous place!" murmured Clara as she gazed around. "You don't live here?"

"No, indeed!" replied Lucy. "This is where Sam Johnson lives. We have a few miles to go on horseback. Clara, have you anything to ride in?"

"Yes; I have an old riding 控訴 that I hate," said her sister.

"It doesn't 事柄 how you feel about it," laughed Lucy. "Where's it packed? We can go into Mr. Jenks's テント while Joe tends to the horses."

Lucy 行為／行うd Clara to the teacher's lodgings, and then made some pretext to go outside. She 手配中の，お尋ね者 to think. She had not been natural. Almost 恐れるing to look at Clara, yearning to 株 her 重荷（を負わせる）s, hiding curiosity and 悲しみ in an 連続する flow of talk, Lucy had sought to spare her sister. What a 状況／情勢! Clara the incorrigible, the merciless, the imperious, はうing on her 膝s! Lucy divined it was love Clara needed beyond all else. She had been horribly cheated. She had cheated herself. She had 侮辱する／軽蔑するd sister, mother, home. Lucy began to しっかり掴む here the marvellous fact that what she had prayed for had come. Years before she had tried in girlish unformed strength to 影響（力） this wayward sister. When she gave up city life to come to the wilderness it had been with the settled high 解決する to do for others what she had been 軍隊d to do for herself. The 失敗 of her home life had been its 悲しみ, from which had sprung this passion to teach. She had prayed, worked, hoped, despaired, struggled. And lo! as if by some omniscient 魔法, Clara had been given 支援する to her. Lucy choked over the poignancy of her emotion. She was humble. She marvelled. She would never again be shaken in her 約束 in her ideals. How terrible to 熟視する／熟考する now her moments of 証拠不十分 when she might have given up!

Her absorption in thought and emotion was broken by Clara 現れるing from the テント.

"Lucy, here's all that's left of me," she said whimsically.

It was not possible then for Lucy to say what she thought. Clara's 発言／述べる about an old riding 控訴 had been 誤って導くing. It was not new, but it was striking. Clara's slenderness and fragility were not manifest in this outdoor garb. If she was bewitching to Lucy, what would she be to these simple girl-worshipping backwoodsmen?

When Joe （機の）カム up with the horses, and saw Clara, there was no need for Lucy to imagine she 誇張するd. The look in his 注目する，もくろむs betrayed him. But if he had been struck as by 雷 it was only for a moment. "Reckon I can pack one of the valises on my saddle, an' carry another," he said 事実上. "To-morrow I'll fetch a burro to pack home the 残り／休憩（する）. I'll put them in Mr. Jenks's テント."

"This is Baldy. Oh, he's a dear horse!" said Lucy. "Get up on him, Clara....Have you ridden lately?"

"Not so--very," replied Clara, with 発言する／表明する and 直面する はっきりと altering. Then she 機動力のある with a grace and 緩和する which brought 熱心に home to Lucy the fact that Clara had eloped with a cowboy and had gone to live on a ranch south of Mendino. Clara had always been an incomparable rider.

Soon they were travelling 負かす／撃墜する the road, Joe in the lead, Lucy and Clara 味方する by 味方する. For Lucy there was an unreality about the 状況／情勢, a something almost like a remembered dream. Clara's reticence seemed rather to augment this feeling. 徐々に there 井戸／弁護士席d into Lucy's mind a happy 保証／確信, tinged perhaps with sadness.

Once Clara 発言／述べるd that it was new to her to ride in the shade. She began to show 利益／興味 in the trees, and when they turned off on the 追跡する into the forest she exclaimed, "Oh, how beautiful!"

Lucy was quick to 観察する that Clara managed Baldy perfectly, but she was not 安定した in the saddle. She showed unmistakable 証拠不十分. They 棒 on, silent, on and on, and then 負かす／撃墜する into the 深い green forest, so solemn and stately, murmurous with the hum of the stream. Clara subtly changed.

"If anything could be good for me, it would be this wild forest," she said.

"Don't say 'if,' dear. It will be," 答える／応じるd Lucy.

"It makes me feel like going out of the cruel hateful light--that I hate to 直面する--負かす／撃墜する into 冷静な／正味の 甘い 影をつくる／尾行する. Where I can feel--and not be seen!"

At the fording of the 急ぐing brook Clara 停止（させる）d her horse as if compelled to speak. "Lucy, to be with you here will be like heaven," she said, low and huskily. "I didn't think anything could make me really want to live. But here!...I'll never leave these beautiful, 慰安ing 支持を得ようと努めるd. I could become a wild creature."

"I--I think I understand," replied Lucy falteringly. From the last crossing of the rocky brook Clara appeared perceptibly to tire. Lucy 棒 behind her. Half way up the long （法廷の）裁判d slope Clara said, with a 病弱な smile:

"I don't know--I'm pretty weak."

Lucy called a 停止（させる） then, and Joe manifested a silent solicitude. He helped Clara dismount and led her off the 追跡する to a little glade carpeted with pine needles. Lucy sat 負かす／撃墜する and made Clara lay her 長，率いる in her （競技場の）トラック一周. There did not seem to be anything to say. Clara lay with の近くにd 注目する，もくろむs, her white 直面する and golden hair gleaming in the subdued forest light. Her forehead was wet. She held very tightly to Lucy's 手渡す. Lucy was not unaware of the strange, rapt gaze Joe cast upon the slender form lying so 傾向がある. Several times he went 支援する to the horses, and returned restlessly. On the last of these occasions, as he reached Lucy's 味方する Clara opened her 注目する，もくろむs to see him. It was just an 事故 of 会合 ちらりと見ることs, yet to Lucy, in her 緊張した mood, it seemed an unconscious searching, wondering.

"You think me--a poor weak creature--don't you?" asked Clara, smiling.

"No. I'm shore sorry you're sick," he replied 簡単に, and turned away.

Presently they all 機動力のある again and 再開するd the 旅行 up the slope. When they reached the level forest and above, Clara had to have a longer 残り／休憩（する）.

"What's that awful 塀で囲む of 激しく揺する?" she asked, 示すing the 非常に高い 縁.

"Reckon that's the 盗品故買者 in our 支援する yard," replied Joe.

"I couldn't very 井戸／弁護士席 jump that, could I?" murmured Clara.

一方／合間 the sun sank behind scattered creamy clouds that soon turned to rose and gold, and beams of light stretched along the wandering 塀で囲む. Lucy thrilled to see how responsive Clara was to the wildness and beauty of the scene. Yet all she said was, "Let me live here."

"It'll be dark soon, and we've still far to go," returned Lucy, with 関心.

"Oh, I can make it," replied Clara, rising. "I meant I'd just like to 嘘（をつく） here--for ever."

They 再開するd the ride. Twilight fell and then the forest duskiness enveloped them. The last stretch out of the 支持を得ようと努めるd and across the Denmeade （疑いを）晴らすing, up the 小道／航路, was ridden in the dark. Lucy leaped off and caught Clara as she reeled out of the saddle, and half carried her into the テント to the bed. The hounds were barking and baying; the children's 発言する／表明するs rang out; 激しい boots 強くたたくd on the cabin porch.

Lucy 急いでd to light her lamp. Joe 始める，決める the valises inside the テント.

"Is she all 権利?" he asked, almost in a whisper.

"I'm--here," panted Clara, answering for herself, and the 趣旨 of her words was 重要な.

"She's worn out," said Lucy. "Joe, you've been very good. I'm glad I '選ぶd you,' as you called it."

"What'll I tell ma?" he asked.

"Just say Clara can't come in to supper. I'll come and fetch her something."

Joe tramped away in the 不明瞭, his 刺激（する）s jingling. Lucy の近くにd the door, brightened the lamp, threw off gloves, hat, coat, and bustled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する purposely finding things to do, so that the 必然的な 公表，暴露 from Clara could be 延期するd. Lucy did not want to know any more.

"Come here--sit by me," said Clara weakly.

Lucy 従うd, and felt a constriction in her throat. Clara clung to her. In the lamplight the dark 注目する，もくろむs looked unnaturally big in the white 直面する.

"I'm here," whispered Clara.

"Yes, thank Heaven, you are," 主張するd Lucy softly.

"I must tell you--about--"

"Clara, you needn't tell me any more. But if you must, make it short."

"Thank you...Lucy, you never saw Jim Middleton but once. You didn't know him. But what you heard was true. He's no good--nothing but a wild rodeo cowboy--a handsome devil...I ran away with him believing in him--thinking I loved him. I was crazy. I might have--surely would have loved him--if he had been what I thought he was...We went to a ranch, an awful 穴を開ける, in the 砂漠 out of Mendino. The people were low trash. He told them we were married. He swore to me we would be married next day. I 辞退するd to stay and started off. He caught me, 脅すd me, 脅すd me. I was only a kid...Next day we went to Mendino. There was no preacher nearer than Sanchez. We went there, and 設立する he was out of town. Jim dragged me 支援する to the ranch. There I learned a 郡保安官 was looking for him. We had a terrible quarrel...He was rough. He was not at all--what I thought. He drank--賭事d...Of course he meant to marry me. He 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do so in Felix. But I was afraid. We hurried away from there. But afters...he didn't care--and I 設立する I didn't love him...To 削減（する） it short I ran away from him. I--couldn't go home. So I went to work at Kingston. I tried several 職業s. They were all so hard--the last one too much for me. I went downhill...Then--"

"Clara," interrupted Lucy, distraught by the husky 発言する／表明する, the 拷問 of that 直面する, the passion to 自白する what must have been almost impossible, "never mind any more. That's enough...You poor girl! Indeed you were crazy! But, dear, I don't 持つ／拘留する you 有罪の of anything but a terrible mistake. You thought you loved this Jim Middleton. You meant 井戸／弁護士席. If he had been half a man you would have turned out all 権利. God knows, no one can 裁判官 you 厳しく for your error. It certainly does not 事柄 to me, unless to make me love you more."

"But--sister--I must tell you," whispered Clara faintly.

"You've told enough. Forget that story. You're here with me. You're going to stay. You'll get 井戸／弁護士席. In time this trouble will be as if it had never been!"

"But Lucy--my heart is broken--my life 廃虚d," whispered Clara. "I begged to come to you--only for 恐れる of worse."

"It's bad now, I know," replied Lucy stubbornly. "But it's not as bad as it looks. I've learned that about life. I can take care of you, get 支援する your health and spirit, let you 株 my work. Sister, there's no worse, whatever you meant by that. This wilderness, these backwoods people, will change your whole 見通し on life. I know, Clara. They have changed me."

Mutely, with quivering lips and streaming 注目する，もくろむs, Clara drew Lucy 負かす／撃墜する to a の近くに embrace.

一時期／支部 IX

"Wal, didn't you all 招待する yourselves to 選ぶ beans?" drawled Edd, coming out at the 長，率いる of a 行列 of big and little Denmeades.

"Wal, we shore did aboot that," drawled Lucy, mimicking him. "Don't you see I'm rigged out to chase beans, 耐えるs, or bees?"

"Which reminds me you 港／避難所't gone wild-bee buntin' yet," said he reflectively.

"Humph! I'd have to 招待する myself again to that, also," 宣言するd Lucy.

"Honest, soon as the beans are 選ぶd I'll take you. An' I've lined a new tree. Must have a lot of honey."

Mrs. Denmeade called out: "Make him stick to that, 行方不明になる Lucy. He's shore awful stingy about takin' anyone bee huntin'."

"Come, Clara," called Lucy into the テント. "We're 農業者s to-day. Fetch my gloves."

When Clara appeared the children, Liz and Lize, made a 急ぐ for her and went romping along, one on each 味方する of her, 負かす／撃墜する the 追跡する ahead of the 行列. Lucy fell in beside Edd, and she was thinking, as she watched Clara adapting herself to the light steps of the youngsters, that the 改良 in her sister was almost too good to be true. Yet the time since Clara had arrived at the Denmeades', 手段d by the sweetness and strength of emotion it had engendered, seemed very much longer than its actual duration of a few weeks.

"Wal, teacher, summer's about over," Edd was 説. "An' soon the 落ちる dances will begin."

"Indeed? What a pity you can't go!" exclaimed Lucy tantalisingly.

"Why can't I?"

"Because you 公約するd you had enough after taking me that time."

"Wal, reckon I did. But shore I could change my mind--same as you."

"Am I changeable?...I was only teasing, Edd. I got a hunch that you're going to ask me again."

"訂正する. You're a smart scholar. How do you feel about goin'?"

"Shall I 辞退する, so you can indulge your--your wild-bee hunter proclivities and pack me 負かす／撃墜する on your horse?" queried Lucy demurely.

"いつかs I don't savvy you," he said dubiously. "Reckon all girls have a little Sadie Perdue in them."

"Yes, they have, Edd, I'm ashamed to 自白する," replied Lucy 率直に. "I'd like to go with you. But of course that'll depend on Clara. To be sure, she's getting 井戸／弁護士席, wonderful! It makes me happy. Still, she's far from strong enough for one of your dances."

"Joe asked her, an' she said she'd go if you went, too. I reckon she meant with me."

"Edd, you're learning from Sam Johnson."

"Nope, not me. I'd choke before I'd copy that honey bee."

"So Joe asked her?...井戸／弁護士席!" murmured Lucy thoughtfully.

"Reckon she likes him, Lucy."

"Oh, I hope--I know she does. But, Edd--"

"Wal, I get your hunch," he interrupted. "You think maybe she oughtn't go with Joe because it'll only make him worse."

"Worse?" queried Lucy, turning to 注目する，もくろむ Edd.

"Yes, worse. But, Lucy, I reckon it couldn't be worse. Joe thinks of Clara by day an' dreams of her by night. He's been that way since the day she （機の）カム to us."

"Edd, you're pretty sharp. I imagined no one but me had seen that. I'm sure Clara hasn't...It's a problem, Edd. But I knew it'd come."

"Wal, you're shore good at problems. What're you goin' to do about this one?"

"What would you do?" Lucy 反対するd.

"I'd let Joe take her to the dance. You can manage her. Why, your slightest wish is 法律 to Clara. That shore makes me think heaps of her. Wal, she could dance a few, an' look on some. Then we'd come home 早期に."

"Would you 約束 that?"

"I shore would."

"井戸／弁護士席, Edd, I'll think it over. You know if we go to this dance we'll be inclined to go again--perhaps often."

"Not with Joe an' me. I reckon this one would do us for a （一定の）期間."

"Oh, that is different! And why?"

"Wal, you forget how you drove them boys crazy. I reckon this time, with Clara, you'd break up the dance. I've a hunch once would be enough for a （一定の）期間. But shore I'd like it. So would Joe."

"Edd, this little sister of 地雷 has broken up more than once dance--and a cowboy dance at that. Why couldn't we go and have a nice time, dance a little, and leave 早期に, without what you hinted?--Fights!"

"That'd be 平易な, if you an' Clara could behave," he drawled.

"Edd Denmeade!" cried Lucy.

"Wal, you know you played hob with the boys. Why can't you be honest? Shore, Lucy, I wouldn't want to go if you did that again."

"All 権利. I 約束 to behave if I go. I'll talk to Clara."

"Wal, 控訴 yourself. But I reckon you know I'll never go to another dance unless I can take you."

"Never?" echoed Lucy.

"Yes, never," he retorted.

"Why, Edd? That's a strong 声明."

"Reckon because every dance before that one I was made fun of, most when I took a girl. But when I had you they didn't dare. That shore was 甘い."

"Thanks, Edd. いつかs you say nice things."

So they talked as they walked along the 冷静な／正味の, sandy, pine-mat 国境d 追跡する. It was やめる a walk from the cabin to what the Denmeades called the High Field. This was a level piece of ground, perhaps fifty acres in area, 不規律な in 形態／調整, and surrounded by the green forest of cedar and pine.

Of all the 削除するs 削減（する） into the woodland, this appeared to Lucy the most hideous. It was not a 井戸／弁護士席-cultivated piece of ground. These Denmeades were hunters, 支持を得ようと努めるd-hewers, anything but 農業者s. Yet they were compelled to farm to raise food for themselves and 穀物 for horses and hogs. にもかかわらず, the hogs ran wild, subsisting most of the year upon roots, nuts, acorns, and what the backwoodsmen called mast.

A hundred or more dead trees stood scattered 一連の会議、交渉／完成する over this （疑いを）晴らすing, cedars and pines and oaks, all naked and bleached and rotting on their stumps. They had been girdled by an axe, to keep the 次第に損なう from rising, which 結局 killed them. This was done to keep the shade of foliaged trees from dwarfing the 刈るs. Corn and beans and sorghum 要求するd the sun.

It was the most 原始の 肉親，親類d of farming. In fact, not many years had passed since Denmeade had used a plough hewn from the fork of an oak. High Field was 盗品故買者d by 政治家s and 小衝突, which did not look very sure of keeping out the hogs. 権利 on the moment Danny and 刑事 were chasing hogs out of the field. Corn and 少しのd and yellow daisies, almost as large as sunflowers, 繁栄するd together, with the corn perhaps having a little advantage. The dogs were barking at some beast they had treed. 強硬派s and crows perched upon the topmost 支店s of the dead pines; キツツキs 大打撃を与えるd on the smooth white trunks; and the omnipresent jays and squirrels vied with each other in a contest calculated to destroy the peace of the morning.

Beyond the large patch of ground that had been 工場／植物d in potatoes lay the three acres of beans, 厚い and brown in the sunlight. Beans furnished the most important article of food for the backwoods people. Meat, potatoes, flour, honey mostly in place of sugar, were 必須の and 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd, but it was as Denmeade said, "We shore live on beans."

This triangle of three acres, then, 代表するd something vastly important in their simple lives. They made the 選ぶing of beans a holiday, almost a 祝祭 occasion. Every one of the Denmeades was on 手渡す, and Uncle 法案 packed two big 捕らえる、獲得するs of lunch and a bucket of water. The only company 現在の, considering that Lucy and Clara were not 分類するd under this 長，率いる, was Mertie's beau, young Bert Hall, a 静かな boy whom all liked. Lucy regarded his presence there as a small 勝利 of her own. The frivolous Mertie really liked him, as anyone could plainly see. She had only been under the 影響（力） of Sadie Perdue. By a very simple expedient Lucy had 中和する／阻止するd and so far 打ち勝つ this 影響（力）. She had 充てるd herself to Mertie; roused her pride through her vanity, subtly showed Bert's 優越 to the other boys who ran after her, and lastly had 示唆するd it would be nice to have Bert go with them to Felix. How important little things could become in this world of the Denmeades It 原因（となる）d Lucy many pangs to 反映する upon how often their lives went wrong for 欠如（する） of a little 指導／手引.

Manifestly Edd was the captain of this bean-選ぶing 連隊. He was 譲歩するd to be a 広大な／多数の／重要な picker, and had a pride in his prowess second only to that of his lining of bees. Denmeade, the father, had two 広大な／多数の／重要な gifts, によれば repute--he could （権力などを）行使する an axe as no other man in the country, and he was wonderful with his 追跡（する）ing hounds. Joe was the best one with horses, 刑事 with 道具s. Uncle 法案 would plough when, によれば him, all his 親族s had been laid away in the 盗品故買者 corners. Thus they all excelled in some particular thing peculiarly important to their 原始の lives.

"Wal, all 手渡すs get ready," called out Edd cheerily. "Reckon we got to clean up this patch to-day. You girls an' the kids can 選ぶ here in the shade. We'll pack 負担s of beans to you....Bert, seein' you're company, I'll let you off pickin' out there in the sun. You can 始める，決める with the girls. But I'm recommendin' you 始める，決める between Lucy an' Clara. Haw! Haw!"

So the work of 選ぶing beans began. The children made it a play, a game, a delight, over which they 叫び声をあげるd and fought. Yet withal they showed proficiency and 産業.

The men fetched 抱擁する bundles of beans on the vines, and deposited them on the ground under the shady oaks at the 辛勝する／優位 of the field. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie 選ぶd with nimble and skilful 手渡すs. The girls sat in a little circle, with Bert in 出席 and the children monopolising all the space and most of the beans. Bert, having deposited piles of beans in 前線 of each member of the party, was careful to sit 負かす／撃墜する between Lucy and Clara, an 活動／戦闘 that 原因（となる）d Mertie to pout and laugh.

The 過程 of stripping beans appeared a simple one to Lucy, yet she saw at once where experience counted. She could not do so 井戸／弁護士席 even as Mary. It piqued her a little. After all, 知能 and 推論する／理由 were not factors that could at once 橋（渡しをする） the gap between inexperience and dexterity.

As they sat there talking and laughing and working, Lucy's thought ran on in pleasant and acquiring 傾向. Above all, what brought her happiness in this hour was the presence of her sister. Clara had begun to mend 肉体的に, and that, with the lonely 環境, the 簡単 of the Denmeades, the strength of natural things had unconsciously 影響する／感情d her spiritually. She loved the children. She was intensely 利益／興味d in their little lives. She fell to this fun of bean 選ぶing with a 楽しみ that augured 井戸／弁護士席 for the blotting of trouble from her mind. Clara had begun to be conscious of the superficiality of many 味方するs and points of life in civilised communities. Here in the backwoods life seemed an easier, happier, simpler thing.

From time to time Lucy stole a look out into the field at Edd as he worked. He moved 今後 on his 膝s, keeping a 解雇（する） 押し進めるd in 前線 of him, and his 手渡すs flew. He was an engine of 荒廃 to the 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of beans. She seldom heard his 発言する／表明する. When he finished a 列／漕ぐ／騒動 he would get up, and 集会 a 抱擁する bundle of vines he would carry them to where the women were 選ぶing. Dust and sweat had begrimed his 直面する; his shirt was wet through. There seemed something tremendously rugged, 決定的な, raw about his physical presence. He took this 仕事 本気で. Lucy wondered what was going on in his mind. Did things she had talked of or read to him 回転する as he worked? There was a suggestion of the plodding nature of his thought, strangely in contrast with the wonderful physical energy of his work. She mused over the fact that she liked him as he was, yet was 努力する／競うing to teach him, change him, put him on the road to 存在 a civilised man. Yet--! Something ばく然と regretful stirred 深く，強烈に within her consciousness.

These more serious thoughts, however, only recurred at intervals; for the most part she was alive to the 客観的な 仕事 of learning to 選ぶ beans, and to the conversation around her. Allie Denmeade was as incessant a talker as Joe was a listener; she had a shrewd wit and a sharp tongue. Mertie was charming under favourable 影響（力）, and when she was receiving her meed of attention. Mrs. Denmeade had a 乾燥した，日照りの geniality and a 蓄える／店 of wilderness 知恵. Mary was the 甘い dreaming one of the family.

Lucy had no idea that the noon hour had arrived until the dusty men stalked in from the field, hungry and thirsty, bringing with them an earthy atmosphere. "Nineteen 列／漕ぐ／騒動s for me," 宣言するd Edd, "an' I'm spittin' cotton...Where's the bucket? I'll fetch fresh water from the spring."

"Wal, ma, how'd you all git along?" queried Denmeade, wiping his sweaty 直面する.

"I disremember any better mawnin' for pickin'," she replied. "Bert has been fillin' the 解雇（する）s. Reckon there's やめる a few."

"Even dozen," exulted Bert.

"Good! We'll finish 早期に. Edd shore is a サイクロン for pickin' beans...An' now, ma, spread out the grub. I'm a hungry old Jasper."

Uncle 法案 carried 前へ／外へ the packs of food, which he had hidden from the children.

"It was a tolerable pickin', though I've seen better," he said. "The season's been 乾燥した，日照りの an' thet's good for beans an' pickin'...Wal, 物陰／風下, I'm noticin' 行方不明になる Lucy an' her sister have shore done themselves proud, fer tenderfeet." Denmeade 調査するd the 各々の piles of beans, one before Lucy, and a smaller one in 前線 of Clara. "Not so bad," he said genially. "An' it shore is good to see you both settin' thar."

"物陰／風下, tell their fortune with beans," 示唆するd Mrs. Denmeade.

"I reckon I wouldn't 危険 that," he replied.

"Ma, you tell them. An' Bert's, too. It'll be fun. He's never been here to a bean pickin'," said Mertie. "All the same, I had 地雷 told once, 負かす／撃墜する at Sadie's. Her old aunt told it," said Bert. "An' once is enough for me."

"A Mexican woman once told my fortune," interposed Clara with a smile that was not all mirth. "It （機の）カム true. And I--I don't want to know any more what's going to happen to me."

"Oh, I'm not afraid," called out Lucy. "Come, Mrs. Denmeade. Tell 地雷."

その結果 Mrs. Denmeade, to the infinite delight of the children, selected some 異なって coloured beans and 圧力（をかける）d these into Lucy's palm. Then she intently 熟考する／考慮するd Lucy's 直面する, after which she struck the outstretched 手渡す, 原因（となる）ing some of the beans to roll off and others to change position and settle.

"Wal, you're goin' to find happiness takin' someone else's troubles on your shoulders," said Mrs. Denmeade, impressively. "Your past has been の中で many people who didn't care for you. Your 未来 will be の中で a few who love you...I see a 旅行--a secret--something that'll never come out--two dark years with white ones followin'. A child!...A cabin! A happy wife!"

This 結論 was 迎える／歓迎するd with a merry shout from the children and girls. Lucy, in her amusement, wished to carry the thing as far as possible to please them all. It struck her that Clara's faint colour had 消えるd. How a few words could 苦痛 her! Lucy had no 約束 in any 肉親，親類d of fortune telling; she hardly took Mrs. Denmeade 本気で.

"Wonderful!" she ejaculated. "Do the beans tell what 肉親，親類d of a husband I get?"

"No," 再結合させるd Mrs. Denmeade, "but I reckon he won't be a city man."

"How 利益／興味ing! I think I'm rather glad. Clara, I'm to have a country man for a husband. These red and white beans have foretold my 運命／宿命."

She became aware then that Edd had returned and, standing behind her, evidently had heard her 結論するing words. やめる absurdly the fact embarrassed Lucy. The gay 発言／述べるs 来たるべき from all around fell upon her somewhat unfelicitously.

"Wal, Lucy, I see ma an' Allie have worked an old trick on you," he drawled. "Shore I told you to look out for them."

"Oh--it was only fun!" exclaimed Lucy, relieved にもかかわらず her ありふれた sense.

Mrs. Denmeade smiled enigmatically. She seemed to 所有する some slight touch of mysticism, 天然のまま and unconscious. Lucy dispelled any idea that there was 関係 between the red and white beans and Mrs. Denmeade's prophecies. For that 推論する／理由 she 設立する herself 直す／買収する，八百長をするing in mind the content of those 声明s regarding her past and 未来.

"Come 始める，決める around, folks," called Uncle 法案 with gusto,

The lunch hour of the bean-pickers was as merry as a picnic dinner. The Denmeades had 急ぐd through the morning hours; now they had leisure to eat slowly and to talk and joke. Lucy enjoyed this pleasant interval. It had but one break, an instant toward the end, when she 遠くに見つけるd Joe Denmeade sitting as always 静かに in the background, with 注目する，もくろむs of worship 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon Clara's 直面する. That troubled Lucy's 良心.

Lucy wore out her gloves and made blisters on her fingers, acquiring along with these 事故s a proficiency in the art of 選ぶing beans. Clara 疲れた／うんざりしたd 早期に in the afternoon, and went to sleep under a pine tree. Mertie and Bert finished their allotment of beans, and wandering along the 辛勝する／優位 of the forest, they seemed to become 吸収するd in each other. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie worked like beavers, and the children drifted to playing.

The men soon finished 選ぶing and 解雇（する）ing the beans. Then Edd and his brothers stalked off to fetch the pack-burros. Uncle 法案 still 設立する 仕事s to do, while Denmeade 残り／休憩（する）d and talked to his wife. Lucy leaned comfortably against the oak, 感謝する for 救済 from work, and because of it, 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるing infinitely more the blessing of 残り／休憩（する）. She did not try very hard to resist a drowsy （一定の）期間, out of which she was roused to attention by a 発言／述べる of Denmeade to his wife.

"Wal, it'd shore make bad feelin' between the Denmeades an' Johnsons if Sam homesteaded on the mesa."

"Reckon it would, but he's goin' to do it," returned Mrs. Denmeade. "Mertie told me."

"Sadie Perdue's 支援する of that," said Denmeade meditatively.

"She's never 許す Edd...It'd be too bad if Sam （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 Edd out of that homestead."

"Don't worry, wife. Sam ain't a-goin' to," returned her husband. "Edd 位置を示すd the mesa, 設立する the only water. He's just been waitin' to get himself a woman."

"But Edd oughtn't to wait no longer," 抗議するd Mrs. Denmeade.

"Wal, I reckon," 再結合させるd Denmeade thoughtfully, "we'll begin cuttin' スピードを出す／記録につけるs an' get ready to run up a cabin. It's bad enough for us to be on the outs with Spralls, let alone Johnsons...I'm goin' to walk up to the mesa 権利 now."

控訴ing 活動／戦闘 to word, Denmeade started off. Lucy sat up and impulsively called. "Please take me with you, Mr. Denmeade. I--I'd like to walk a little."

"Come 権利 along," he 答える／応じるd heartily.

Lucy joined him and entered the 支持を得ようと努めるd, taking two steps to one of his long strides.

"I'm goin' up to a place we call the mesa," he was 説. "Edd has long 始める，決める his heart on homesteadin' there. It ain't far, but 上りの／困難な a little. Sam Johnson has been talkin' around. Shore there ain't no 法律 hyar to 妨げる him stealin' Edd's homestead. An' I reckon there's bad 血 enough. So I'm goin' to begin work 権利 off. That'll throw Sam off the 追跡する an' then we won't have no call to hurry."

Lucy was 利益／興味d to ask questions until she became out of breath on a rather long and 法外な slope. Here she fell 支援する and followed her guide, whose idea of distance, she averred, was vastly different from hers.

At last, however, they reached a level. Lucy looked up, to be stunned by the 非常に高い, overpowering 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of the 縁, red and gold, with its 黒人／ボイコット-fringed 栄冠を与える, 有望な and beautiful in the westering sun. She gazed backward, 負かす／撃墜する over a grand sweep of forest, rolling and 山の尾根ing away to the far-flung 頂点（に達する）s. Her position here was much higher than on any point she had たびたび（訪れる）d, and closer to the magnificent 縁.

"There's two or three hundred acres of flat land hyar," said Denmeade, 広範囲にわたる his 手渡す 支援する toward the dense forest. "Rich, red 国／地域. Enough water for two homesteads, even in 日照り続きs. It's blue snow water, the best 肉親，親類d, comin' 負かす／撃墜する from the 縁. Wal, I'm hopin' 刑事 or Joe will homestead hyar some day. It's the best farm land I know of."

"Why, Mr. Denmeade, it's all forest!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Shore. It'll have to be （疑いを）晴らすd. An' that's a heap of work."

"Goodness! It looks it. How do you go about making a farm out of a 厚い forest?"

"Wal, we'll 削減（する） スピードを出す／記録につけるs first to run up a cabin," replied Denmeade. "Then we'll （疑いを）晴らす off 木材／素質 an' 小衝突, an' 始める，決める 解雇する／砲火／射撃 to it, leavin' the stumps. They'll rot out in a few years. The big trees we kill an' leave standin'...This hyar mesa is high an' 乾燥した，日照りの, warm in winter an' 冷静な／正味の in summer. It joins on to a big canyon where there's water an' grass for 在庫／株. An' it's the best place for bees in this country. I reckon Edd's pretty smart. He's shore goin' to do somethin' with his bee-huntin'."

They entered the level forest, and Lucy was at once charmed and fascinated. This woodland 異なるd from any she had visited. It was level, open in glades, aisles, and dense in thickets and patches. A 乾燥した，日照りの, hot fragrance of pine and cedar and juniper seemed to wave up from the brown-carpeted earth. How 平易な and delightful the walking here! As they 侵入するd 深い into the forest the pines grew so 抱擁する that they 現実に thrilled her. Then the other trees were as large in 割合. Some of the junipers were truly magnificent, six feet 厚い at the base, symmetrical and spreading, remarkable for their checker-board bark and lilac-hued berries. Under every one of these junipers the ground was a soft, grey-green mat of tiny needles, fragrant, 招待するing 残り／休憩（する）. Under the pines Lucy kicked up furrows in the 乾燥した，日照りの depths of brown needles, and these places even more called her to tarry. A wonderful 甘い silence pervaded this mesa forest. No birds, no squirrels, no deer or turkeys! Yet Denmeade pointed out 跡をつけるs in every dusty 追跡する. "Reckon game's all 負かす／撃墜する by the water," he explained. "There's a gully runs 権利 through this mesa, dividin' it in half. Shore is a wild place. I'll show you where an old she 耐える jumped on me. She had cubs, an' a mother 耐える is bad."

Lucy revelled in this 探検. The さらに先に she followed Denmeade the more delighted she was with the wilderness and beauty, the colour and fragrance of the forest.

"Oh, but it will be a shame to 削減（する） all these trees--and 燃やす a hideous 削除する in this beautiful forest!"

"I reckon. Shore Edd says the same," replied Denmeade. "But we have to make homes. An' the forest, just like this, will surround the homesteads. We only 削減（する） an' （疑いを）晴らす land where there's water. A few acres 削除するd don't make much of a 穴を開ける in these 支持を得ようと努めるd...Look hyar. See between the pines, up there where the bluffs run 負かす／撃墜する--it shows a break in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. That's the canyon I spoke of. It looks 狭くする and short. Wal, it's wide an' long, an' it'll always be wild. It can't never be 削減（する）. An' there's many canyons like it, runnin' in under the 縁....行方不明になる Lucy, I come hyar twenty years ago. There's as many 耐える an' deer now as then. An' I reckon it'll be the same in twenty more years."

"I'm glad," breathed Lucy, as if in 救済. How strange for her to feel that she did not want the wilderness despoiled. Indeed, she was 答える／応じるing fully to 相続するd instincts.

Denmeade led her on under the 広大な pines and through glades the beauty of which swelled Lucy's heart, and finally to the 辛勝する／優位 of a gully. She looked 負かす／撃墜する into a green, white, brown, golden 大混乱 of tree trunks, foliage, 玉石s, and cliffs, 追跡するing vines and patches of yellow flowers, matted thickets of fallen 木材／素質--in all an exceedingly wild hollow 削減（する） 深く，強烈に into the mesa. Lucy heard the babble and tinkle of water she could not see.

"Edd 目的（とする）s to have his cabin hyar," explained Denmeade "I heard him say once he'd （疑いを）晴らす an acre hyar, leaving these big trees, an' the forest all around. The 刈る field he wants a little ways off. He'd keep his bees 負かす／撃墜する in the gully, clearin' out some...Now you 残り／休憩（する） yourself while I climb 負かす／撃墜する to the water. It's shore been a 乾燥した，日照りの season, an' last winter the snows was light. I reckon I can get a good line on how much water there'll be in 乾燥した，日照りの seasons."

Denmeade clambered 負かす／撃墜する a 法外な 追跡する, leaving Lucy above. Though she stood まっただ中に 深い forest, yet she could see the 縁 in two directions, and the magnificent ぼんやり現れるing tower stood 権利 above her. It 示すd the bold 入り口 of the canyon. In the other direction Lucy looked 負かす／撃墜する a slant of green, darkly divided by the 不景気 made by the gully, to the rolling forest below, that led the 注目する，もくろむ on and on to the 薄暗い purple 範囲s. A cry seemed to （犯罪の）一味 out of the remote past, 控訴，上告ing to Lucy's heart. It stung her mind to flashing, vivid thought. Her 即座の ancestors had lived a few hundred years in villages, towns, cities; the 早期に progenitors from which her people had sprung had lived thousands of years in the forested wilderness, barbarians, nomads. She felt it all so intensely. The 巨大（な） seamy-barked pines, rough and rugged, were more than trees. They had 構成するd a roof for her race in ages past, and 支持を得ようと努めるd for 解雇する／砲火／射撃. The fragrance, the strength of them, were in her 血. Likewise of the cedars, the junipers, the grey and white sycamores 負かす／撃墜する in the gully, the maples and oaks, the patches of sumach, all that spread colourful 保護 around her. Deeper than 感情, stronger than education, this passion （人命などを）奪う，主張するd her for the moment.

"If I loved Edd Denmeade, how happy I could be in a home here!"

It did not seem to be the Lucy Watson she knew that whispered these involuntary words. They （機の）カム from beyond 推論する／理由, 知能, consideration. They just dashed up out of instinct. She did not resent them, though she stood aghast at intimations beyond her 支配（する）／統制する. How impossible was fulfilment of them! Yet she pondered why they had come. In vain! The loneliness, the 孤独, the grand imminence of the 縁, the silent guarding pines, the 注目する，もくろむ-soothing softness of grey and green--these physical things 支配するd her and would not be 否定するd.

"It is a fact," she whispered. "I could live here...I'd want Clara to be の近くに...I'd want to go 支援する to Felix now and then...I'd want 調書をとる／予約するs, letters, papers--to keep up with my idea of 進歩...I'd want to go on with my 福利事業 work. But these are nothing. They do not induce me to want to live in a スピードを出す／記録につける cabin...I am amazed at myself; I don't know myself. I am not what I think I am!"

Lucy remained alone on the shady 縁 of the gorge for half an hour--surely a 批判的な and portentous time in her realisation of change. Yet, what seemed incredible to her was the fact that she would not have changed anything in the 現在の. Perhaps she had given too much thought to herself. Vanity! Mertie Denmeade was not alone in this peculiar feminine trait. Lucy arraigned herself, and tried to 説得する herself that she 所有するd something of worldliness. All to little 目的! She was happier than she had ever been in her life and that was all there was to it.

Denmeade led 支援する across the mesa by a shorter 大勝する, and 負かす／撃墜する the slope by an old 追跡する. Lucy trudged along in his 跡をつけるs, vastly いっそう少なく curious than on the way up. It had been another 十分な day. Her 手渡すs attested to the 労働 of it. And as to her mind, the 影をつくる／尾行するs of the past seemed 薄暗い, fading away.

As they again approached level forest Lucy caught glimpses of the yellow （疑いを）晴らすing. She heard the discordant bray of a burro, then the shrill peal of childish laughter. She 現れるd on the 辛勝する／優位 of the 木材／素質 in time to see the packed burros とじ込み／提出するing away through the corn, and on 最高の，を越す of the last two sat Liz and Lize, triumphantly riding on 解雇（する）s of beans. Edd strode beside them. Mrs. Denmeade and Allie were plodding on ahead. Far 負かす／撃墜する the 辛勝する／優位 of the field Mertie and Bert appeared 手渡す in 手渡す, sauntering away toward the 追跡する for home. Something about them, perhaps those linked 手渡すs, stirred Lucy to a divination of how little other people 事柄d to them. She had been 権利 in her surmise. Propinquity was all that had been needed.

Denmeade 削減（する） across the とうもろこし畑／穀物畑, while Lucy wended her way 支援する along the 辛勝する／優位 of the 支持を得ようと努めるd to the pine tree where she had left Clara. Perhaps Clara, too, had gone with the others.

The day was over. Sunset was gilding the 縁. Crickets had begun to chirp. The 空気／公表する had perceptibly 冷静な／正味のd. Crows were sailing across the （疑いを）晴らすing. Faint and 甘い （機の）カム the shouts of the children.

Then Lucy 遠くに見つけるd her sister sitting with her 支援する against the pine. Joe Denmeade stood 近づく, gazing 負かす／撃墜する upon her. If either were talking, Lucy could not hear what was said; but she inclined to the thought that on the instant there was no speech. They did not hear her footsteps on the soft earth.

Without 明らかな 原因（となる） Lucy experienced a thrill that closely approached shock. How utterly she, too, was at the mercy of her imagination! Clara and Joe together, in perfectly simple 提起する／ポーズをとる--what was there in that to stop Lucy's heart? Verily she was growing like the Denmeades. On the other 手渡す, there seemed 深遠な significance in Joe's gazing 負かす／撃墜する upon Clara, as she sat there, with the last touch of the sun making a golden 炎 of her hair. Joe had been hopelessly lost, from that first sight of Clara. It had seemed of no 広大な／多数の／重要な moment. Lucy in her 熱烈な devotion had thought only of her sister. But Lucy had a flash of 発覚. This wilderness 環境 was marvellously strong. Lucy caught just a vague hint of its elemental 力／強力にする--the earth, its rugged beauty and vitality, its secret to 部隊 and procreate, since the 夜明け of human life ages before. What little people knew! They were but moving 原子s 支配するd by nature.

"Oh, here you are!" called Lucy, to start the pensive couple out of their trance. "I had the dandiest walk. Climb, I should say...And what have you two been talking about all this time?"

"Joe （機の）カム just this moment to tell me they were going home," replied Clara, looking up at Lucy.

"Teacher, I was aboot to say she was goin' to get 井戸／弁護士席 heah in the 支持を得ようと努めるd, an' that I'd heard her laugh to-day," he replied, in his slow speech.

"How strange!" murmured Clara, as if mocking a belief. She 熟考する／考慮するd Joe with doubtful 注目する，もくろむs, as if she 辞退するd to believe the truth manifested in him. Lucy wisely saw nothing, said nothing, though she was stirred to speak.

"It has been a lovely day," she said as she turned away. "Come, we must go."

"Wait, Lucy," complained Clara. "I may be getting 井戸／弁護士席, but I can't run."

"Make her hurry, Joe. It's late," replied Lucy, and she crossed the 荒廃させるd bean-field to enter the rustling 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of corn. She did not look 支援する. It was twilight when she arrived at the テント, and 疲れた／うんざりしたd with exertion and emotion, throbbing and 燃やすing, she threw herself on the bed to 残り／休憩（する） a few moments.

Clara （機の）カム just as 不明瞭 fell. "Are you there, Lucy?" she asked, つまずくing into the テント.

"Shore I'm heah," drawled Lucy.

"Why did you leave me alone--to walk 支援する with that boy?" queried Clara plaintively. "He's 落ちるing in love with me--the fool!"

"Oh, Clara he'd be a fool if he wasn't," retorted Lucy.

"But it'll only make him wretched. And you--you must stop believing I'm worthy of love."

"Maybe Joe is like me," said Lucy, and this reply silenced her sister.

一時期／支部 X

September （機の）カム, with the first touches of 霜 on the foliage, the smoky 煙霧 hovering over the hollows, the melancholy 公式文書，認めるs of コマドリs and wild canaries, the smell of forest 解雇する／砲火／射撃 in the 空気／公表する.

Edd did not remind Lucy that he had 約束d to take her bee-追跡（する）ing. This, like so many things in the past, piqued her; and the more she upbraided herself for that the いっそう少なく could she forget it. Finally she said to him one night at supper:

"Edd, I thought you were going to take me bee-追跡（する）ing."

"Shore. Whenever you say," replied Edd. "Then I say to-morrow," returned Lucy.

A clamour from the children and an excited little cry from Clara attested to the 切望 of others to 株 Lucy's good fortune. She was curious to see if Mrs. Denmeade would 認可する of some one else …を伴ってing them. Lucy had in mind that の中で the people with whom she had associated in Felix it would hardly have been the proper thing for her to go with Edd into the 支持を得ようと努めるd alone.

Edd laughed 負かす／撃墜する the importunities of the children.

"Nope, kids; you wait till I'm ready to 削減（する） 負かす／撃墜する a bee tree not far away," he said, to appease them. "I've got one 位置を示すd...An' as for you, 行方不明になる Clara, I reckon you'd better not 危険 a long climb till you're stronger."

"Will you take me with the children?" asked Clara wistfully.

"Shore. Reckon I'll be glad to have you all packin' buckets of honey," drawled Edd.

"Edd, I seen the other day that 行方不明になる Lucy's boots wasn't hobnailed," spoke up Denmeade. "Reckon you mustn't forget to put some nails in them for her. Else she might slip an' 傷つける herself."

"Wal, now you 税金 me, I'll just 自然に have to hobnail her boots," returned Edd dryly. "But fact was I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see her slide around some."

"Very 甘い of you, Edd," interposed Lucy in the same トン. "Couldn't you wait till winter and find me some ice?"

"Say, slidin' 負かす／撃墜する a slope of grass an' pine needles will take the tenderfoot out of you," he retorted.

"Oh, then you think I need that?" she queried.

"Wal, I reckon you don't need no more," he said quaintly.

"Is Edd complimenting me?" asked Lucy, 控訴，上告ing to Mrs. Denmeade. She nodded smilingly.

"Thanks. Very 井戸／弁護士席, Edd. I shall fetch my boots for you to hobnail. And to-morrow you may have the 楽しみ of watching me slide."

After supper she watched him at work. He had an アイロンをかける last, upside 負かす／撃墜する, over which he slipped one of her boots. Then with a 大打撃を与える he 続けざまに猛撃するd small-長，率いるd hobnails into the 単独のs. He was so deft at it that Lucy 問い合わせd if he were a shoemaker.

"Reckon so. I used to tan leather an' make my own shoes. But I only do half-solin' now."

Presently he 除去するd the boot from the last, and felt inside to find if any nails had come through.

"That one's jake," he said.

Lucy 診察するd the 単独の to find two 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of hobnails neatly and symmetrically driven 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 辛勝する／優位. Inside these 列／漕ぐ／騒動s were the 初期のs of her 指名する.

"井戸／弁護士席, you're also an artist," she said. "I suppose you want to make it 平易な for anyone to know my boot 跡をつけるs."

"Wal, I can't say as I'd like anyone trailin' you," he replied, with a 深い, 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な look at her.

Lucy changed the 支配する. When she returned to her テント dusk had fallen and Clara was sitting in the doorway. Lucy threw the boots inside and sat 負かす／撃墜する on the lower step to lean 支援する against her sister. Often they had spent the gloaming hour this way. The 冷静な／正味の, melancholy night was settling 負かす／撃墜する like a mantle over the forest land. Bells on the burros tinkled musically; a cow lowed in the distance; a night 強硬派 whistled his strange, piercing 公式文書，認める.

"Lucy, I like Edd Denmeade," said Clara presently.

"Goodness! Don't let him see it--or, poor fellow, he--"

"Please take me 本気で," interrupted Clara. "I believed I'd always hate men. But to be honest with myself and you, I find I can't. I like Mr. Denmeade and Uncle 法案--and the boys. Edd is a wonderful fellow. He's 深い. He's so 冷静な／正味の, drawly, 肉親，親類d. At first his backwoodsness, so to call it, 感情を害する／違反するd me. But I soon saw that is his 広大な／多数の／重要な attraction for me. As you know, I've gone with a lot of city boys, without ever thinking about what they were...I wonder. City 着せる／賦与するs and manners, nice smooth white 手渡すs, ought not be much in the make-up of a man. Edd's old ジーンズs, his 天然のまま talk and ways, his big rough 手渡すs--they don't repel me any more. I don't やめる understand, but I feel it. He's good for me, Lucy dear. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes. And I'm glad. You've had a bitter blow. No wonder you think now what boys are...As for me, I don't really know whether Edd has been good--or bad for me."

"Lucy!"

"Listen. I'll tell you something," went on Lucy, and she 関係のある the story of Edd's taking her to the dance.

"How funny! How--" exclaimed Clara, laughing--"how I don't know what!...Lucy, I just believe it tickles me. If he had been rude--you know, fresh, I mean--I'd have despised him. But the way you told it. Oh, I think it's rich! I believe I would have liked him better."

Lucy might have 自白するd that 深い in her heart she had done this very thing herself, but the fact was not 許容できる to her.

"Joe is the best of the Denmeades, and やめる the nicest boy I ever knew," she said 真面目に. "What do you think of him, Clara?"

"It's dreadful of me, but I like to be with him," whispered Clara. "He's so--so 甘い. That's the only word. But it does not fit him, either. He has the same strong 質s as Edd...Lucy, that boy 残り／休憩（する）s me. He soothes me. He makes me ashamed...Tell me all about him."

"井戸／弁護士席, Joe's ears will 燃やす," laughed Lucy and then she began her 見積（る） of Joe Denmeade. She was generous. But in 結論するing with the facts about him that had come under her 観察 and been told by his people, Lucy held rigidly to truth.

"All that!" murmured Clara thoughtfully. "And I'm the only girl he ever looked at?...Poor Joe!"

Next morning there was a white 霜. Lucy felt it and smelled it before she got up to peep out behind the curtain of the テント door. The sun had just tipped the 広大な／多数の／重要な promontory, a pale 炎 that made the 霜 on grass and スピードを出す／記録につけるs 向こうずね like an encrustment of diamonds.

"Ooooo, but it's 冷淡な!" exclaimed Lucy as she threw on her dressing-gown. "Now I know why Edd 主張するd on 任命する／導入するing this stove. Any old 'morning now I'd wake up frozen!"

"Come 支援する to bed," advised Clara sleepily.

"I'll start the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, then slip 支援する for a little. Oh, I wonder--will we have to give up living out here when winter comes?"

The stove was a 支持を得ようと努めるd-燃やすing one, oval in 形態／調整, and flat on 最高の，を越す, with a sheet-アイロンをかける 麻薬を吸う running up through the roof of the テント. Lucy had thought it sort of a toy 事件／事情／状勢, にもかかわらず Edd's 主張 as to its 公共事業（料金）／有用性. He had laid the pine needles, and 後援s and billets of 支持を得ようと努めるd, so that all Lucy had to do was to strike a match. She was not an adept at building fares, and 推定する／予想するd this to go out. Instead it ゆらめくd up, 炎d, crackled, and roared. Fortunately Lucy recollected Edd's 警告 to have a care to turn the damper in the stove-麻薬を吸う.

"This stove is going to be a success. How good it feels!"

Then she noticed the neat pile of 半導体素子s and billets of red-支持を得ようと努めるd stacked behind the stove, and a small box 十分な of pine needles. Edd Denmeade was thoughtful. Lucy put a pan of water on the stove to heat, and slipped 支援する into bed. Her 手渡すs and feet were like ice, 事柄s that Clara was not too sleepy to 公式文書，認める. Soon the テント-room was cosy and warm. Lucy felt encouraged to think it might be possible for her and Clara to 占領する this 宿泊するing all winter. Edd had averred the little stove would make them as snug as birds in a nest. To make sure, however, that they could live outdoors, he had 示唆するd 搭乗 the テント 塀で囲む half-way up and shingling the roof.

"Sleepy-長，率いる!" called Lucy, shaking her sister.

"Ah-h!...I just never can wake up," replied Clara. "It's so good to sleep here...I didn't sleep much 負かす／撃墜する there in the 砂漠."

"My dear, you've slept three-fourths of the time you've been here, day 同様に as night. It's this mountain 空気／公表する. I was almost as bad. 井戸／弁護士席, good sleep is better than wasted waking hours. Now I'm going to be heroic."

By nine o'clock all trace of 霜 had 消えるd from grass and スピードを出す／記録につけるs. Edd 現在のd himself at the テント.

"Wal, I'm a-rarin' to go."

"Yes, you are!" called Lucy banteringly. "Here I've been ready these last two hours."

"City girl! You can't line bees till the sun gets warm."

"Backwoods boy! Why not?"

"Bees don't work so 早期に. You see, it's gettin' along に向かって 落ちる."

"I'll be 権利 out...Let's see--my gloves and knapsack...井戸／弁護士席, sister 地雷, why do you 星／主役にする at me?"

Clara was sitting at the little （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, with 思索的な gaze fastened upon Lucy. It made Lucy a little 極度の慎重さを要する to her attire. This consisted of a slouch felt hat, a red scarf 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the neck of her brown blouse, corduroy riding trousers, and high boots. On the moment Lucy was slipping on her gauntlets.

"Clara, it'll be a long, hard tramp, up and 負かす／撃墜する," 宣言するd Lucy, as if in self-defence.

"You look 広大な／多数の／重要な," 再結合させるd Clara, with one of her 甘い, rare smiles. "I'm not so sure about your 福利事業 work, in that get-up. I think it's plain 殺人?"

Clara made an expressive gesture, to 示す Edd outside. Lucy was not やめる equal to a laugh. いつかs this 現実主義の sister of hers 軍隊d home a significance that escaped her idealistic mind.

"If you only could go!" sighed Lucy. "I--I think I need you as much as you need me...Don't forget your 福利事業 work. Good-bye."

Edd carried a gun, a small 黒人／ボイコット tin bucket, and a 一括 which he gave to Lucy to put in her knapsack.

"Ma reckoned you'd like somethin' to eat," he explained.

So they 始める，決める off across the 小道／航路, through the （土地などの）細長い一片 of 支持を得ようと努めるd, and out into the sorghum-field. Lucy experienced an unaccountable 当惑. She felt like a callow girl taking her first walk with a boy. She did not feel at all at her 緩和する in this riding garb, though the freedom of it had never been so manifest. She was 有罪の of peering 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to see if any of the Denmeades were in sight, watching them cross the field. She could not see anyone, which fact helped a little. Then she did not discover her usual fluency of speech. Finding herself alone with this stalwart bee hunter, 直面するing a long day in the wilderness, had turned out to be something more than thrilling. Lucy essayed to throw off the 障害（者）.

"What's in your little 黒人／ボイコット bucket?" she 問い合わせd. "Honey. I 燃やす it to make a 甘い, strong smell in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. That shore fetches the bees."

"What's the gun for?"

"Wal, いつかs a 耐える smells the honey an' comes along. 耐えるs love 甘い stuff, most of all honey."

"耐えるs! In 幅の広い daylight?" ejaculated Lucy.

"Shore. One day not long ago I had four 耐えるs come for my honey. Didn't have no gun with me, so I slipped 支援する an' hid. You should have seen the fun they had stickin' their noses an' paws in my bucket of honey. They stole it, too, an' took it off with them."

"You won't leave me alone?" queried Lucy fearfully.

"Wal, if I have to I'll 上げる you up into a tree," drawled Edd.

"I wonder if this is going to be fun," pondered Lucy. Suddenly she remembered the proclivity for playing tricks natural to these backwoods boys. "Edd, 約束 me you will not try to 脅す me. No tricks! 約束 me solemnly."

"Aw, I'm shore not mean, Lucy," he expostulated. "Fun is fun an' I ain't above little tricks. But honest, you can 信用 me."

"I beg your 容赦. That about 耐えるs--and 上げるing me up into a tree--somehow flustered me a little."

Soon they crossed the （疑いを）晴らすing to the green 塀で囲む of cedars and pines. Here Edd led into a 狭くする 追跡する, with Lucy at his heels. His ordinary gait was something for her to 競う with. At once the 追跡する began to 勝利，勝つd 負かす／撃墜する over red earth and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 長，率いる of rocky gullies, choked with cedars, and downward under a 深くするing forest growth.

Lucy had never been on this 追跡する, which she knew to be the one that led over the 縁. She thrilled at the thought of climbing to the lofty 首脳会議 of that 黒人／ボイコット-fringed mountain mesa, but she was sure Edd would not put her to that ascent without a horse. The low hum which filled her ears grew into the roar of a brawling brook.

"耐える 跡をつける," said her guide, 停止（させる）ing to point at a 一連の会議、交渉／完成するd 不景気 in the dust of the 追跡する. Lucy saw the imprint of 抱擁する toes. Her flesh 契約d to a 冷淡な, creeping sensation. "That old Jasper went along here last night. Reckon he's the 耐える that's been killin' our little pigs. Pa shore will be rarin' to chase him with the hounds."

"Edd! Is there any danger of our 会合 this old Jasper, as you called him?" 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Reckon not much. Shore we might, though. I often run into 耐えるs. They're pretty tame. Hope we do 会合，会う him. I'd shore have some fun."

"Oh, would you? I don't believe it'd be very funny for me," 宣言するd Lucy.

"Wal, in 事例／患者 we do, you just mind what I say," 結論するd Edd.

Somehow his drawling 信用／信任 安心させるd her, and she 逆戻りするd again to the pleasurable sensations of the walk. The 追跡する led 負かす／撃墜する into a 深い gorge, dense with trees large and small, and along a wildly 玉石-strewn stream bed, where the water roared unseen through its channel. Here towered the lofty silver spruces, so delicate of hue and graceful in 輪郭（を描く）. The sunlight filtered through the foliage. Everywhere Lucy gazed were 証拠s of the wildness of this forest, in 木材／素質 and 激しく揺する and windfalls, in the 抱擁する 集まりs of driftwood, in the precipitous banks of the stream, showing how the flood 激流s tore and dug at their 限定するs.

Lucy did not see a bird or squirrel, nor hear one. But as to the latter the roar of 急ぐing water would have 溺死するd any ordinary sound. 徐々に the 追跡する left the 周辺 of the stream and began a slight ascent, winding の中で beds of 巨大（な） 玉石s covered with 追跡するing vines. Lucy was 特に struck by the almost overpowering scent of the woodland. It appeared 支配するd by the fragrance of pine, but there was other beside that spicy 強い味. Through the 支持を得ようと努めるd ahead she caught glimpses of light and open sky. Then Edd 停止（させる）d her.

"I hear turkeys cluckin'," he whispered. "持つ／拘留する my bucket, an' keep 権利 の近くに to me, so you can see. Walk Injun, now."

Lucy 従うd instinctively, and she was all 注目する，もくろむs and ears. She could not, however, give 分割されない attention to the scene in 前線 and at the same time proceed noiselessly. Edd walked slower and stooped lower as the 追跡する led 一連の会議、交渉／完成する a corner of thicket toward the open. Lucy saw a long 狭くする （疑いを）晴らすing, overgrown with small green cedars and patches of sumach 向こうずねing red and gold in the sunlight. At the same instant she saw something move, a white and brown 反対する flashing low 負かす／撃墜する. Edd 速く rose. The gun 割れ目d so suddenly that Lucy was startled. Then followed a tremendous flapping of wings. 抱擁する 黒人／ボイコット and grey birds flew and sailed out of the （疑いを）晴らすing into the 支持を得ようと努めるd, 衝突，墜落ing through the foliage. Next Lucy heard a loud threshing in the 小衝突 just in 前線, and a 激しい 強くたたくing. Both sounds 減らすd in 容積／容量, then 中止するd.

"Wal, I reckon you'll have turkey for dinner to-morrow," said Edd, looking to his gun. "Did you see them before they flew?"

"I saw a flash. Oh, it went 速く! Then you 発射, and I saw them rise. What a roar! Did you kill one?" replied Lucy excitedly.

"I shore did. It was a good 発射. He was rarin' to get out of here," said Edd, as he walked 今後 through the patch of sumach.

Lucy followed him to the open place where lay a beautiful wild turkey, its shiny plumage all ruffled and dishevelled, its wings wide, its gorgeous bronzeawl-white tail spread like a 抱擁する fan. Lucy was astonished at the variety and harmony of the colours. This wild bird was as beautiful as a peacock.

"Gobbler, two years old," said Edd. "Just 罰金 for eatin'. I'll hang him up in the shade an' get him on our way home. Shore it's risky, though, because there's cats and lions around."

He carried the turkey into the 辛勝する／優位 of the 支持を得ようと努めるd, where Lucy heard him tramping around and breaking 支店s. When he 現れるd again he led her to the upper end of this （疑いを）晴らすing, 一方／合間 telling her that his father had years before 削減（する） the 木材／素質 and tried to cultivate the ground. It had not been a successful 投機・賭ける. A tiny stream of water ran through the upper end, making smooth, 深い 穴を開けるs in the red clay. Edd pointed out deer and turkey 跡をつけるs, with muddy water in them. He followed the stream to its source in a spring at the 長，率いる of the （疑いを）晴らすing. A small, shallow 水盤／入り江 十分な of water, 少しのd, and moss lay open to the sun.

"Wal, here's where we start," 発表するd Edd enthusiastically. "Listen to the hum of bees."

The 空気／公表する seemed murmurous and melodious with the hum of innumerable bees. What a 甘い, drowsy summer sound! Lucy gazed all around.

"Oh, I hear them! But where are they?" she cried.

"Wal, they're flyin' around, workin' in the 最高の，を越すs of these pine saplings," replied Edd.

"Do they get honey up there?" queried Lucy in amaze.

"They shore get somethin'," replied Edd. "If you go climbin' 一連の会議、交渉／完成する pine trees an' get your 手渡すs all stuck up with pitch an' 次第に損なう you'll think so, too. I reckon bees get somethin' in these pines to help make their wax...Now look 負かす／撃墜する along the 辛勝する／優位 of the water. You'll see bees lightin' an' flyin' up. I've watched them hundreds of times, but I never made shore whether they drank, or diluted their honey, or mixed their wax with water."

"井戸／弁護士席! Who'd have thought honeybees so 利益／興味ing?...Yes, I see some. Will they sting me?"

"Tame as 飛行機で行くs," returned Edd easily.

Trustingly Lucy got 負かす／撃墜する on 手渡すs and 膝s, and then lay 傾向がある, with her 直面する just above the water. Here, at a distance of a foot, she could see the bees distinctly. At once she 公式文書，認めるd several varieties, some yellow and 黒人／ボイコット, which she knew to be yellow-jackets, some fuzzy and brown like the tame honeybee, and a few larger, darker. As she leaned there these wilder bees flew away.

Edd knelt to one 味方する and pointed at the bees. "The yellow ones are jackets, an' she shore hates them."

"She! Who's she?" queried Lucy.

"Wal, I call the wild bees she. Reckon because I've caught an' tamed queen bees. Shore that's some 職業."

"I remember now. You told me in 雨の season the yellow-jackets fought and killed the wild bees and stole their honey. These yellow bees are the ones...They're pretty, but they're mean-looking."

"持つ／拘留する still," said Edd suddenly. "There's a wild bee, the 肉親，親類d I'm goin' to line to-day. He lit by that little 石／投石する."

"I see him," whispered Lucy.

"Wal, now look の近くに. Is he drinkin' or movin' his 脚s in the water? You see he's just at the 辛勝する／優位. Look at his 膝s. See the little yellow balls? That's wax."

"How funny!" said Lucy, laughing. "Why, his 脚s look deformed, 重荷（を負わせる）d with those balls! Where does he carry his honey?"

"I never was shore, but I reckon in his mouth. Some bee hunters think the yellow balls are honey. I never did. It tastes like wax."

"It's beeswax. I know what that is. But where does the bee use it?"

"Shore you'll see that when I 削減（する） 負かす／撃墜する a bee tree."

Apart from Lucy's 広大な／多数の／重要な sympathy with the singular passion this wild bee hunter had for his calling she was やめる fascinated on her own account. It needed very little to 刺激する Lucy's 利益／興味, 特に in a problem or mystery, or something that 要求するd 推論する／理由, 熟考する／考慮する, perseverance to solve. She was getting 熟知させるd with bees. The yellow-jackets were lively, 積極的な, busy-団体／死体 little insects that manifestly 手配中の，お尋ね者 the place to themselves. The wild bees had a very industrious and earnest look. At the approach of yellow-jackets they rose and flew, to settle a little さらに先に away. Lucy 遠くに見つけるd bees all along the 辛勝する／優位 of the water. The big one Edd had called her attention to flew away, and presently another took its place. Lucy wished for a magnifying glass, and told Edd that if they had one they could tell 正確に／まさに what the bee was doing there.

"By George!" ejaculated Edd, in most solemn rapture. "Shore we could. I never thought of that. Wal, I never even heard of a glass that'd magnify. Where can we get one?"

"I'll fetch you one from Felix."

"Lucy, I reckon I don't want you to go, but I'd shore love to have that 肉親，親類d of a glass."

"Why don't you want me to go?" asked Lucy gaily.

"It's hard to say. But I'm not so shore. Reckon Mertie will have a grand time. You're awful good to take her. But won't she get her 長，率いる 十分な of notions about 着せる／賦与するs an' city boys?"

"Edd, you're worrying a lot, aren't you?"

"Yes," he said 簡単に.

"港／避難所't you 約束 in me? I'm going to 満足させる Mertie's passion for pretty things. Once in her life! And I'm going to see that Bert Hall goes with us."

Lucy raised on her 肘s to 示す the 影響 of this 声明 upon her companion. For once his stoicism was 混乱に陥れる／中断させるd. He seemed thunderstruck. Then his dark 直面する beamed and his grey 注目する，もくろむs shone with the piercing light Lucy 設立する hard to 直面する.

"Wal!--Who in the world's ever goin' to （不足などを）補う to you for your goodness?"

"Edd, it's not goodness 正確に／まさに," returned Lucy, somewhat 影響する／感情d by his emotion. "It's not my 福利事業 work, either. I guess I'll get more out of it than Mertie and Bert. Real happiness, you know."

"Shore. But I know what I think."

Lucy dropped 支援する to 熟考する／考慮する the bees. A number of the wild 種類 had settled 負かす／撃墜する 権利 under her 注目する，もくろむs. They were of different sizes and hues, and the very smallest carried the largest balls of wax on his 膝s. She 緊張するd her 注目する，もくろむs to see perfectly, and was rewarded by sight of an almost imperceptible 動議 of both their 長，率いるs and 脚s.

"Edd, I believe they drink and wet their wax. Both. At the same time."

"Wal, shore I've reckoned that often. Now get up an' watch me line a bee."

This brought Lucy to her feet with alacrity. Edd's 発言する／表明する sounded a 公式文書，認める 完全に at variance with his usual 平易な, 冷静な／正味の, drawling nonchalance. About most things he was 明らかに indifferent. But anything 付随するing to his beloved bee 追跡（する）ing touched him to the quick.

"Now, you stand behind me an' a little to one 味方する," he directed. "An' we'll 直面する toward that far point on the 縁. Eagle 激しく揺する we call it. Most of the bees here take a line over there."

Suddenly he pointed. "See that one?"

Though Lucy 緊張するd her 注目する，もくろむs, she saw nothing. The wide 空気／公表する seemed 空いている.

"Don't look up so high," he said. "These bees start low. You've shore got to catch her 権利 の近くに...There goes another."

"I'm afraid my 注目する，もくろむs aren't good," complained Lucy, as she failed again.

"No. Keep on lookin'. You'll line her in a minute."

Just then Lucy caught sight of a tiny 黒人／ボイコット 反対する 狙撃 over her 長，率いる and darting with singularly level, swift flight straight away. It did not appear to 飛行機で行く. It swept.

"Oh, Edd, I see one!...He's gone."

"Shore. You've got to hang your 注目する，もくろむ on to her."

Lucy caught a glimpse of another スピード違反 bee, lost it, and then sighted another. She held this one in 見解（をとる） for what seemed an endless moment. Then having got the knack of に引き続いて, she endeavoured to concentrate all her 力／強力にするs of 見通し. Bee after bee she watched. They had a wonderful unvarying flight. Indeed, she に例えるd them to 弾丸s. But they were remarkably 明白な. No two bees left the water-穴を開ける together. There was a regularity about their 外見.

"Wal, you're doin' 罰金. You'll shore make a bee-hunter," said Edd. "Now let's 直面する west awhile."

Lucy 設立する this direction unobstructed by green slope and red 塀で囲む. It was all open sky. A line of bees sped off and Lucy could follow them until they seemed to 合併する into the 空気／公表する.

"Why do some bees go this way and some that other way?" she queried.

"She belongs to different bee trees. She knows the way home better than any other livin' creature. Can't you see that? Straight as a string! Reckon you never heard the old sayin', 'makin' a bee line for home.'"

"Oh, is that where that comes from?" ejaculated Lucy, amused. "I certainly 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる what it means now."

"Now 転換 支援する to this other bee line," 教えるd Edd. "When you ketch another, follow her till you lose her, an' then tell me where that is. 示す the place."

Lucy made several 試みる／企てるs before she 後継するd in placing the 見えなくなる of a bee の近くに to the tip of a tall pine on the distant 山の尾根.

"Wal, that's linin' as good as ever Mertie or Allie," 主張するd Edd, evidently pleased, and he 選ぶd up his gun and bucket. "We're off."

"What do we do now?" queried Lucy.

"Can't you reckon it out?"

"Oh, I see! We've got the bee line. We follow it to that pine tree where I lost the last bee."

"権利 an' 正確に／まさに," drawled Edd.

"Oh--what fun It's like a game. Then where do we go?"

"Wal, I can't say till we get there."

"We'll watch again. We'll sight more bees. We'll get their line. We'll follow it as far as we can see--示す the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す--and then go on," 宣言するd Lucy excitedly.

"Lucy, your granddad might have been a wild-bee hunter," said Edd, with an 認可するing smile.

"He might, only he wasn't," laughed Lucy. "You can't make any wild-bee hunter of me, Edd Denmeade."

"Shore, but you might make one of yourself," drawled Edd.

Lucy had no reply for that. 落ちるing in behind him as he 長，率いるd across the （疑いを）晴らすing, she pondered over his words. Had they been subtle, a worthy 返答 to her rather blunt 二塁打 meaning, or just his 簡単, so apt to 攻撃する，衝突する the truth? She could not be sure, but she decided hereafter to think before she spoke.

Edd crossed the （疑いを）晴らすing and 急落（する），激減（する）d into the forest. As he entered the 木材／素質 Lucy saw him 停止（させる） to point out a tree some distance ahead. This, of course, was how he 示すd a straight line. Lucy began to guess the difficulty of that and the strenuous nature of travelling in a straight line through dense and rugged forest. She had to 緊急発進する over スピードを出す／記録につけるs and climb over windfalls; she had to creep through 小衝突 and under fallen trees; she had to wade into ferns as high as her 長，率いる and 涙／ほころび aside vines that were as strong as ropes.

They reached the bank above the roaring brook. As Edd paused to choose a place to get 負かす／撃墜する the 法外な declivity, Lucy had a moment to gaze about her. What a wild, dark, 深い glen! The forest 君主s appeared to mat 総計費 and hide the sun. 玉石s and trees, brook and bank, all the wild jumble of 激しく揺するs and drifts, and the 絡まる of vines and creepers, seemed on a grand 規模. There was nothing small. The ruggedness of nature, of 嵐／襲撃する and flood, of fight to 生き残る, manifested itself all around her.

"Wal, shore if you can't follow me you can squeal," shouted Edd, above the roar of the brook.

"Squeal! Me? Never in your life!" replied Lucy, with more 軍隊 than elegance. "If I can't follow you, I can't, that's all. But I'll try."

"Reckon I didn't mean squeal as you took it," returned Edd, and without more ado he 急落（する），激減（する）d in 巨大（な） strides 権利 負かす／撃墜する the bank.

Lucy 急落（する），激減（する）d likewise, fully 推定する／予想するing to break her neck. Instead, however, she seemed to be taking seven-league-boot-steps in soft earth that slid with her. Once her 手渡すs touched. Then, ridiculously easily, she arrived at the 底（に届く） of the forty-foot 堤防. Most amusing of all was the fact that Edd never even looked 支援する. Certainly it was not discourtesy, for Edd was always thoughtful. He 簡単に had no 関心 about her 遂行するing this 降下／家系.

Crossing the brook had more qualms for Lucy, and when she saw Edd leap from one slippery 激しく揺する to another she thought it was a good thing she had been put on her mettle. Edd reached the other 味方する without wetting a foot. Lucy chose 玉石s closer together, and by good judgment, 追加するd to luck, she got 安全に across, though not without wet boots.

Then Lucy climbed after Edd up a bank of roots that was as 平易な as a ladder, and thence on into the forest again. A thicket of pine saplings afforded welcome change. How subdued the light--how 甘い the scent of pine! She threaded an 平易な way over smooth, level mats of needles, brown as autumn leaves. Edd broke the dead 支店s and twigs as he passed, so that she did not have to stoop. On all 味方するs the small saplings shut out the light and hid the large trees. Soon the hum of the brook died away. Footsteps on the soft needles gave 前へ／外へ no sound. Silent, shaded, lonely, this pine smale 控訴，上告d 堅固に to Lucy. Soon it ended in a rough open 山の尾根 of cedar, oak, and 時折の pine, where Edd's ジグザグの climb seemed 法外な and long. It ended in an open 位置／汚点／見つけ出す の近くに to a tree Lucy recognised.

"I thought--we'd never--get here," panted Lucy. "That was 平易な. Can you 選ぶ out where we stood in the 負かす／撃墜する clearin'?"

Lucy gazed 負かす／撃墜する the slope, across the green thicket and then the 激しい 木材／素質 場内取引員／株価 the channel of the brook, on to the open （土地などの）細長い一片 有望な with its red sumach.

"Yes, I see the water," she replied.

"Wal, turn your 支援する to that an' look straight the other way an' you'll soon get our--bee line."

She had not stood many moments as directed before she caught the arrowy streak of bees, 飛行機で行くing straight over the 山の尾根. But 借りがあるing to the background of green, instead of the sky that served as background, she could not follow the bees very far.

"Here's where we make 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s," 発言／述べるd Edd, and started on.

Open 山の尾根 and hollow 占領するd the next swift hour. Lucy had enough to do to keep up with her guide. The travel, however, was not nearly as rough as that below, so that she managed without undue exertion. She had been walking and climbing every day, and felt that she was equal to a gruelling 仕事. She had 疑惑s, however, as to that endurance 存在 十分な for all Edd might 要求する. Still, she had 解決するd to go her very 限界, as a 事柄 of pride. Mertie had confided to Lucy that the only time Sadie Purdue had ever gone bee-追跡（する）ing with Edd she had given out, and that, too, on a rather 平易な bee line. It would have to be a bad place and a long walk that would daunt Lucy this day.

Edd's 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s 証明するd to be short distances from 示す to 示す, at every one of which he took 楽しみ in having Lucy again catch the bee line.

"When are you going to 燃やす the honey in your bucket?" asked Lucy, once, happening to remember what Edd had told her.

"I don't know. Maybe I won't have to," he replied: "If I lose the bee line, then I'll need to 燃やす honey."

"It seems, if things keep on as they are, you'll lose only me," 観察するd Lucy.

"Tired?"

"Not a bit. But if I had to keep this up all day I might get tired."

"We'll eat lunch under this bee tree."

"That's most welcome news. Not because I want the 追跡（する） to be short, at all! I'm having the time of my life. But I'm hungry."

"It's always good to be hungry when you're in the 支持を得ようと努めるd," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because when you do get to （軍の）野営地，陣営 or 支援する home, 近づく 餓死するd to death, everythin' tastes so good, an' you feel as if you never knew how good food is."

Lucy was beginning to 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる what this philosophy might mean in more ways than 適用するd to hunger. It was good to 餓死する, to かわき, to resist, to 耐える.

The bee line led to the 最高の，を越す of a slope, and a hollow deeper, rougher than any of the others, and much wider. Edd lined the bees across to the 木材／素質 on the 首脳会議 of the 山の尾根 beyond, but he was 関心d because there appeared so little to 示す the next 行う／開催する／段階. The pines on that 味方する were uniform in size, 形態／調整, and colour. There were no dead 最高の，を越すs or 支店s.

"Now, this is 平易な if we go straight 負かす／撃墜する an' up," said Edd. "But if we go 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, 長，率いる this hollow, I reckon I might lose our bee line."

"Why should we go 一連の会議、交渉／完成する?" 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Because that'd be so much easier for you," he explained.

"Thanks. But did you hear me squeal?"

Edd let out a hearty laugh, something rare with him, and it was an 受託 that gratified Lucy. Thereupon he went straight 負かす／撃墜する the slope. Lucy strode and trotted behind, finding it took little 成果／努力. All she had to do was to move 急速な／放蕩な to keep from 落ちるing.

"Yes, I see the water," she replied.

"Wal, turn your 支援する to that an' look straight the other way an' you'll soon get our--bee line."

She had not stood many moments as directed before she caught the arrowy streak of bees, 飛行機で行くing straight over the 山の尾根. But 借りがあるing to the background of green, instead of the sky that served as background, she could not follow the bees very far.

"Here's where we make 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s," 発言／述べるd Edd, and started on.

Open 山の尾根 and hollow 占領するd the next swift hour. Lucy had enough to do to keep up with her guide. The travel, however, was not nearly as rough as that below, so that she managed without undue exertion. She had been walking and climbing every day, and felt that she was equal to a gruelling 仕事. She had 疑惑s, however, as to that endurance 存在 十分な for all Edd might 要求する. Still, she had 解決するd to go her very 限界, as a 事柄 of pride. Mertie had confided to Lucy that the only time Sadie Purdue had ever gone bee-追跡（する）ing with Edd she had given out, and that, too, on a rather 平易な bee line. It would have to be a bad place and a long walk that would daunt Lucy this day.

Edd's 平易な 行う／開催する／段階s 証明するd to be short distances from 示す to 示す, at every one of which he took 楽しみ in having Lucy again catch the bee line.

"When are you going to 燃やす the honey in your bucket?" asked Lucy, once, happening to remember what Edd had told her.

"I don't know. Maybe I won't have to," he replied: "If I lose the bee line, then I'll need to 燃やす honey."

"It seems, if things keep on as they are, you'll lose only me," 観察するd Lucy.

"Tired?"

"Not a bit. But if I had to keep this up all day I might get tired."

"We'll eat lunch under this bee tree."

"That's most welcome news. Not because I want the 追跡（する） to be short, at all I I'm having the time of my life. But I'm hungry."

"It's always good to be hungry when you're in the 支持を得ようと努めるd," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because when you do get to （軍の）野営地，陣営 or 支援する home, 近づく 餓死するd to death, everythin' tastes so good, an' you feel as if you never knew how good food is."

Lucy was beginning to 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる what this philosophy might mean in more ways than 適用するd to hunger. It was good to 餓死する, to かわき, to resist, to 耐える.

The bee line led to the 最高の，を越す of a slope, and a hollow deeper, rougher than any of the others, and much wider. Edd lined the bees across to the 木材／素質 on the 首脳会議 of the 山の尾根 beyond, but he was 関心d because there appeared so little to 示す the next 行う／開催する／段階. The pines on that 味方する were uniform in size, 形態／調整, and colour. There were no dead 最高の，を越すs or 支店s.

"Now, this is 平易な if we go straight 負かす／撃墜する an' up," said Edd. "But if we go 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, 長，率いる this hollow, I reckon I might lose our bee line."

"Why should we go 一連の会議、交渉／完成する?" 問い合わせd Lucy.

"Because that'd be so much easier for you," he explained.

"Thanks. But did you hear me squeal?"

Edd let out a hearty laugh, something rare with him, and it was an 受託 that gratified Lucy. Thereupon he went straight 負かす／撃墜する the slope. Lucy strode and trotted behind, finding it took little 成果／努力. All she had to do was to move 急速な／放蕩な to keep from 落ちるing.

This 方式 of travel appeared to be exhilarating. At least something was exhilarating, perhaps the 空気／公表する. Lucy knew she was excited, buoyant. Her 血 ran warm and quick. What an adventure! If only she could have felt sure of herself! Yet she did not 収容する／認める to her consciousness where she felt uncertain. "I'll live this with all I have," she soliloquised, "for I might never go again."

The slope into this hollow was a delusion and a snare. From above it had appeared no denser than the others. It turned out to be a ジャングル of underbrush. Live-oak, manzanita, buckbrush formed an almost impenetrable thicket on the southerly exposed 味方する. Edd 衝突，墜落d through the oaks, walked on 最高の，を越す of the stiff manzanita, and はうd under the buck-小衝突.

Water ran 負かす／撃墜する the rocky gully at the 底（に届く）. How Lucy drank and bathed her hot 直面する! Here Edd filled a canvas water 捕らえる、獲得する he had carried in his pocket, and slung it over his shoulder.

"Shore was fun ridin' the manzanitas, wasn't it?" he queried.

"Edd, it's--all fun," she breathed. "Remember, if I 落ちる by the wayside--I mean by the bee line--that my spirit was willing but my flesh was weak."

"Humph! いつかs I don't know about you, Lucy Watson," he said dubiously.

When Lucy imagined she deserved a compliment it seemed rather disillusioning to hear an あいまいな speech like that. Meekly she followed him in and out of the clumps of 小衝突 toward the slope. Her meekness, however, did not last very long. Edd had the most astonishing faculty for bringing out all that was worst in her. Then by the time she had gotten half-way through a grove of large-leaved oaks she had forgotten what had inflamed her spirit. Every strenuous section of this 旅行 had its reward in an 平易な stretch, where beauty and colour and wilderness took 所有／入手 of her.

Edd zigzagged up this slope, and the turns were so abrupt that Lucy began for the first time to feel a 緊張する. Edd saw it and paused every few moments to give her time to 回復する breath and strength. He did not encourage her to waste either in speech. This slope stood on end. The 山の尾根 証明するd to be a mountain. Lucy was compelled to dig heels and toes in the hard, red earth, and often しっかり掴む a bush or 支店, to keep from slipping 支援する.

At last they surmounted the 広大な／多数の／重要な 木材／素質d incline. Lucy fell on a pine mat, so out of breath that she gasped. She had an 激烈な／緊急の 苦痛 in her 味方する. It afforded her some satisfaction to see Edd's heaving breast and his perspiring 直面する.

"What're--you--panting about?" she asked, heroically sitting up.

"Reckon that pull is a good one to 板材 up on," he said.

"Oh-h-h! Are there--any worse pulls?"

"Shore I don't know. We might have to climb up over the 縁."

"井戸／弁護士席," 結論するd Lucy, with 辞職, "where's our bee line?"

"I got plumb off," 自白するd Edd, in humiliation, as if the error he had made was one of 許すことの出来ない 割合s. "But, honest, いつかs it's impossible to go straight."

"I 受託する your 陳謝, Edward," said Lucy facetiously. "But it wasn't necessary. No human 存在--even a bee hunter--can pass through 激しく揺するs, trees, hills, 塀で囲むs of 小衝突, and piles of スピードを出す／記録につけるs...What'll we do now?"

"I'll walk along an' see if I can find her. If I don't we'll 燃やす some honey. That'll take time, but it'll shore fetch her. You 残り／休憩（する） here."

Lucy could see the two clearings of the Denmeades nestling green and yellow in the rolling （競技場の）トラック一周 of the forest. How far she had travelled! She was proud of this 業績／成就 already. With her breath 回復するd, and that 苦痛 gone from her 味方する, she was not the least the worse for her exertion. Indeed, she felt strong and eager to 追求する the bee line to its end. Only by such 成果／努力 as this could she see the wonderful country or learn something about the forest land. She was high up now, and yet the 縁 still towered beyond and above, unscalable except for eagles. She was revelling in the joy of her sensations when Edd's step 混乱に陥れる／中断させるd them.

"I 設立する her. We wasn't so far off. Come now, if you're 残り／休憩（する）d," he said.

"Edd, how far do bee lines usually run from where you find them?" asked Lucy.

"いつかs miles. But I reckon most bee lines are short. Shore they seem long because you have to go up an' 負かす／撃墜する, 権利 over everythin'."

Rolling forest stretched away from the 山の尾根-最高の，を越す, neither level nor hilly. にもかかわらず the 激しい growth of pines the bee line seemed to 侵入する the forest and still 保存する its unwavering course. Lucy could see the bees 飛行機で行くing 負かす／撃墜する the aisles between the tree-最高の，を越すs, and she was unable to make 確かな that they curved in the least. Edd could line them only a short distance, 借りがあるing to 介入するing trees. 進歩 here was やむを得ず slower, a fact that Lucy welcomed. Birds and squirrels and rabbits enlivened this open woodland; and presently when Edd pointed out a 軍隊／機動隊 of sleek grey deer, wonderfully wild and graceful as they watched with long ears 築く, Lucy experienced the keenest of thrills.

"黒人／ボイコット-tails," said Edd, and he raised his gun.

"Oh--please don't kill one of them!" cried Lucy appealingly.

"Shore I was only takin' 目的（とする） at that buck. I could take him plumb centre."

"井戸／弁護士席, I'll take your word for it," 再結合させるd Lucy. "How tame they are!...They're going...Oh, there's a beautiful little fawn!"

She watched them bound out of sight, and then in her 救済 and 楽しみ to see them disappear 安全に she told Edd she was glad he was a bee-hunter instead of a deer-hunter.

"Wal, I'm not much on bees to-day," he 定評のある. "But that's natural, seein' I've a girl with me."

"You mean you do better alone?"

"I reckon."

"Are you sorry you brought me?"

"Sorry? Wal, I guess not. 'Course I love best to be alone in the 支持を得ようと努めるd. But havin' you is somethin' new. It's not me, but the 支持を得ようと努めるd an' the bees an' the work you're thinkin' about. You don't squeal an' you don't want to get mushy in every shady place."

Lucy, failing of an 適する 返答 to this remarkable speech, called his attention to the bees; and Edd stalked on ahead, peering through the green aisles. The beautiful open forest was soon to end in a formidable rocky canyon, not more than half a mile wide, but very 深い and rugged. Lucy stood on the 瀬戸際 and gazed, with her heart in her 注目する，もくろむs. It was a 素晴らしい surprise. This 深い gorge notched the 縁. Red and yellow crags, cliffs, ledges, and （法廷の）裁判s 変化させるd with green slopes, all steps 負かす／撃墜する and 負かす／撃墜する to the 黒人／ボイコット depths. A murmur of running water 急に上がるd 上向き. Beneath her sailed an eagle, brown of wing and 支援する, white of 長，率いる and tail, the first bald eagle Lucy had ever seen.

"Dog-gone!" ejaculated Edd. "Shore I was hopin' we'd find our bee tree on this 味方する of Doubtful Canyon."

"Doubtful? Is that its 指名する?"

"Yes, an' I reckon it's a Jasper."

"Edd, it may be doubtful, but it's grand," 宣言するd Lucy.

"You won't think it's grand if we 請け負う to cross."

"Then our bee tree is way over there some place," said Lucy, gazing at the blue depths, the 黒人／ボイコット slopes, the yellow crags, the red cliffs. They would have looked の近くに but for the 支配するing 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of the 縁, rising above and beyond the canyon 塀で囲む. All was green growth over there except the blank 直面するs of the 激しく揺するs. Ledges and （法廷の）裁判s, nooks and crannies, irresistibly beckoned for Lucy to 調査する.

"If! We're certainly going to cross, aren't we?" she queried, turning to Edd.

"Wal, if you say so, we'll try. But I reckon you can't make it."

"Suppose I do make it--can we go home an easier way?"

"Shore. I can find 平易な goin', downhill all the way," replied Edd.

"井戸／弁護士席, then I 提案する we 残り／休憩（する） here and have our lunch. Then cross! Before we start, though, you might let me see you 燃やす some honey. Just for fun."

This 計画（する） met with Edd's 是認. Just below they 設立する a 抱擁する flat ledge of 激しく揺する, 事業／計画（する）ing out over the abyss. Part of it was shaded by a bushy pine, and here Edd spread the lunch. Then while Lucy sat 負かす／撃墜する to eat he built a tiny 解雇する／砲火／射撃 out on the 辛勝する／優位 of the 激しく揺する. Next he placed a goodly bit of honey on a 石／投石する の近くに enough to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 to make it smoke.

"Pretty soon we'll have some fun," he said.

"Wrong! We're having fun now. At least I am," retorted Lucy.

"Wal, then, I mean some more fun," he 訂正するd. その結果 they fell with hearty appetites upon the ample lunch Mrs. Denmeade had 供給するd. Edd presently said he heard bees whizz by. But a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour elapsed before any bees 現実に began to 減少（する） 負かす／撃墜する over the smoking honey. Then Edd 注ぐd some of the honey out on the 激しく揺する. The bees circled and alighted. More （機の）カム and 非，不，無 left. Lucy asked why they did not 飛行機で行く away.

"Makin' pigs of themselves," he said "But soon as they get all they can 持つ／拘留する they'll 飛行機で行く."

By the time the lunch was finished a 群れている of bees of different sizes and hues had been attracted to the honey, and many were 出発／死ing. As they （機の）カム from different directions, so they left. Edd explained this to be 借りがあるing to the fact that these bees belonged to different trees.

"Do all these wild bees live in trees?" she asked.

"All but the yellow-jackets. They have 穴を開けるs in the ground. I've seen where many 穴を開けるs had been dug out by 耐えるs...Wal, we played hob with the lunch. An' now I reckon it's high time we began our slide 負かす／撃墜する this canyon."

"Slide? Can't we walk?"

"I reckon you'll see. It'll be a slidin' walk," averred Edd. "Shore I'm goin' to have all the fun I can, '原因（となる） you'll shore never go anywheres with me again."

"My! How terrible this 事情に応じて変わる walk must be!...But I might fool you, Edd. I've decided to go to the dance with you, an' let Clara go with Joe."

"Aw! That's nice of you," he replied, with frank gladness. His 直面する lighted at some 予期. "Joe will shore be proud."

He walked out upon the ledge to get his bucket, 運動ing the bees away with his sombrero, and when he had 安全な・保証するd it he took a last long look across the canyon. Lucy noticed what a picture he made, standing there, tall, 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-四肢d, supple, his youthful leonine 直面する sharp against the sky. He belonged there. He fitted the surroundings. He was a 開発 of forest and canyon wilderness. The crudeness once so objectionable to her was no longer manifest. Was it because of change and growth in him--or in her? Lucy fancied it was the latter. Edd had vastly 改善するd, but not in the elemental 質 from which had sprung his crudeness.

"She'll be 権利 across there," he said, pointing with long arm. "I can line her half-way across. Reckon I see the tree now. It's an oak, sort of grey in colour, standin' on a ledge. An' it's got a dead 最高の，を越す an' one big crooked 支店."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, I'll remember every word," 警告するd Lucy.

"I'll go ahead, so when you come slidin' I can 得る，とらえる you," he said.

"See that you don't 行方不明になる me," replied Lucy, as she started to follow him 負かす／撃墜する off the ledge. At first the 降下／家系, though 法外な, was 平易な enough. Had Edd zigzagged 負かす／撃墜する she would have had no trouble at all. But he descended straight 負かす／撃墜する over 明らかにする earth, 激しく揺する slides, banks and （法廷の）裁判s, swerving only for trees and 小衝突, and then taking care to get 支援する again in alignment with whatever he had 示すd to guide him. Lucy could not go slowly, unless she sat 負かす／撃墜する, which, にもかかわらず an almost irresistible 誘惑, she 軽蔑（する）d to do. やめる 突然の, without 準備, she 設立する herself standing at the 最高の，を越す of a wonderful green and brown slope dotted by pine trees and remarkable for its waved 影響. It descended at an angle of forty-five degrees, an open forest standing almost on end! The green colour was grass; the brown, pine needles. This place made Lucy's heart leap to her throat. An 絶対 unaccountable and new 種類 of fright 攻撃する，非難するd her. Never in her life before had she seen a slope like that, or been attacked by such dread.

"Wal, here's where we slide," drawled Edd, gazing up at her. "Whatever you do, do it quick, an' keep in line with me."

Then he started 負かす／撃墜する. His 活動／戦闘 here was very much different from any before. He descended sidewise, stepping, or rather running, on the 辛勝する／優位 of his boots, 持つ／拘留するing gun and bucket in his left 手渡す, and reaching 支援する with his 権利. His position corresponded with the slant of the slope. He slid more than he ran. His 権利 手渡す often touched the ground behind him. He left a furrow in grass and needles. Forty or fifty feet below he 宿泊するd on a （法廷の）裁判. Then he straightened 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to look up at Lucy.

"Wal, city girl!" he called gaily. His 発言する／表明する was bantering, 十分な of fun.

It lent Lucy recklessness. Through it she 回復するd from the queer locked sensation.

"All 権利, country boy, I'm coming," she replied, with bravado.

Then she 開始する，打ち上げるd herself, heedlessly 試みる／企てるing to imitate Edd's method of 手続き. A few swift steps landed her upon the pine needles. Quick as 雷 her feet flew up and she fell. Frantically she caught the ground with her 手渡すs and held on, stopped her 勢い. Both breath and bravado had been jarred out of her.

"Wal, you've started comin', so come on," called Edd, never 割れ目ing a smile.

Lucy, 持つ／拘留するing on in most undignified manner, glared 負かす／撃墜する upon him, making one last desperate 成果／努力 to keep her equilibrium and her temper. If he had laughed or smiled, she might have 信用d him more.

"Did you get me here on 目的?" she 需要・要求するd, with magnificent 無視（する） of 推論する／理由.

"Shore. We're on our bee line. You couldn't be talked out of it," he replied.

"I mean on this terrible hill," she 追加するd, 弱めるing.

"How'd I know she'd make a bee-line over this hill?" he 需要・要求するd.

Lucy, seeing that 活動／戦闘, not talk, was imperative, got up, and ran downhill 権利 at him. She forgot his method of descending, but 遂行する／発効させるd a very good one of her own. She ran, she flew, she fell, 権利 upon Edd. He caught her outstretched 手渡すs and kept her from upsetting.

"Heavens!" gasped Lucy. "Suppose you hadn't been here?"

"Wal, you'd have slid some," he said. "But, honest, you did that 罰金."

"It was an 事故," 自白するd Lucy as she fearfully gazed below. The next 行う／開催する／段階, to a （法廷の）裁判 below, seemed still steeper, and the one below that made Lucy's 長，率いる reel.

"I'm sorry I called you city girl," he said contritely. "For you're shore game, an' quick on your feet. You 追跡（する） bees like you dance."

Lucy's 悲惨 was not 緩和するd by the compliment, because she knew she was a sham; にもかかわらず, she felt a weak little thrill. Maybe she could go on without 殺人，大当り herself.

"Don't hang on to me," 追加するd Edd as again he started. "That's not the way. We'll both slip, an' if we do we'll go （疑いを）晴らす to the 底（に届く）, same as if this hill was snow...When I make it 負かす／撃墜する there you come, same as you got here."

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Lucy wildly. "Don't worry, I'll come."

Edd made a splendid 業績／成就 of the next 降下／家系, and 停止（させる）d in a favourable position to wait for Lucy. It encouraged her. Stifling her vacillations, she 開始する，打ち上げるd herself with light steps, leaning 支援する, and depending on her gloved 手渡す. She kept her feet most of the distance, but landed before Edd in a 事情に応じて変わる posture. On the next 試みる／企てる a couple of pine trees made 降下／家系 平易な for her. Below that were 連続する 行う／開催する／段階s calculated to give her undue 信用／信任.

"Wal, this is plumb bad," ejaculated Edd, gazing below and to 権利 and left. "But we can't climb 支援する. An' it's worse on each 味方する. Reckon there's nothin' to do but slide."

And he did slide and 落ちる and roll, and finally 宿泊する against a tree.

"Hey! you can't do worse than that!" he shouted. "Come on. Don't wait an' think...Come a-rarin'."

Lucy was in a strange 明言する／公表する of 一時停止するd exhilaration and 激烈な／緊急の panic. She was both inhibited and driven. 現実に she の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs on the instant she jumped. Then she ran. Her 客観的な was Edd and she had to look. She 推定する／予想するd to 急落（する），激減（する） 長，率いる over heels, yet she reached Edd upright, and earned another compliment. They went on with 変化させるing luck, but at least they made remarkable 進歩. The さらに先に 負かす／撃墜する this slope they proceeded the 厚い lay the mats of pine needles and the scantier grew the patches of grass. 自然に the needles slipped and slid downward. Also, trees and 小衝突 grew 不十分な. Then, to make the 状況／情勢 worse, the 降下／家系 took a 詐欺師 angle and the （法廷の）裁判s cropped out さらに先に apart. At last they reached a point where Edd seemed at a loss. The slope just below was not only more precipitous and longer than any yet, but it ended in a jump-off, the extent of which Edd could not 決定する.

"Lucy, I've played hob gettin' you into this," he said, in 悔恨.

"It was my fault," returned Lucy, 脅すd by his gravity. "Go on. Let's get 負かす／撃墜する--before I lose my 神経."

All the 神経 she had left oozed out as she watched Edd slide to the 上陸-place selected below. He never took a step. He sat 負かす／撃墜する and slid like a streak. Lucy thought he was going over the precipice. But he dug heels into needles and ground, and stopped his flight in the nick of time.

"Not so bad as it looked," he shouted. How far below he was now "Come on. It's 安全な if you let yourself slide straight. So you won't 行方不明になる me!"

But Lucy did not obey. She realised how silly she was, but she 簡単に could not deliberately sit 負かす／撃墜する and slide. She essayed to do as she had done above. And her feet flew higher than her 長，率いる. She alighted upon her 支援する and began to shoot 負かす／撃墜する. She turned （疑いを）晴らす over on her 直面する. Dust and 飛行機で行くing needles blinded her. Frantically she dug in with 手渡すs and feet, and rolled and slid to a 停止（させる）.

When she （疑いを）晴らすd her sight she 設立する she had got out of line with Edd. He was はうing along the precipice to 迎撃する her. Lying 傾向がある on the slippery slope, she had to 持つ／拘留する with all her might to keep from 事情に応じて変わる. Edd's yells, 追加するd to all that had happened, terrified her, and she clung there instinctively. It seemed a frightful 減少（する） to where Edd knelt. She would 行方不明になる him and slide over the precipice. インチ by インチ she felt herself slip. She 叫び声をあげるd. Edd's 発言する／表明する pierced her drumming ears.

"...darn fool, you! Let go! Slide!"

Lucy let go because she could no longer 持つ／拘留する on. Then she seemed to 急ぐ through 空気／公表する and 飛行機で行くing needles and clouds of dust. Swifter she slid. Her sight blurred. Sky and trees grew indistinct. She slid from her 支援する over on her 直面する, and 急落（する），激減（する）d 負かす／撃墜する. A 集まり of 破片 seemed to collect on her as she 急落（する），激減（する）d. Suddenly she 衝突する／食い違うd with something and stopped with terrific shock. She felt Edd's clutch on her. But she could not see. Again she was moving, 事情に応じて変わる, held 支援する, pulled and dragged, and at last seemed to reach a 停止（させる）. Breathless, stunned, blinded, 燃やすing as with 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and choked with dust, Lucy 格闘するd to sit up.

"You shore slid," Edd was 説. "You knocked us over the ledge. But we're all 権利 now. I'll go 支援する for my gun."

Lucy's mouth was 十分な of dirt and pine needles her 注目する，もくろむs of dust. She sputtered and gasped, and could not see until welcome 涙／ほころびs washed her sight （疑いを）晴らす. Then she 設立する she was at the foot of the terrible slope. Edd was はうing up to the （法廷の）裁判 above. Her hair and blouse and trousers, even her boots and pockets, were 十分な of dust, pine needles, twigs, and dirt. Standing up, shaking and spent, she essayed to rid herself of all she had collected in that slide. Incredible to believe, she had not 支えるd even a bruise that she was aware of. Then Edd （機の）カム slipping 負かす／撃墜する, gun and bucket in 手渡す. As he reached her he seemed to be 労働ing under some 肉親，親類d of tremendous 緊張する.

"No--use!" he choked. "Shore--I can't--持つ／拘留する it."

"What, for goodness' sake?" burst out Lucy.

"If I--don't laugh--I'll 破産した／（警察が）手入れする," he replied, suddenly 落ちるing 負かす／撃墜する.

"Pray don't do anything so--so vulgar as that last," said Lucy, 試みる／企てるing hauteur.

But sight of this imperturbable backwoods boy giving way to uncontrollable mirth 影響する／感情d Lucy peculiarly. Her 憤慨 melted away. Something about Edd was 感染性の.

"I must have been funny," she 譲歩するd.

Edd appeared incapacitated for any 言葉の explanation of how laughter-刺激するing she had been; and Lucy at last broke her 抑制 and 株d his hilarity.

An hour later Lucy perched upon a ledge high above the canyon, exhausted and ragged, 勝利を得た and gay, gazing aloft at a grey old oak tree that had breasted the 勝利，勝つd and 雷s for centuries. Part of it was dead and bleached, but a mighty 四肢 spread from the fork, with 支店s 耐えるing myriads of 幅の広い green leaves and clusters of acorns. On the under 味方する of this 抱擁する 四肢 was a knot 穴を開ける encrusted with a yellow 実体. Beeswax. It surrounded the 穴を開ける and 延長するd some distance along the under 味方する, changing the grey colour of the bark to yellow. A stream of bees passed in and out of that knot 穴を開ける. Edd had followed his bee line straight to the bee tree.

"She's a hummer," he was 説 as he walked to and fro, gazing 上向き with 向こうずねing 注目する，もくろむs. "Shore, it's an old bee tree. Reckon that whole 四肢 is hollow an' 十分な of honey...平易な to 削減（する） an' let 負かす／撃墜する without smashin'! I'll save maybe fifty gallons."

"Aren't you afraid of those bees?" asked Lucy, seeing how they 急襲するd 負かす／撃墜する and circled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する Edd.

"Bees never sting me," he said.

Lucy assumed that if there was no danger for him there would be 非，不，無 for her; and 願望（する）ing to see the bees at の近くに 範囲 as they streamed in and out of the aperture, she arose and approached to where Edd stood.

Hardly had she raised her 長，率いる to look up when a number of bees whizzed 負かす／撃墜する 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her 直面する. In alarm Lucy struck at them with her gloves, which she carried in her 手渡す.

"Don't 攻撃する，衝突する at them!" shouted Edd, in 関心. "You'll make them mad."

But it was too late. Lucy had indeed incurred their wrath and she could not resist （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing at them.

"Oh, they're after me!...Chase them away... Edd..." She 叫び声をあげるd the last as she 支援するd away, threshing frantically at several viciously 執拗な bees. Then, as she 支援するd against a スピードを出す／記録につける and lost her balance, one of the bees darted 負かす／撃墜する to sting her on the nose. Lucy fell 支援する over the スピードを出す／記録につける. The bee stayed on her nose until she pulled it off, not by any means without 発言する／表明するing a piercing 抗議する. Then she bounded up and （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 a 迅速な 退却／保養地 to a safer zone. For a moment she ached with the 燃やすing sting. Then the humiliation of it roused her 怒らせる. The glimpse she had of Edd through the saplings 原因（となる）d her to 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う that he had again succumbed to shameless glee. Else why did he hide behind the bee tree?

Lucy was inclined to nurse her wrath 同様に as her nose. At any 率, she sat 負かす／撃墜する to tenderly 持つ／拘留する the 負傷させるd member. It was swelling. She would have a 抱擁する, red, ugly nose. When Edd （機の）カム to her at length, looking rather sheepish, Lucy glared at him.

"That horrid old bee stung me 権利 on my nose," she burst out. "Just for that I'll not go to the dance."

"I have some salve I made. It'll take out the sting an' swellin'," he replied kindly.

"Does it look very bad yet!"

"No one'd ever see it," he 慰安d.

"Oh, but it 傷つけるs. But if it doesn't disfigure me for life I guess I can stand it."

He gazed thoughtfully 負かす／撃墜する upon her.

"You stuck to me bettor than any girl I ever took on a bee 追跡（する）. I'm shore goin' to tell everybody. Pa an' ma will be tickled. Now I'm askin' you. Reckonin' it all, aren't you glad you had that awful 流出／こぼす an' then got stung?"

"井戸／弁護士席," replied Lucy, gazing up at him just as, thoughtfully, "I'm not glad just this minute--but perhaps I will be later."

Two hours of leisurely travel 負かす／撃墜する a 漸進的な 降下／家系, through a trailless forest, brought Lucy and her guide 支援する to the brook. Edd had been careful to choose open woodland and the easiest going possible. Sunset 設立する them crossing the （疑いを）晴らすing. Lucy could just wag along, yet she could still look up with delight in the golden cloud 野外劇／豪華な行列, and at the sun-解雇する／砲火／射撃d 前線 of the 縁.

"Edd, you forgot the turkey," said Lucy as they entered the 小道／航路.

"Nope. It was only out of our way, comin' 支援する. After supper I'll jump a hoss an' ride after it."

"井戸／弁護士席, Edd, thank you for--our bee 追跡（する）."

As she passed the yard she waved and called gaily to the Denmeades, hiding to the last the fact that she was utterly spent. Clara heard her and flung open the door of the テント, glad-注目する，もくろむd and excited. Lucy staggered up into the テント and, の近くにing the door, she made a long 落ちる to the bed.

"Oh--Clara," she whispered huskily, "I'm killed I'm dead!...Walked, climbed, slid, and stung to death!...Yes, stung! Look at my poor nose!...We 設立する a bee line, and went a thousand miles--up and 負かす／撃墜する...I stuck to that wild-bee hunter I did, Clara...But, oh, it's done something to me!...What a glorious, glorious day!"

Clara leaned lovingly over her, and listened intently, and watched with sad, beautiful, wise 注目する，もくろむs.

"Lucy, dear," she said gently, "you're in love with that wild-bee hunter."

一時期／支部 XI

Late in October Lucy returned from Felix, where she had stayed four weeks instead of two, as she 初めは ーするつもりであるd. Her work had so 利益／興味d the 福利事業 board that they considered the 実験 a success, and they brought her in 接触する with other 労働者s whom they 手配中の，お尋ね者 to have the 利益 of Lucy's experience. Thus she had 設立する herself rather an important personage in that little circle.

Though the 行う／開催する／段階 arrived at Cedar 山の尾根 late in the afternoon, Lucy did not want to tarry there till next day. She had a strange, eager longing to get 支援する to her sister and to the place she called home, the lonely homestead under the 縁. That had been the 原因（となる）, she thought, of her restlessness while in the city.

Bert and Mertie, vastly important about the change in their lives, hurried to his home to 明らかにする／漏らす their secret, 保証するing Lucy that they would come out to the ranch next day. Lucy 雇うd one of the few automobiles in Cedar 山の尾根, and in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of a competent driver she arrived at Johnson's just before sunset. Sam's younger brother 申し込む／申し出d to ride up to Denmeade's with her, and pack her baggage. As there was no school 開会／開廷／会期 during late 落ちる and winter, Mr. Jenks had left with the understanding that he would return in the spring.

Once on horseback again, Lucy began to feel 解放する／自由な. How long she had been gone! What changes had come! These were exemplified in the 変形 落ちる had wrought in the verdure along the 追跡するs. Only the 広大な／多数の／重要な pines had not changed, yet their needle foliage had a tinge of brown. The fern leaves that had waved so beautifully green and graceful were now crisp and shrivelled; the grape vines were yellow; the brown-注目する，もくろむd daisies were all gone; the sycamore trees were turning and the cottonwoods had parted with their beauty. Likewise had the walnut trees.

In places where Lucy could see the 縁 she was astounded and delighted. She had carried away a picture of the coloured 塀で囲むs, but now there was a 炎 of gold, purple, cerise, scarlet, all the hues of 解雇する／砲火／射撃. 霜 had touched maples, aspens, oaks, with a 魔法 病弱なd. It seemed another and more beautiful forest land that she was entering. Up and 負かす／撃墜する, everywhere along the 追跡する, her horse waded through autumn leaves. The level 支店s of spruce and pine, that reached の近くに to her, were littered with fallen leaves, wrinkled and 乾燥した，日照りのd. How different the sound of hoofs! Now they padded, rustled, when before they had crunched and 割れ目d.

The melancholy days had come. As the sunset hues failed Lucy saw purple 煙霧 as 厚い as smoke filling the hollows. The aisles were 砂漠d of life, sear and brown, shading into twilight. She 棒 負かす／撃墜する into the 深い forest glen and up out of it before overtaken by night. How 慰安ing the dusky halls of the woodland! Assuredly she was going to find out something about herself when she could think it out. Sam's little brother talked whenever the 追跡する was 法外な and his horse lagged の近くに to Lucy's. Homely bits of news, 付随するing to his simple life, yet Lucy 設立する them 甘い.

The hunter's moon lighted the last mile of the ride up to the Denmeade （疑いを）晴らすing. Weird, moon-blanched, the 広大な／多数の／重要な 塀で囲む seemed to welcome her. What had come to her under its ぼんやり現れるing 影をつくる／尾行する? 黒人／ボイコット and silent the forest waved away to the 薄暗い 境界s. Lucy forgot her weariness. The baying of the hounds 緩和するd the thrills that had been in （一時的）停止, waiting for this moment when she 棒 up the 小道／航路. She peered for the white gleam of her canvas テント. Gone! Had Clara moved into the cabin? Then she made out that the テント 塀で囲む had been boarded half-way up and the roof shingled. A light shone through the canvas. Lucy could scarcely wait to get her baggage from the boy and to tell him what to do.

Her 発言する／表明する stirred 捨てる of 議長，司会を務める and 飛行機で行くing footsteps inside the テント. The door swept open and Clara 急ぐd out with a cry of welcome. Even in the poignant joy of the moment Lucy, as she 倍のd Clara in a の近くに embrace, 行方不明になるd the 壊れやすい slenderness that had characterised her sister's form. Then they were in the brightly lighted テント, where for a little the sweetness of 再会 妨げるd all else.

"Let go of me, so I can see you," said Lucy, breaking away from her sister. "Oh, Clara!"

That was all she could say to this beautiful brown-直面するd, radiant-注目する，もくろむd apparition.

"Yes, I'm 井戸／弁護士席!" cried Clara. "Strong as a 耐える. Almost fat! I wondered what you'd think...You see, your wilderness home and people have cured me...More! Oh, sister, I'm afraid to say it--but I'm happy, too."

"Darling! Am I dreaming?" burst out Lucy, in a rapture. "What has happened? How have you done it? Who?...Why, I worried myself sick about you! Look at me! I'm thin, pale. And here you show yourself...Oh, Clara, you're just lovely! What have you been doing?"

"Simple as A B C, as Danny says," retuned Clara. "When you left I just felt that I would get 井戸／弁護士席 and--and all 権利 again--or I'd die trying. I took up your work, and I've done it. I worked every way they'd let me. I 棒 and climbed and walked every day with Joe. And eat? Oh, I've been a little pig!"

"Every day with Joe!" echoed Lucy, with 注目する，もくろむs of love, hope, 恐れる, 疑問 upon this strange sister. "Has that changed you so wonderfully?"

When had Lucy seen such a smile on Clara's 直面する?

"Yes. But no more than taking up your work," she 再結合させるd, with 甘い 真面目さ. "Joe cured my 団体／死体. He got me out into the fields and the 支持を得ようと努めるd. I really wasn't so sick. I was weak, 餓死するd, spiritless. Then your work with the children, with all the Denmeades, showed me how life is 価値（がある） living. I just woke up."

"I don't care who or what has done it," cried Lucy, embracing her again. "Bless Joe!...But, oh, Clara, if he was the way Edd said he was before I left--what is he now?"

"He loves me, yes," said Clara, with a dreaming smile.

Lucy's lips trembled shut on a query she 恐れるd to utter, and she endeavoured to 隠す her emotion by 解除するing her baggage to the bed.

"井戸／弁護士席, that's no news," she said lightly. "How's my wild-bee hunter?"

"I can't see any change," replied Clara, laughing. "You wrote me only twice, and him not at all."

"Him? Clara, did he 推定する／予想する to hear from me?" asked Lucy, 直面するing about.

"I'm not sure, but he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to. Every night when he got home from his work--he's 集会 honey now--he'd come to me and ask if I'd heard. I think he 行方不明になるd you and Mertie. He wondered how she'd get along in Felix."

"I せねばならない have written," said Lucy, as much to herself as to Clara. "But I 設立する it hard. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to...I don't know where I stand. Perhaps now...Heigho! 井戸／弁護士席, as for Mertie, he needn't have worried about her."

"Lucy, I 自白する I'm curious myself," replied Clara.

"Mertie was just a crazy country girl who'd been 不正に 影響（力）d," went on Lucy. "She had good stuff in her, as I guessed, and she really cared for Bert. Mertie 手配中の，お尋ね者 something, she didn't know what. But I knew. And I gave it to her. I bought her everything she fancied and I took her everywhere. It did not seem possible to me that anyone could be so wildly happy as she was. And Bert? Goodness! It was good to see him...They're married, and, I'm sure, settled for life."

"Married! 井戸／弁護士席, Lucy Watson, you are a 労働者. So that was why you took them to Felix?" replied Clara.

"Not at all. But it fell in with the natural order of things. Don't you breathe it. Mertie and Bert will be out here to-morrow to surprise the folks. They'll be glad. I wonder how Edd will take it."

"He'll be happy," mused Clara. "He loves that flibbertigibbet...So they're married. It seems about all young people can do."

"Are you speaking for yourself, or for me, sister?" queried Lucy teasingly.

"Not for myself, surely...Lucy, I think I hear Allie calling us to supper."

The welcome （許可，名誉などを）与えるd Lucy in that simple 世帯 was something even more 満足させるing that the meed of 賞賛する she had received at Felix. Edd Denmeade was not 現在の. His father said he was out, （軍の）野営地，陣営ing on a long bee 追跡（する）. Lucy tried to 区 off 有罪の判決 that his absence was a 救済. Yet she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see him. The feelings were contrary.

Lucy parried the queries about Mertie by 説 that she would be home to-morrow to answer for herself. The clamour of the children was subdued by the 配達／演説／出産 of sundry 現在のs from town. For that 事柄, Lucy did not forget any of the Denmeades. She had remembered what joy a gift brought to them, one and all. For Edd she had 購入（する）d a magnifying glass and a field glass, for use in his 熟考する／考慮する of bees.

"Sis, what'd you bring me?" queried Clara jealously when they were 支援する in the テント.

"Myself. Is that enough?" teased Lucy.

"Of course...Lucy, you must have spent a lot of money," said Clara 本気で.

"I shore did. All I had except what you wrote for. I have that."

"It's very--good of you," replied Clara.

"What'd you need so much money for?" asked Lucy 率直に. "It surprised me."

"It's--I--井戸／弁護士席, there's a woman in Kingston," said Clara, 回避するing her 直面する. "I 借りがあるd her money. I hated to tell you before, hoping she'd wait till I could earn some. But she wrote me."

"How did she know you were here?" queried Lucy in surprise.

"I wrote to her first--about it," returned Clara.

"You mustn't 借りがある money to anyone," said Lucy decidedly. "Send her a money order from Cedar 山の尾根...Don't look like that, dear. I'm glad to help you. What's 地雷 is yours...You'll be pleased when I tell you my salary was raised and my work 高度に recommended. I had to teach several new 福利事業 労働者s."

And Lucy talked on and on, trying to chase away that strange look from Clara's 直面する, and also to talk herself into a forgetfulness of 尋問 surprise and vague 疑惑s. Not in a month could Clara 回復する wholly from the past! Lucy was unutterably 感謝する for a change far beyond her hopes.

"It was warm in Felix. Here it's 冷淡な," said Lucy, shivering closer to the little stove. "But the 霜, the 空気／公表する feel so good."

"We had six インチs of snow," replied Clara importantly. "I just loved it. Second snow I ever saw! But it melted off next day...Edd and Joe 直す／買収する，八百長をするd up our テント. Oh, when the 勝利，勝つd howled and the snow seeped, it would have been 広大な／多数の／重要な if you'd been here. I was a little afraid, all alone!"

"Snow already? 井戸／弁護士席, I 行方不明になるd it, didn't I?...Clara, let's stay out here all winter."

"Oh, I hope we can. I don't see what else we can do--not till spring...Lucy, I've news for you. Mr. Denmeade told me that both the Claypools and Johnsons had complained to him because he was keeping you here so long. They say you're 部分的な／不平等な to the Denmeades, and that if you don't go to them soon they'll 報告（する）／憶測 you. I hope it's not possible for them to 傷つける you."

Lucy had 推定する／予想するd to hear this very news. While in Felix she had 心配するd it and 用意が出来ている her 雇用者s for （民事の）告訴s of this nature.

"They can't 傷つける me, Clara," she 再結合させるd soberly. "I made this 職業 and I can 扱う it to 控訴 myself. But the Claypools and Johnsons are 権利. I am 部分的な／不平等な to the Denmeades, so far. I always meant to be fair, and I shall try to be. Circumstances, however, make my 義務 harder than I thought it would be. Indeed, I was fortunate to come here first. I 借りがある my success to that. Now I've got to 直面する the music. We'll ride 負かす／撃墜する to Claypool's and then to Johnson's and arrange to go to them in the spring and summer. But we'll return here in the 落ちる."

"We! Must I go with you?" exclaimed Clara.

"Must you? Why, Clara, of course you must go with me," 宣言するd Lucy, in amaze. "Whatever are you thinking of? How could I get along without you now?"

"I--I thought you might let me stay here," replied Clara, with 混乱 rare in her. "They have talked about it, and I'd hate to leave, to break into a strange family. Mr. Denmeade and Joe, the mother and children, all say they won't let you go. Edd says you'll have to go, and you will go because you're honest...I'm selfish, Lucy. I hope you can do your 福利事業 work from here. You could in all seasons but winter. We could ride horseback twice a day, even as far as Miller's. But if you can't see it that way, or let me stay here at least part of the time, of course I'll be glad to go, to work for you. I'm just a coward. These Denmeades have put something 支援する in my heart. To live 近づく that Sam Johnson would 運動 me wild. Mrs. Denmeade says the Spralls are bad, and Edd says you'll go there にもかかわらず him or all of us. I met Bud Sprall one day when I was 追跡（する）ing squirrels with Joe. He was at the dance we went to in September. I caught him looking at me. And you should have seen him looking at me when I was with Joe...Lucy, he couldn't have heard about me, could he?

"I don't see how," 宣言するd Lucy emphatically. "Way up here in this wilderness? Impossible! I did not hear about you even in Felix. I met all our old friends. But no one even hinted of what you 恐れる."

Clara received this （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） with a 強調する／ストレス of feeling disproportionate to its importance, Lucy thought, and she seemed singularly 感謝する for it.

"Lucy, there's bad 血 between Edd and this Bud Sprall," went on Clara. "I've heard things not ーするつもりであるd for my ears. You've got to 持つ／拘留する in your wild-bee hunter or he'll kill Bud Sprall."

"Clara, I called Edd Denmeade my wild-bee hunter just for fun," 抗議するd Lucy. "I--I thought it would amuse you. But goodness! he's not 地雷! That's ridiculous! And I'm not 責任がある his 反目，不和s. He hated Bud Sprall before I ever （機の）カム here."

"That's perfectly true, Lucy, but the fact remains Edd is yours whether you want him or not. And you can keep him from 殺人，大当り this fellow."

"What have I got to do?" 需要・要求するd Lucy flippantly. "I suppose you'll 示唆する that I--I throw myself into Edd's 武器 to keep him from becoming a 殺害者."

"It'd be noble 福利事業 work, wouldn't it? And you like the boy!"

"I don't like him as much as that," muttered Lucy doggedly.

"井戸／弁護士席, then, you're as fickle as I used to be. For when you （機の）カム 支援する from the bee 追跡（する） with Edd last month you were in love. Or else I don't know that little old 病気."

"Nonsense, Clara!" exclaimed Lucy, 大いに irritated and perplexed with her sister. "I was out of my 長，率いる. Excited, 十分な of the joy of the outdoors. I might have been in love with the forest, the canyon, the wildness and beauty of this country. I am so still. But that's--"

"Edd Denmeade and this wilderness are one and the same," interrupted Clara. "But pray don't mind my arguments, dearest Lucy. いつかs you seem my little sister, instead of me 存在 yours. We always 同意しないd. I suppose we always shall. I don't think you will ever care to live in Felix again. I know I never shall. And we can't help the 影響 we have on these boys...Something will come of it, that's all...You're tired, and I've worried you. Let's go to bed."

Next day Lucy was too 充てるd to getting settled and taking up the threads of her work to 直面する at once the serious self-scrutiny that was 必然的な. She welcomed any excuse to 延期する it. Besides, she was 疲れた／うんざりした of introspection. She felt like a ぱたぱたするing leaf 大（公）使館員d to a shaking twig and soon to be at the mercy of the 嵐／襲撃する. Always something was going to happen, but so far as she could tell it had not happened yet. Clara was an enigma. にもかかわらず the marvellous 改良 in her, Lucy could not 追い散らす a vague dread. It was intuitive, and 似ているd the 影をつくる／尾行する of a sword over her 長，率いる.

She had a frank talk with Denmeade about the Claypools and the Johnsons. The old backwoodsman was honest and fair in his 態度 toward them, in his 声明 of how much more they needed Lucy now than his own family. She could not 延期する her service in their に代わって longer than 早期に spring. He believed that Lucy could 静める their jealous 苦悩s by going to see them and to 計画（する） with them for her coming. At the 結論 of this interview with Denmeade Lucy carried away the rather 乱すing impression that the Denmeades had made her presence there a sort of personal 勝利. She was living with them. What she had taught them, the 改良s she had 任命する／導入するd for cleaner and happier living, had only elevated them in their own regard above their 隣人s. It made a bad 状況／情勢.

Late that afternoon Mertie and Bert arrived in their best Felix 着せる／賦与するs, mysteriously radiant.

"Clara, look," said Lucy, peeping out of the テント. "I knew nothing in the world would keep Mertie from arriving in that dress. She has ridden horseback--from Johnson's anyway."

"She looks nice. It's a pretty dress," replied Clara. "Bert, though--isn't he perfectly 殺人，大当り? 行為／法令／行動するs like a young lord...I hope they'll be happy."

"Let's not 行方不明になる this. They can't keep it longer. Why, it 向こうずねs from them!"

"Excuse me, Lucy. You go. I'll see them later," returned Clara.

Though Lucy went out at once, she was too late to be 現在の when the young couple 自白するd. As Lucy entered the yard an uproar began on the porch. Mertie and Bert had timed their arrival for an hour when the whole family was at home. The parental blessing had certainly been received. Lucy 停止（させる）d a moment to peep through the thin-foliaged peach trees. The children were 叫び声をあげるing at the 最高の，を越す of their 肺s, yet that din could not やめる 溺死する the gay, happy, excited 発言する／表明するs of the Denmeade women and the 深い, hoarse トンs of the men.

Lucy's 注目する，もくろむs suddenly filled with 涙／ほころびs and her heart throbbed with gladness. Only she knew just how responsible she had been for this happy event. Only she--and perhaps Edd--had known the 狭くする 瀬戸際 Mertie Denmeade had wilfully trod. Therefore she tarried a little longer at the 盗品故買者, patting the noses of the smoking horses.

When she did 現在の herself to the family on the porch the wild excitement had 沈下するd.

"Reckon the boys an' girls will 嵐／襲撃する Mertie tomorrow, shore," Denmeade was 説. "An' you want to make ready for a high old time."

Lucy 機動力のある the porch to gaze about her, smiling, with pretended surprise.

"What's all the fun about?" she 問い合わせd.

"Wal now, 行方不明になる Lucy!" ejaculated Denmeade, rising and 現実に taking off his hat. Then he 掴むd her 手渡す in his big rough ones and beamed 負かす／撃墜する on her, his brown grizzled 直面する as rugged as the bark of a pine, yet expressive of the deepest feeling. "Wal, now, you played hob!"

That was all he had time to say before the children enveloped Lucy, and Allie and Mrs. Denmeade for once manifested their womanly 評価 of her goodness to them. The boys were undemonstrative. 刑事 stood like a tall sapling 輪郭（を描く）d against the open sky. Joe sat in the background against the 塀で囲む, 静かな-注目する，もくろむd, 意図. Edd had evidently just come home, for his ragged leather chaps and his ジーンズs bore 実体 and odour of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. He stood behind Mertie, who sat on the 辛勝する／優位 of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, pale with the passion of her importance and the sensation she had created. She had her 手渡すs behind her, 持つ／拘留するing to Edd's. The 有望な silk dress contrasted strangely with the subdued colours around her. Bert stood, foot on a （法廷の）裁判, 肘 on his 膝, gazing adoringly 負かす／撃墜する upon his bride. His gaudy necktie matched her gown.

"Howdy, city girl!" drawled Edd to Lucy. He gave her no other 迎える／歓迎するing. The 深い gaze …を伴ってing his words was embarrassing and baffling to Lucy. She laughed and retorted:

"Howdy, wild-bee hunter!"

Thereupon Mertie 開始する，打ち上げるd again into the wild and whirling recital that evidently Lucy's arrival had broken for the moment. When, presently, she paused for breath, Bert flicked the ashes off his cigarette and 発表するd to Denmeade:

"Pa turned over the sawmill to me. Weddin' 現在の!"

"Dog-gone me!" ejaculated Denmeade vociferously. "If you ain't lucky--gettin' the mill an' Mert at one lick."

"Yep, my luck turned that day we had our bean pickin'," replied Bert happily.

"Wal, to talk 商売／仕事, we've been runnin' up a スピードを出す／記録につける cabin for Joe's homestead, over on the mesa. 'Crost the gully from Edd's place. An' I'm wonderin' if you can saw an' 配達する a lot of 床に打ち倒す boards, door でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs, an' such."

"I just can, you bet," 宣言するd the young man. "Give me your order. I'll 配達する 板材 at foot of the mesa 追跡する in いっそう少なく than a week."

"罰金! You're a Jasper for rustlin'. Shore I 推定する／予想するd to pack the 板材 up on the burros. Long 職業, but 刑事 an' Joe can 運動 the pack while the 残り／休憩（する） of us work. Edd 推定する／予想するs to be done cuttin' for honey soon. Then he can help. We'll have Joe's cabin done by the time snow 飛行機で行くs."

"Get pencil an' paper so we can 人物／姿／数字 out just what 板材 you want."

Father and son-in-法律 went into the kitchen, while Mertie broke into その上の elaboration of her romance. Lucy remained a few moments longer, fascinated by the rapt 直面するs of the listening Denmeades, 特に Edd. He seemed transfigured. Lucy 苦しむd a twinge of 悔恨 for having considered him a clod. How tremendously he had been 影響する／感情d by this happy settling of Mertie's 事件／事情／状勢s! More than once Lucy had heard it said that a Denmeade married was 安全な. Presently Lucy returned to her テント and unfinished 仕事s.

Supper was not ready until dusk, a fact which 証言するd to the upsetting of the 世帯. Then the 欠如（する） of the usual bountiful meal was made up for by merriment. Lucy felt glad to 解放する／自由な herself from an excitement that had begun to wear on her 神経s. Moreover, she needed to be alone. As she passed Clara and Joe sitting on the porch steps she could just catch the gleam of their 直面するs in the 薄暗い lamplight, Clara's pensive and 甘い, and Joe's locked in its impassive youthful strength. Oh, boy and girl! thought Lucy with a pang. They could not help themselves. One called to the other. Clara's 悲劇の girlhood was fading into a past that was gone. She had to live, to breathe, to move; and this wilderness called to 原始の emotions.

As Lucy 停止（させる）d a moment to 支払う／賃金 her usual silent 尊敬の印 to the 黒人／ボイコット 縁 above and the 星／主役にするs of white 解雇する／砲火／射撃, she heard the gate creak and then a quick step and jingle of 刺激（する）s.

"Wait!" called Edd, with a （犯罪の）一味 in his 発言する／表明する. He could see her in the dark when she could not see him. The word, the トン 停止（させる）d her, and she seemed conscious of a sudden inward stilling. His tall form appeared, blacker than the 不明瞭, ぼんやり現れるd over her. Involuntarily Lucy took a backward step. Then Edd clasped her in his 武器.

It was like the 抱擁する of a 耐える. Lucy's 武器 were pinned to her 味方するs and she was drawn so の近くに she could scarcely catch her breath. A terrible 証拠不十分 攻撃する，非難するd her. Not of 怒り／怒る, not of 憤慨! It was something else, strangely akin to a mingling of amaze and 救済. Caught at last in her own toils!

"Oh--Edd!" she whispered, meaning to beg to be let go, but she never 完全にするd the 控訴，上告. Her 武器 moved instinctively 上向き, until stopped by the 巨大（な） clasp that held her. What had she meant to do? How her mind whirled! He did not speak, and the moment seemed an age.

She felt the ripple of his muscles and the rough flannel of his shirt against her cheek. The scent of pine and honeybees and the woodland clung to his 着せる／賦与するs. Lucy quivered on the brink of a tumultuous unknown.

Suddenly his 武器 uncoiled. Lucy swayed a little, not sure of her equilibrium.

"Shore I had to," he gasped huskily. "Words don't come 平易な--for me...God bless you for savin' Mertie."

He 急落（する），激減（する）d away into the blackness, his boots 強くたたくing, his 刺激（する）s clinking. Lucy stood motionless, gazing into the gloom where he had 消えるd. Her heart seemed to take a 広大な／多数の／重要な 減少（する）. Shivering, she went into the テント.

There she 速く put a few knots of 支持を得ようと努めるd into the stove, 始める，決める the damper, blew out the lamp, and hurriedly undressed for bed.

The 不明瞭 and the 一面に覆う／毛布s were 慰安ing A faint crackle of 燃やすing 支持を得ようと努めるd broke the silence, and tiny streaks of firelight played upon the テント 塀で囲むs.

"It was for Mertie he held me in his 武器," whispered Lucy.

And she had taken it for herself. His 感謝 had betrayed her. Lucy realised now that if her 武器 had been 解放する／自由な she would have 解除するd them 一連の会議、交渉／完成する his neck. She had not known what she was doing. But now she knew she loved him. Edd Denmeade, backwoodsman, wild-bee hunter! She 苦しむd no shame in that. Indeed there was a hidden 発言する／表明する 深い within her ready to （犯罪の）一味 the truth. She had sought to save and she had lost herself.

Lucy lay wide-注目する，もくろむd long after Clara slept, nestled with an arm around her as in childish days. The night 勝利，勝つd moaned through the forest, mournful, wild, lonely, as if 発言する／表明するing the inscrutable cry in Lucy's soul.

She had no 悔いるs. She had 燃やすd her 橋（渡しをする）s behind her. The visit to Felix had 明らかにするd in mind all the perplexing 疑問s and dreads about the past. She and Clara had not had the training, the love, and the home life necessary to 用意する girls to を取り引きする life happily. All her childhood she had 苦しむd under the 禁止（する） of position; all her girlhood had been 毒（薬）d by longings she could not 達成する, ignominies she could not 避ける. She had grown to young womanhood terribly 極度の慎重さを要する to the class distinctions so ruthlessly 固執するd to in all cultivated communities. She was old enough now to realise that true 価値（がある） always was its own reward and seldom failed of ultimate 評価. But city life, multitudes of people, the social codes had all 棺／かげりd upon her. Never again could she live under their 影響（力）. Her victory over 環境 had come too late. The アイロンをかける had entered Lucy's soul.

It was good to find herself at last. Every hour since her return to the Denmeades had been fraught with stirrings and promptings and 疑惑s now wholly （疑いを）晴らす to her. The wild-bee hunter, in his brotherly love, had hugged away her vanity and blindness. Poor groping Edd! It was what he was that had made her love him. Not what she 手配中の，お尋ね者 to make him! Yet the 冷淡な sensation of shock 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her heart seemed to warm at the consciousness of his growth. Before her coming to the wilderness home of the Denmeades had he, or any of the children, ever thought of God? Lucy realised that the higher 面 of her work was missionary. Always she had been 示すd for sacrifice. In this hour of humility she delved out her 受託.

Her sister slept on, with that little 手渡す 粘着するing の近くに even in slumber. Lucy listened to her gentle breathing and felt the soft undulations of her breast. The mystery of life was slowly 夜明けing upon Lucy. She had no wish to change what was, and the 祈り she mutely 発言する／表明するd 除去するd herself.

Outside the night 勝利，勝つd rose, from mournful sough to weird roar. A hound bayed off in the forest. A mouse or ground squirrel rustled in the 小衝突 under the 床に打ち倒す of the テント. The flicker of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 died out.

A frosty 空気／公表する blew in the window. These things were realities, strong in their importunity for peace and joy of living. It was only the ghosts of the past that haunted the 黒人／ボイコット midnight hour.

一時期／支部 XII

Denmeade's 予測 was 立証するd. Before noon of the next day the younger members of the 隣人ing families began to ride in, nonchalant, casual, as if no unusual event had 追加するd significance to their visit. Then, when another string 長，率いるd in from the Cedar 山の尾根 追跡する, Denmeade 爆発するd.

"Wal, you're goin' to be 嵐／襲撃するd," he said warningly to the bride and groom. "Shore it'll be a Jasper, too."

"For the land's sake!" exclaimed his good wife. "They'll eat us out of house an' home. An' us not ready!"

"Now, ma, I gave you a hunch yestiddy," replied Denmeade. "Reckon you can have dinner late. Mrs. Claypool will help you an' Allie."

"But that young outfit will 運動 me wild," 抗議するd Mrs. Denmeade.

"Never mind, ma. I'll take care of them," put in Edd. "Fact is I've a bee tree only half a mile from home. I've been savin' it. I'll rustle the whole caboodle up there an' make them pack honey 支援する."

"Mertie will want to stay home, dressed all up," averred his mother.

"Wal, she can't. We'll shore pack her along, dress or no dress."

早期に in the afternoon Edd 現在のd himself before Lucy's テント and 発表するd:

"Girls, we're packin' that spoony couple away from home for a （一定の）期間. The women folks got to have 肘 room to 直す／買収する，八百長をする up a big dinner. Whole country goin' to 嵐／襲撃する Mert!"

Clara appeared at the door, eager and smiling. "Edd, this 嵐／襲撃する means a （人が）群がる coming to celebrate?"

"Shore. But a 嵐／襲撃する is an uninvited （人が）群がる. They raise hell. Between us, I'm tickled. I never thought Mertie would get a 嵐／襲撃する. She wasn't any too 井戸／弁護士席 liked. But Bert's the best boy in this country."

"Maybe he is," retorted Clara archly. "I know a couple of boys left...Edd, give us a hunch what to wear."

"Old 着せる／賦与するs," he grinned. "An' some 肉親，親類d of 隠す or 逮捕する to keep from gettin' stung. Wild bees don't like a （人が）群がる. An' Sam Johnson thinks he's a bee tamer. This tree I'm goin' to 削減（する） is a hummer. 十分な of sassy bees. An' there's goin' to be some fun."

Lucy and Clara joined the formidable group of young people waiting in the yard, all 武装した with buckets. Lucy sensed an amiable, happy spirit wholly devoid of the vexatious bantering ありふれた to most 集会s of these young people. Marriage was the consummation of their hopes, dreams, endeavours. Every backwoods 青年 looked 今後 to a homestead and a wife.

Mertie assuredly wore the 有望な silk dress, and 略章s on her hair, and white stockings, and low shoes not meant for the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Bert, however, had donned blue-ジーンズs 全体にわたるs.

The merry party 始める，決める out with Edd in the lead, and the gay children, some dozen or more, bringing up the 後部. Edd carried an axe over his shoulder and a 抱擁する assortment of different-sized buckets on his arm. He led out of the （疑いを）晴らすing, 支援する of the cabin, into the pine 支持を得ようと努めるd so long a favourite haunt of Lucy's, and up the 漸進的な slope. The necessities of travel through the forest strung the party mostly into 選び出す／独身 とじ込み／提出する.

Lucy warmed to the occasion. It was happy. How good to be alive! The golden autumn sunlight, the 炎上 of colour in the trees, the fragrant brown aisles of the forest, the flocks of birds congregating for their 年次の 巡礼の旅 south--all these seemed new and 甘い to Lucy. They roused emotion that the streets and houses of the city could not reach. Bert might have been aware of the company 現在の, but he showed no 調印する of it. He saw nothing except Mertie. Half the time he carried her, 解除するing her over patches of dust, スピードを出す／記録につけるs, and rough ground. Only where the mats of pine needles 申し込む／申し出d clean and 平易な travel did he let her 負かす／撃墜する, and then he still kept his arm 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her. Mertie was no 重荷（を負わせる） for his sturdy strength. He swung her easily up and 負かす／撃墜する, as occasion ふさわしい him. Lucy was struck by his naturalness.

Mertie, however, could not forget herself. She 提起する／ポーズをとるd. She 受託するd. She bestowed. She was the beginning and the end of this 広大な／多数の／重要な day. Yet にもかかわらず 演習 of the ineradicable trait of her nature, the romance of her marriage, the fact of her 存在 所有するd, had changed her. She had awakened. She saw Bert now as he 現実に was, and she seemed 得るing the 遺産 of a true woman's feelings.

Aside from these impressions Lucy received one that 原因（となる）d her to sigh. Clara 反応するd strangely to sight of Mertie and Bert. Lucy caught a glimpse of the mocking half-smile that Clara's 直面する used to wear. No 疑問 this bride and groom 行列 through the 支持を得ようと努めるd, the open love-making, oblivious at least on Bert's part, brought 支援する stinging memories to Clara.

Edd led the gay party out of the 支持を得ようと努めるd into a beautiful canyon, wide and uneven, green and gold with growths, dotted by 抱擁する grey 激しく揺するs and trees. A 乾燥した，日照りの stream bed 負傷させる by stony steps up the canyon. Edd followed this 玉石-strewn road for a few hundred yards, then climbed to a wide （法廷の）裁判. Maples and sycamores spread scattered patches of shade over this canyon glade. A 暴動 of autumn colours almost stunned the eyesight. The 厚い grass was green, the 激しい carpet of ferns brown.

"Wal, there she is," said Edd, pointing to a gnarled white-barked tree perhaps a hundred paces distant. "First sycamore I ever 設立する bees in. It's hollow at the trunk where she goes in. I reckon she's a hummer. Now you-all hang 支援する a ways while I look her over."

Edd strode off toward the sycamore, and his 信奉者s approached, mindful of his admonition. They got の近くに enough, however, to see a 群れている of bees passing to and fro from the dark hollow of the tree trunk. Edd's perfect sang-froid probably deceived the いっそう少なく experienced boys. He circled the sycamore, gazed up into the hollow, and made what appeared to be a 徹底的な examination. Sam Johnson showed that he was 持つ／拘留するing 支援する only through 儀礼. The 発言／述べるs of the boys behind him were not calculated to make him 保守的な. Sadie Purdue and Amy Claypool 表明するd diverse entreaties, the former asking him to 削減（する） 負かす／撃墜する the bee tree and the latter begging him to keep away from it. Lucy had an idea that Amy knew something about bees.

Presently Edd returned from his 調査する and drew the "honey-bucket outfit," as he called them, 支援する into the shade of a maple. Mertie draped herself and beautiful dress over a clean 激しく揺する, as if she, instead of the bees, was the attraction. Lucy sensed one of the 利益／興味ing undercurrents of backwoods life working in those young men. Edd's position was an enviable one as far as bees were 関心d. This was a bee day. Sam Johnson could not かもしれない have kept himself out of the foreground. There were several boys from Cedar 山の尾根, 含むing Bert, who ran a の近くに second to Sam. On the other 手渡す, the boys who 住むd this high country, 特に Gerd Claypool, appeared 異常に 傾向がある to let the others have the 行う／開催する／段階. Joe Denmeade wore an inscrutable 表現 and had nothing to say. Edd was master of 儀式s, and as he stood before the boys, his axe over his shoulder, Lucy conceived a strong 疑惑 that he was too bland, too drawling, too 肉親，親類d to be 絶対 honest. Edd was up to a trick. Lucy whispered her 疑惑s to Clara, and that worthy whispered 支援する: "I'm wise. Why, a child could see through that hombre! But isn't he 巨大な?"

"Sam, I reckon you せねばならない be the one to chop her 負かす／撃墜する," Edd was 説, after a rather (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する preamble. "Course it ought to 落ちる to Bert, seem' he's the 推論する／理由 for this here 嵐／襲撃する party. But I reckon you know more about wild bees, an' you should be boss. Shore it'd be good if you an' Bert 取り組むd the tree together."

"I'll 許す myself about three minutes' choppin' to fetch that sycamore," replied Sam. "But Bert can help if he likes."

"Somebody gimme an axe," said Bert, prowling around. 刑事 Denmeade had the second axe, which he 喜んで turned over to Bert.

"Bert, I don't want you gettin' all stung up," 抗議するd Mertie.

"No bees would sting me to-day," replied Bert grandly. "Don't you fool yourself," she retorted.

"Aw, she's tame as home bees," interposed Edd. "Besides, there's been some 激しい 霜s. Bees get loggy along late in the 落ちる. Reckon nobody'll get stung. If she wakes up we can run."

"I'm a-rarin' for that honey," 宣言するd Sam, jerking the axe from Edd. "Come on, Bert. Start your honeymoon by bein' boss."

That 発言／述べる made a lion out of the bridegroom, while eliciting howls and giggles from his admirers. Sam strode toward the sycamore and Bert followed.

"Reckon we all better scatter a little," said the wily Edd, and he punched Gerd Claypool in the ribs. Gerd, it appeared, was 二塁打d up in noiseless contortions.

"Serve Sam just 権利," 宣言するd Sadie, "for bein' so darn smart. He never chopped 負かす／撃墜する a bee tree in his life."

"井戸／弁護士席, if I know anythin' he'll never try another," 追加するd Amy. "Oh, Edd Denmeade, you're an awful liar. Sayin' wild bees won't sting!"

"Shore Sam 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 削減（する） her 負かす／撃墜する. He asked me 支援する home," 宣言するd Edd.

Some of the party stood their ground, 顕著に Mertie, who rather liked the clean, 乾燥した，日照りの 激しく揺する. Edd gravitated toward Lucy and Clara, presently 主要な them unobtrusively 支援する toward some 小衝突.

"Dog-gone!" he whispered chokingly when he was out of earshot of the others. "Chance of my life!...Sam's 削減（する） a few bee trees in winter, when the bees were froze...But, gee! these wild bees are mad as hornets. I got stung on the ear, just walkin' 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. She's been worried by yellow-jackets...Now there's goin' to be some fun. She'll be a hummer...Girls, put on whatever you fetched along an' be ready to duck into this 小衝突."

"Edd, you're as bad as a cowboy," said Clara, producing a 隠す.

"Looks like 広大な／多数の／重要な fun for us, but how about the bees?" 再結合させるd Lucy.

"There you go, sister. Always thinking about the under dog!...Edd, do you know, I can't see how anyone could help loving Lucy," retorted Clara mischievously.

"Shore. I reckon nobody does," drawled Edd. "Wal, Sam's begun to larrup it into my sycamore. Now watch!"

Sam had sturdily attacked the tree, while the more 用心深い Bert had 削減（する） several boughs, evidently to thresh off bees. Scarcely had he reached the 客観的な 位置／汚点／見つけ出す when Sam jerked up spasmodically as if kicked from behind.

"（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 'em off!" he yelled.

Then, as the valiant Bert dropped his axe and began to thresh with the boughs, Sam redoubled his energies at the chopping. He might not have 所有するd much knowledge about wild bees, but he could certainly 扱う an axe. Quick and hard rang his blows. The sycamore was indeed rotten, for it sounded hollow and crackling, and long dusty （土地などの）細長い一片s fell aside.

Lucy stole a ちらりと見ること at Edd. He was manifestly in the 支配する of a frenzied glee. Never before had Lucy seen him so. He was shaking all over; his 直面する 現在のd a wonderful 熟考する／考慮する of features in convulsions; his big 手渡すs opened and shut. All at once he burst out in stentorian yell: "Wow There she comes!"

Lucy flashed her ちらりと見ること 支援する toward the axe-man, just in time to see a small 黒人／ボイコット cloud, like smoke, puff out of the hollow of the tree and 崩壊する into thin 空気／公表する. Sam let out a frantic yell, and dropping the axe he 急落（する），激減（する）d 直接／まっすぐに toward his admiring comrades.

"You darn fool!" roared Edd. "Run the other way!"

But Sam, as if 追求するd by the furies, sprang, leaped, 格闘するd, hopped, flew, flapping his 手渡すs like wings and yelling hoarsely. Bert suddenly became as if 所有するd of a thousand devils, and he raced like a streak, waving his two green boughs over his 長，率いる, till he 急落（する），激減（する）d over a bank into the 小衝突.

Some of the Cedar 山の尾根 boys had approached a point within a hundred feet of the sycamore. Suddenly their howls of mirth changed to excited shouts, and they broke into a run. Unfortunately, they were not on the moment chivalrously mindful of the girls.

"Run for your lives!" 叫び声をあげるd Amy Claypool.

Lucy 設立する herself 存在 急ぐd into the bushes by Edd, who had also dragged Clara. He was laughing so hard he could not speak. He fell 負かす／撃墜する and rolled over. Clara had an attack of laughter that seemed half hysterical. "Look! Look!" she cried.

Lucy was more 脅すd than amused, but from the 避難所 of the bushes she peered 前へ／外へ, 製図／抽選 aside her 隠す so she could see better. She was in time to see the 有望な silk dress that encased Mertie 急に上がるing across the ground like a spread-winged bird. Mertie was 公式文書，認めるd for her fleetness of foot. Sadie Purdue, 借りがあるing to a rather short stout 人物／姿／数字, could not run very 井戸／弁護士席. Sam, by 事故 or design, had fled in her direction. It did not take a keen 注目する，もくろむ to see the whirling dotted circle of bees he brought with him. Some of them sped like 弾丸s ahead of him to attack Sadie. Shrieking, she ran away from Sam as though he were a pestilence. She was the last to 逃げる out of sight.

Presently Edd sat up, wet-直面するd and spent from the energy of his emotions.

"Reckon I've played hob--but dog-gone!--it was fun," he said. "Shore Sam's a bee hunter! I'll bet he'll look like he had measles...Did you see Sadie gettin' stung? She was that smart. Haw! Haw! Haw!"

Joe （機の）カム はうing to them through the bushes. For once his 直面する was not 静かな, 意図. He showed his 関係 to Edd.

"Say, Sam will be hoppin' mad," he said.

"He shore was hoppin' when last I seen him," replied Edd. "Wal, I reckon I'll have to finish the 職業. You girls stay 権利 here, for a while, anyhow."

その結果 Edd pulled a rude hood from his pocket and drew it over his 長，率いる and tight under his chin. It was made of burlap and had two 一連の会議、交渉／完成するd pieces of window 審査する sewed in to serve as eyeholes. Then putting his gloves on he got up and tramped out toward the sycamore. Lucy left Clara with Bert, and slipped along under the bushes until she reached the end nearest the tree. Here she crouched to watch. She could see the bees 群れている 一連の会議、交渉／完成する Edd, 明らかに without 乱すing him in the least. He 選ぶd up the axe, and with swift, powerful 一打／打撃s he soon chopped through on one 味方する of the hollow place, so that the other 味方する broke, letting the tree 負かす／撃墜する with a splitting 衝突，墜落. After the dust （疑いを）晴らすd away Lucy saw him knocking the trunk apart. The 群れている of bees spread higher and wider over his 長，率いる. Lucy could hear the angry buzz. She felt sorry for them. How ruthless men were! The 蜂の巣 had been destroyed; the winter's food of the bees would be stolen.

"Hey, Joe!" called Edd. "一連の会議、交渉／完成する up that outfit to pack honey 支援する home. There's more here than we got buckets to 持つ／拘留する. Tell them I'll fetch it part way, so they won't get stung no more."

Lucy caught glimpses of the members of the party collecting a goodly, 安全な distance away, along the 辛勝する／優位 of the 木材／素質. 裁判官ing by gestures and the sound of excited 発言する／表明するs coming faintly, Lucy 結論するd that the 嵐／襲撃する party was divided in its 態度 toward Edd. Sadie Purdue evidently was in a tantrum, the brunt of which fell upon Sam. Amy's high, 甘い laugh pealed out. Presently the girls were seen entering the forest, no 疑問 on their way 支援する to the cabin; the boys showed 指示，表示する物s of standing by Edd, at least to the extent of waiting for him to collect the honey.

Lucy saw him filling the buckets. He used a small 木造の spoon or spade, with which he reamed the honey out of the hollow スピードを出す／記録につける. She was intensely eager to see this bee 蜂の巣 and Edd's work at の近くに 手渡す, but felt it wise to remain under cover. The 叫び声をあげるs of the girls who had been stung were a rather potent inhibition to curiosity.

The honey had a greyish-yellow cast and a 深い amber colour, from which Lucy deducted that one was the 徹底的に捜す, the other the honey. When Edd had filled four buckets he took them up and proceeded to carry them toward the waiting boys. A number of bees kept him company. How grotesque he looked with that home-made hood over his 長，率いる!

"Hey! you better lay low," he called to Lucy, seeing her peeping out of her brushy covert, "unless you want your pretty little pink nose stung!"

"Edd Denmeade, my nose isn't little--or pink!" 抗議するd Lucy.

"Wal, no 事柄; it shore will be pink if you don't watch out. Didn't you get stung on it once?"

Half-way between the bee tree and the boys Edd 始める，決める the buckets 負かす／撃墜する on a 激しく揺する, and cutting some 小衝突 he covered them with it. Then he shouted:

"Pack these home, you 嵐／襲撃する-party suckers!"

Upon his return to the fallen sycamore he 捨てるd up a bundle of dead grass and sticks, and kindled a 解雇する／砲火／射撃, then 追加するd green boughs to make a 激しい smoke. Lucy saw him vigorously 非難する his 支援する and his 脚s, from which 活動／戦闘 she surmised that he too was getting stung Next with two leafy boughs he made an 猛攻撃 on the whirling, 向こうずねing mill-wheel of bees. He broke that wheel, and either killed or scattered most of the 群れている. Then he proceeded to fill more buckets, which he carried away as before. 一方／合間 Joe and Gerd Claypool had come for the first buckets.

Lucy はうd 支援する through the bushes to where she had left Clara. She 設立する her 傾向がある on the しっかり掴む, her chin propped on her 手渡すs, musingly watching the 訴訟／進行s.

"Funny how we are," she said. "It's a long time since I felt so good over anything. Sam and Sadie were 巨大な...Pride--and conceit, too--go before a 落ちる!"

"You remember I was stung on the nose by one of these wild bees," replied Lucy. "It 傷つけるs terribly."

They remained in the shade and 安全 of this covert until Edd had filled all his buckets.

"Hello, girls! Go 支援する through the bushes to the bank, an' get 負かす／撃墜する," he called. "Wait for us below."

Lucy and Clara 緊急発進するd away into the thicket and 負かす／撃墜する into the stream bed, which they followed to the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Joe and Gerd and 刑事 （機の）カム along laden with 激しい buckets, and rather 悩ますd by a few 執拗な bees.

"Keep away from us," cried Lucy. "I've been 始めるd into the wild-bee fraternity."

"But Clara hasn't," replied Joe.

"Young man, if you know when you're 井戸／弁護士席 off, you'll not lead any wild bees to me," 警告するd Clara, 集会 up her skirts ready to 逃げる into the 支持を得ようと努めるd. She was smiling, yet earnest. How pretty she looked, her 注目する，もくろむs flashing, her brown cheeks 紅潮／摘発するd, her blue 隠す 飛行機で行くing 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her golden hair! Lucy saw what Joe saw.

Next Edd （機の）カム striding out of the willows, 負かす／撃墜する into the gully. He carried four buckets, all manifestly laden. He had 除去するd his hood, and his 直面する was wet with sweat and 花冠d in smiles.

"Run along ahead till she gets tired followin' me," he called to the girls.

They were not slow to 行為／法令／行動する upon his advice, yet did not get so far ahead that they could not see the boys coming. The forest seemed so shady and 冷静な／正味の after the hot sunny open.

"Why does Edd speak of bees as she?" queried Clara curiously.

"He told me once he had 逮捕（する）d and tamed queen bees, and after that always called bees she, whether collectively or 個々に. It is funny."

"He'll be making you queen bee of his 蜂の巣 some day," said Clara tantalisingly.

"Oh, will he? It 要求するs the 同意 of the queen, I imagine...As to queen-bee 蜂の巣s; Joe's is 存在 built, I hear."

Clara squeezed Lucy's arm and cringed の近くに to her, as if to hide a shamed or happy 直面する. "Oh, what will become of us?...When I don't think, I'm 十分な of some new 肉親，親類d of joy. When I remember, I'm wretched."

"Clara, we are two babes lost in the 支持を得ようと努めるd," 宣言するd Lucy, half sadly. "But if you must think, do it intelligently. We could be worse off."

"I love it here," answered Clara 速く, with a flash of passion.

Then Edd's halloo 停止（させる）d them. Presently Lucy had 適切な時期 to see wild honey fresh from the 蜂の巣 The buckets were 十分な of the yellow 徹底的に捜すs and amber honey, all 集まりd together, in which numbers of bees had been 溺死するd.

"Shore it's got to be 緊張するd," explained Edd.

"What'll become of the bees--those you didn't kill?" she 問い合わせd.

"Wal, now, I wish you hadn't asked that," complained Edd. "Shore you always 攻撃する，衝突する at the 苦しんでいる人s...Lucy, I hate to 扱う／治療する a bee tree like we did this one. But I can't 逮捕（する） an' tame the old 群れているs. They're too wild. I have to destroy them. いつかs I 燃やす them out...She'll hang 一連の会議、交渉／完成する that sycamore, an' 餓死する to death or 凍結する. It's too bad. I reckon I'm no better than the yellow-jackets."

That bee-tree episode had taken the younger element of the 嵐／襲撃する party away from the Denmeade home for the greater part of the afternoon, a fact for which Mrs. Denmeade was devoutly thankful. She and Allie, with the 肉親，親類d 援助 of the Claypool women, 用意が出来ている on short notice an 適する feast for this formidable array of uninvited guests.

Lucy learned this, and much more, upon her arrival at the cabin. Mertie had torn the 有望な silk dress and was inconsolable. She did not seem to mind so much the sundry stings she had 支えるd. But Sadie Purdue almost 混乱に陥れる／中断させるd the hilarious and joyful トン of the occasion. She had been 厳しく stung on 手渡すs and 武器 and 直面する. Sam Johnson, however, was the one who had 苦しむd most. All the members of that 探検隊／遠征隊, except Lucy and Clara, had 推論する／理由 to 公約する vengeance upon Edd.

"Oh, wait, you wild hunter of bees! Wait till you're married!" was the 繰り返し言うd 脅し.

"Shore I'm 安全な," drawled Edd. "No girl would ever throw herself away on me."

Sam took his 罰 like a man, and made up for the ravings of his fiancée. She had the grace, presently, to get over her fury. And by supper-time, when Mertie was won 支援する to a happy 評価 of the honour of having the largest 嵐／襲撃する party ever known in that country, the jarring 公式文書，認めるs were as if they had never been.

All the 議長，司会を務める, （法廷の）裁判, and porch space was necessary to seat this merry company. It was やめる impossible for Lucy to keep 跡をつける of what followed. But she had never seen the like of that dinner. Uproarious, even violent, it yet gave 表現 to the joy and significance of marriage in that wilderness.

White mule flowed 自由に, but in 示すd contrast with its 影響 at the dances, it 追加するd only to the mirth and the noise. After dinner the young people nearly tore the cabin 負かす／撃墜する with their 猛攻撃s upon the bride and groom, the former of whom they hugged and kissed, and the latter mauled. Dancing was not on this programme. Then, evidently, for the young backwoodsmen 現在の, it was a natural 最高潮 to 飛行機で行く from their felicitations of the bride to salutations to the possible brides-to-be in that 集会. They were like young 耐えるs.

Lucy and Clara fled to the 安全 of their テント, and 辞退するd to come out. 確かな it was that both of them were more than amused and 脅すd. Manifestly a 嵐／襲撃する party on a bride was regarded as an unexampled 適切な時期.

"Whew!" gasped Clara, with wide 注目する，もくろむs on Lucy. "I thought cowboys were wild. But と一緒に these fellows they're tame."

"配達する--me!" panted Lucy. "Almost it'd be--safer to be--in Mertie's boots!"

The 祝賀, however, turned out to be as short as it had been 激しい. Before dark the older people were riding 負かす／撃墜する the 小道／航路, calling 支援する their merry good-nights, and not long after the boys and girls followed. Soon the homestead of the Denmeades was as 静かな as ever; and a little later, when Lucy peeped out, yard and cabin were shrouded in the blackness of the melancholy autumn night.

一時期／支部 XIII

It was midwinter. Lucy's テント was cosy and warm, softly coloured with its shaded lamplight, 落ちるing on 耐える rugs and 有望な 一面に覆う／毛布s, on the many paper pictures. The Clara that sat there beside the little stove, 占領するd with needlework, was not the Clara who had arrived at Cedar 山の尾根 one memorable day last summer. Lucy was having leisure for 調書をとる／予約するs.

The テント seemed to be 十分な of the faint fragrance of juniper, and that （機の）カム from the 支持を得ようと努めるd which the little stove 燃やすd so avidly. Lucy was wont to say that of all Clara's homestead 業績／成就s that of feeding 支持を得ようと努めるd to a 解雇する／砲火／射撃 was what she did best and liked most. "Maybe I'll have to chop 支持を得ようと努めるd myself some day. I could do worse," was Clara's enigmatic reply.

Outside, the snow seeped 負かす／撃墜する, rustling like the 落ちる of leaves on 乾燥した，日照りの grass, floating softly against the window. No mournful wail of 勝利，勝つd broke the dead silence. The homestead of the Denmeades was locked in winter. Lucy and Clara had long since grown used to it. For a while they had 苦しむd from 冷淡な, but that was 借りがあるing to their susceptibility rather than 厳しい 天候. Denmeade's 激しい 耐える rugs on the 床に打ち倒す had 追加するd much to the 慰安 of the テント. The girls wore woollen sweaters and no longer noticed the 冷淡な. At ten o'clock they went to bed, enjoying to the 最大の this most important factor of outdoor life. Night after night, for weeks, they had spent like this, reading, sewing, 熟考する／考慮するing, 令状ing, talking, and then sleeping.

The 無 mornings had put them to the 実験（する）. With the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 long dead, the 冷淡な was 事実上 the same inside as outside. They had taken turn about kindling a 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and the one whose morning it was to 嘘（をつく） snug and warm in bed while the other slipped out into the icy 空気／公表する seldom failed to tease and crow.

When the テント was warm they got up and dressed, and made coffee or tea, and cooked some breakfast. No 事柄 how 深い the new-fallen snow, there was always a path shovelled from their テント to the cabin, Edd and Joe 争う with each other to see who could （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 the other at this 仕事. Lucy's work now was 限定するd to 教えるing the children, and Clara was 熟考する／考慮するing hard to enable her to take Mr. Jenks's place as teacher of the school. The afternoons were usually sunny and （疑いを）晴らす. After a snowstorm the warm sun melted the snow away in a few days. But there were unexampled 適切な時期s to tramp and romp and play in the snow, things in which the girls 設立する much 楽しみ. They had been born and brought up in a snowless country, where the summers were torrid and the winters pleasant.

The Denmeades, however, might 同様に have been snowed in. Lucy marvelled at this, and （機の）カム to understand it as a feature of backwoods life. The men kept the 解雇する／砲火／射撃s 燃やすing and fed the 在庫／株, outside of which they had nothing, or thought they had nothing, to do. The women cooked, sewed, and washed, almost as 活発に as in summer. No 訪問者s called any more on Sundays. They saw no 部外者s. Once a week 刑事 or Joe would ride 負かす／撃墜する to Johnson's for, the mail, or for 供給（する）s that had been sent for. It seemed a lonely, 平和的な, unproductive 存在.

Edd, 存在 the eldest of the Denmeade boys, had received the least schooling, a fact he 熱心に 嘆き悲しむd, and through these winter days he laboriously pored over the 調書をとる／予約するs Lucy gave him. Joe was the keenest of the children, 同様に as the quietest, and he seconded Edd in this 追跡 of knowledge.

Lucy and Clara had supper with the Denmeades, which they endeavoured to serve before dark. いつかs, when the meal was late, the light in the kitchen was so 薄暗い they could hardly see to eat. After supper the children and young people would make a 急ぐ into the other cabin where Denmeade kept a 抱擁する スピードを出す／記録につける or stump 燃やすing in the 射撃を開始する-place. Mertie was gone, and her absence seemed a 利益. Allie and Joe were the thoughtful ones who helped Mrs. Denmeade. Seldom was a lamp lighted until Edd stamped in to 訴える手段／行楽地 to his 調書をとる／予約するs.

Every time the door was opened the dogs would try to slip in, and always one or more of them 後継するd, and 占領するd a warm place in 前線 of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. The children played until put to bed. Uncle 法案 was not long in climbing to his bed in the attic. Denmeade smoked his 麻薬を吸う and sat gazing at the 炎ing スピードを出す／記録につける. How many hours of his life must have been spent so! Lucy and Clara always passed part of the 早期に evening hours in this living-room. Seldom or never did they have a moment alone with the boys. It was a family 集会, this after-supper 徹夜 in 前線 of the big 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

Denmeade typified the homesteader of that high 高度. Winter was a time of waiting. Almost he was like a 耐える. Spring, summer, 落ちる were his active seasons. The snow, the sleet, the icy 勝利，勝つd of winter shut him in.

Lucy 中和する／阻止するd this growing habit in the boys. She 納得させるd them that winter was the time to 改善する the mind and to learn something of what was going on in the outside world. Her success in this she considered equal to any of her 業績／成就s here. The old folks, of course, could not be changed; and Lucy 限定するd herself to the children. Many times she thought of how all over the wild parts of the west, in high 地区s, children and young people were wasting golden hours, with nothing to do but what their parents had done before them. What a splendid work she would 遂行する if she could make known the 利益s of home 指示／教授／教育! But it really did not seem like work. Thus the winter days and nights passed.

The coming of spring was 示すd by Allie Denmeade's marriage to Gerd Claypool. These young people, wise in their 世代, 招待するd everybody to their wedding, which took place in Cedar 山の尾根. Lucy and Clara remained at home with the children.

March brought surprisingly 罰金 天候, the mornings and evenings 冷淡な, but the middle of the day sunny and warm. Soon the wet, red 国／地域 乾燥した，日照りのd out. The men, 解放するd from the 限定するs of winter, were busy taking up the 仕事s that had been interrupted by the first 落ちる of snow. One of these was the 完成 of Joe's cabin. Lucy, using a walk with the children as excuse, climbed the mesa 追跡する to see the men at work. Clara did not want to go. She was more studious and コンビナート／複合体 than ever, yet seemed strangely, dreamily happy.

The mesa, with its open glades, its thickets of red manzanita, its clumps of live oak, and 巨大（な） junipers and lofty pines, manifested a difference hard to define. Lucy thought it had to do with spring. The birds and squirrels and turkeys 発言する／表明するd the joyfulness of the season.

Joe's homestead edifice was a two-cabin 事件／事情／状勢, 類似の to that of the Denmeades. Lucy 特に liked the clean, freshly-削減（する） pine and its fragrant odour. She 勧めるd Joe to build in several closets and to 主張する on windows, and kitchen 棚上げにするs, and a number of 改良s new to the cabin of the backwoodsman.

"Joe, are you going to live here alone?" queried Lucy.

"On an' off, while I 証明する up on my homesteadin' 特許," he replied. "You see, I have to put in so many days here for three years before the 政府 will give me the land."

His frank answer relieved Lucy, who had of late been subtly 影響（力）d by a strangeness, an aloofness, in Clara, which mood somehow she had せいにするd to Joe's infatuation for her. The boy had no pretence. His soul was as （疑いを）晴らす as his grey 注目する，もくろむs. Lucy was compelled to believe that the 築くing of this cabin was 単独で to forestall a 脅すd 侵略 of the mesa by other homesteaders.

On the way home Lucy stopped awhile at the beautiful 場所／位置 Edd had selected for his cabin. She 設立する that thought of the place, during the 落ちる and winter months, had somehow endeared it to her. Long communion with the secret affection of her heart had brought happiness with 辞職. She knew where she stood; and daily she gathered strength to 耐える, to serve, to go on, to find a wonderful good in her ordeal.

The forest had wrought incalculable change in her. It was something she felt 急ぐ over her thrillingly when she approached the green 塀で囲む of pines and entered it, as if going into her home. She thought more 活発に, she worked better, she developed more under its 影響（力） than in the city. This she knew to be because the old bitter social 反目，不和 under which her 青年 had been 抑圧するd was not 現在の here. Lucy was ashamed of that 救済, but she could never change it.

As she was soon to go to the Claypools to （問題を）取り上げる her work there, Lucy knew it might be long before she had the strange, inexplicable joy of dreaming here in this 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of perfect 孤独 and wild beauty. So while the children played at keeping house の中で the 耐えるs and turkeys, she gazed around her and listened and felt. She was やめる at the mercy of unknown 軍隊s and she had 中止するd to （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 and bruise her heart against them, as might have a bird against the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s of its cage. Above all, there （機の）カム to her the 広大な／多数の／重要な, simple fact of a harmony with this 環境. She could not resist it and she 中止するd to try.

Mr. Jenks arrived at the Johnsons' in the latter part of March and …に出席するd the 会合 of the school board. He 手配中の，お尋ね者 to turn over the teaching to Clara, but in 事例／患者 she did not 受託する the position he would be glad to remain another summer. Denmeade returned from that board 会合 to place a proposition squarely before Clara. And in his own words it was this: "Reckon we don't want to change teachers so often. Every schoolmarm we've had just up an' married one of the boys. Wal, if you will agree to teach two years, whether you get married or not, we'll shore be glad to let you have the 職業."

"I give my word," replied Clara, with a firmness Lucy knew was a guerdon that the 約束 would be kept.

What struck Lucy markedly on the moment was the fact that Clara did not 否認する any 可能性 of marriage.

The 取引，協定 was settled then and there, and later, when the girls had gone to the seclusion of their テント, Clara evinced a 深い emotion.

"Lucy, I'll be 独立した・無所属 now," she said. "I can 支払う／賃金 my 負債...I--I need money--"

"My dear, you don't 借りがある me any money," interposed Lucy, "if that's what you mean."

Clara's reply was more evasive than frank, again rousing in Lucy the 再発 of a surprise and a vague dread. But she 解任するd them from her consciousness.

"We'll have to settle another thing, too," said Lucy. "Once before you hinted you didn't want to go to Claypool's with me."

"I don't, but I'll go if you 主張する," 再結合させるd Clara.

"If you will be happier here than with me, by all means stay," replied Lucy in a 傷つける トン.

"Don't misunderstand, Lucy, darling," cried Clara, embracing her. "I'm used to this place--these Denmeades. It's like a 聖域 after--" She broke off falteringly. "It will be hard enough for me to teach school, let alone live の中で strangers...And aren't you coming 支援する here in the 落ちる?"

"I don't know. It depends," answered Lucy dubiously. "井戸／弁護士席, it's settled then. You will live here. I suppose you'll ride horseback to and fro from the schoolhouse. That would be 罰金."

"Yes. Joe or 刑事 will ride with me every day, so I'll never be alone."

Lucy turned away her 直面する and busied herself with papers on her （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"Clara, have you anything particular you want to tell me?"

"Why--no," （機の）カム the constrained and low reply. Lucy divined then that there was something Clara could not tell her, and it 生き返らせるd the old worry.

Edd Denmeade, alone of all the family, did not take kindly to Lucy's going to the Claypools. The others, knowing that Clara was to continue to live with them and that Lucy would probably come 支援する in the 落ちる, were glad to propitiate their 隣人s at so little a loss.

"But, Edd, why do you disapprove?" Lucy 需要・要求するd, when she waylaid him の中で his beehives. She did not want to lose her good 影響（力） over him. She 手配中の，お尋ね者 very much more from him than she dared to 自白する.

"I reckon I've a good many 推論する／理由s," returned Edd.

"Oh, you have? 井戸／弁護士席, tell me just one," said Lucy.

"Wal, the Claypools live 権利 on the 追跡する from Sprall's to Cedar 山の尾根."

"Sprall's!...What of it?" 需要・要求するd Lucy, nonplussed.

"Bud Sprall rides that 追跡する."

"Suppose he does. How does it 関心 me?" 再結合させるd Lucy, growing irritated.

"Wal, it 関心s you more'n you think. Bud told in Cedar 山の尾根 how he was layin' for you."

"I don't understand. What did he mean?"

"Lucy, that hombre isn't above ropin' you an' packin' you off over the 縁, where he 持つ／拘留するs out with his red-直面するd cowboy pard."

"Nonsense! The day of the 無法者 is past, Edd. I 港／避難所't the least 恐れる of Bud Sprall. Indeed, so little that I ーするつもりである some day to （問題を）取り上げる my work with the Spralls."

Wheeling from his work, he ぼんやり現れるd over her, and fastening a brawny 手渡す in her blouse he drew her の近くに. His 注目する，もくろむs flashed a steely 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

"You're not goin' to do anythin' of the 肉親，親類d," he said, darkly.

"Who'll 妨げる me?" queried Lucy.

"If you go to Sprall's I'll pack you 支援する if I have to tie you on a hoss."

"You--will?" Lucy's 発言する／表明する broke in her fury.

"Shore you bet I will. Reckon you 港／避難所't forgot that dance I made you go to. I wasn't mad then. Wal, I'm as mad as hell now."

"Why do you 推定する to 干渉する with my work?"

"Can you はう in a hog-pen without gettin' dirty?" he 需要・要求するd. "I reckon your work is somethin' 罰金 an' good. I don't begrudge that to Sprall's. But you can't go there, unless just in daytime, an' then with somebody...You think I'm jealous. Wal, I'm mot. Ask pa an' ma about this Sprall idea of yours."

"But, Edd, weren't you somewhat like Bud Sprall once? Didn't you tell me I helped you? Might I not do the same for--"

Edd 押すd her away with 暴力／激しさ.

"Ahuh! So you want to work the same on Bud?...Wal, the day you （不足などを）補う to him as you did to me I'll go 支援する to white mule...An' I'll kill him!"

As he stalked away, grim and dark, Lucy shook off a 冷淡な clutch of 恐れる and 悔恨, and ran after him.

"Edd! You must not talk so--so terribly!" she cried appealingly. "You seem to 告発する／非難する me of--of something...Oh that I 港／避難所't been fair to you!"

"Wal, have you, now?" he queried, glaring 負かす／撃墜する at her.

"Indeed--I--I think so."

"Aw, you're lyin'. Maybe you're as 深い as your sister. Shore I'd never 否定する you'd been an angel to my family. But you worked different on me. I was only a wild-bee hunter. You made me see what I was--made me hate my ignorance an' habits. You let me be with you, many an' many a time. You talked for hours an' read to me, an' worked with me, all the time with your 甘い, sly girl ways. An' I changed. I don't know how I changed, but it's so. You're like the queen of the bees...All you told me love meant I've come to know. I'd do any an' all of those things you once said love meant...But if you work the same on Bud Sprall you'll be worse than Sadie Purdue. She had 甘い, purry cat ways, an' she liked to be smoothed. That was shore where Sadie didn't cheat."

"Cheat!...Edd Denmeade, do you mean--you think I made you love me--just to save you from your drinking, fighting habits?" queried Lucy, very low.

"No. I reckon I don't mean that. You just used your--yourself. Your smiles an' 甘い laugh--your talk--your pretty white dresses--your 手渡すs--lettin' me see you--lettin' me be with you--keepin' me from other girls--workin' on me with yourself...Now didn't you? Be honest."

"Yes. You make me see it. I did," 自白するd Lucy bravely. "I'm not sorry--for I--I--"

"Wal, you needn't 人物／姿／数字 me wrong," he interrupted. "I'm not sorry, either. Reckon for my family's sake I'm glad. Shore I have no hopes of ever bein' anythin' but a lonely wild-bee hunter...But I couldn't stand your workin' that on Bud Sprall."

"You misunderstand me, Edd," returned Lucy. "I couldn't have done what you imagined. Now I 恐れる I can never do anything...You have made me ashamed. Made me 疑問 myself."

"Wal, I reckon that won't be so awful bad for you," he drawled, almost caustically, and left her.

This interview with Edd befell just before Lucy's time of 出発 to the Claypools, most inopportunely and distressingly for her. Edd had 宣言するd a 広大な／多数の／重要な, and what he held a hopeless, love for her. Lucy 苦しむd an exaltation embittered by 疑問, 苦しめる, even terror. The sheer fact that he loved her was a tremendous shock. Not that she had not known of his affection, but that he had arisen out of his crudeness to her ideal of love! She could not 打ち勝つ her pride in her 力／強力にする to uplift him. It was 甘い, strange, 支えるing, yet fraught with terrors for her. It 軍隊d her into a position where she must find out the truth and bigness of love herself. She could not 信用 this new elemental self, this 変形 of Lucy Watson in the wilderness. She must have long lonely hours--days--nights to fight the problem. What terrified her was the memory of that beautiful mesa homestead and the thought of Edd Denmeade's love. Together they 脅すd to 嵐／襲撃する her heart.

Next morning Lucy was ready 早期に for her 出発. She had 完全に overlooked what 肉親，親類d of an occasion it might be, but she soon discovered that it was not to be joyous. The children were pitiful in their grief. Lucy felt as if she had died. They were inconsolable. Mary was the only one of them who bade her good-bye. Mrs. Denmeade said she was glad for the sake of the Claypools.

"Wal, 行方不明になる Lucy," said Denmeade, with his rugged grin, "reckon by the time you get through with the Claypools an' Johnsons you'll find us all gone to seed an' needin' you powerful bad."

"Then I'll be happy to come 支援する," replied Lucy.

Clara, however, gave Lucy the most thought-刺激するing surprise of this leave-taking. Evidently she had cried before getting up, and afterward she was pale and silent. When Edd and Joe arrived with saddle horses and the burros, Lucy, after taking out her baggage to be packed, returned to find Clara had broken 負かす／撃墜する. Lucy could not understand this sudden 証拠不十分. It was not like Clara. They had a most 影響する／感情ing scene, which left Lucy shaken and uncertain. But she had the 甘い 保証／確信 of Clara's love and 依存 upon her. For the 残り／休憩（する）, her sister's emotion seemed a betrayal. Lucy felt that in Clara's 粘着するing 手渡すs, her streaming hidden 注目する，もくろむs, her incoherent words. But in the few moments of 強調する／ストレス left her before 出発 she could neither 慰安 Clara nor find out any 適する 推論する／理由 for this 崩壊（する）.

"Hey!" called Edd for the third time. "Reckon the burros are rarin' to go, if you ain't."

Lucy left Clara 直面する 負かす／撃墜する on the bed. Before she の近くにd the door she called 支援する softly: "Don't be afraid to 信用 me with your troubles. I'll 株 them....Good-bye."

Lucy had seen the Claypool （疑いを）晴らすing, but she had never been inside the cabins. There were two families and many children, all 組み立てる／集結するd to 迎える／歓迎する her. Allie and Gerd still lived there, 未解決の the （疑いを）晴らすing of a new tract of forest 近づく by. They took 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of Lucy and led her to the little hut that had been 建設するd for her use. It had been built of 厚板s fresh from the sawmill, and these boards, 存在 the outside 削減（する） from スピードを出す／記録につけるs, still 保持するd the bark. The structure was 天然のまま, yet picturesque, and it pleased Lucy. The inside was the yellow hue of newly 削減（する） pine, and it smelled 堅固に of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. Lucy had to laugh. What a wonderful little playhouse that would have been--if she were still a little girl! It had one window, small, with a 木造の shutter, a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and a closet, a shelf, and a built-in box couch, 十分な of fragrant spruce. A deer 肌 with the fur uppermost lay on the 床に打ち倒す. In the corner nearest the door was a triangular-形態／調整d shelf, three feet above the 床に打ち倒す, and under it sat a bucket 十分な of water and on it a 水盤／入り江 and dipper and lamp.

Allie and Gerd were plainly proud of this 宿泊するing house for Lucy.

"It's pretty far from the cabins," 結論するd Gerd, "but there's a big 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 for your door. Nothin' can get in."

"I am delighted with it," 宣言するd Lucy.

Edd and Joe drove the pack burros over to Lucy's new abode and carried her 捕らえる、獲得するs in. She 公式文書，認めるd that Edd was so tall he could not stand upright in her little room.

"Wal, I reckon Gerd shore didn't 人物／姿／数字 on your entertainin' me," drawled Edd with a grin.

"It's pretty nice," said Joe 事実上. "With your rugs an' pictures, an' the way you 直す／買収する，八百長をする things up, it'll be Jake."

Edd ぐずぐず残るd a moment longer than the others at the door, his big 黒人／ボイコット sombrero turning 一連の会議、交渉／完成する in his 手渡すs.

"Wal, Lucy, do I go get me some white mule an' 追跡（する） up Bud Sprall?" he queried with all his 冷静な／正味の, 平易な 複雑さ.

Lucy felt the sting of 血 in her cheeks. When she stepped toward him, as he stood outside and below, one foot on the threshold, his 直面する was about on a level with hers. Lucy looked straight into his 注目する，もくろむs.

"No, you don't, unless you want me to call you again what 傷つける you so once."

"An' what's that? I disremember."

"You know!" she retorted, not やめる sure of herself.

"Wal, I reckon you won't need do that," he said, 簡単に. "I was only foolin' you about the white mule. I wouldn't drink again, no 事柄 what you did. An' I reckon I wouldn't 選ぶ a fight, like I used to."

Lucy had been 支配するd to a wide 範囲 of emotions through the last twenty-four hours, and she was not 用意が出来ている for a 声明 like this. It wrought havoc in her breast. In swift impulse she bent 今後 and kissed Edd on the cheek. Then as 速く she drew 支援する, slammed the door, and stood there trembling. She heard him gasp, and the jingle of his 刺激（する）s, as slowly he walked away.

"There! I've played hob at last!" whispered Lucy. "But I don't care...Now, my wild-bee hunter, I wonder if you'll take that for a Sadie Purdue trick?"

一時期／支部 XIV

Congenial work with happy, eager, simple people made the days 速度(を上げる） by so 速く that Lucy could not keep 跡をつける of them.

She let six weeks and more pass before she gave 注意する to the message Clara sent from the school-house by the Claypool children. From other sources Lucy learned that Clara was the best teacher ever 雇うd by the school board. She was making a success of it, from a 見地 of both good for the pupils and 占領／職業 for herself.

Joe Denmeade happened to ride by Claypool's one day, and he stopped to see Lucy. Even in the few weeks since she left the Denmeades there seemed to be 示すd 改良 in Joe, yet in a way she could hardly define. Something about him rang so true and manly.

During Joe's short visit it chanced that all the Claypools gathered on the porch, and Gerd, lately come from Cedar 山の尾根, narrated with 広大な／多数の／重要な gusto the gossip. It was received with the 利益／興味 of lonely people who seldom had 適切な時期s to hear about what was going on. Gerd's 報告（する）／憶測 of the 最新の escapade of one of the village belles 井戸／弁護士席 known to them all was received with unrestrained mirth. Such 出来事/事件 would have passed unmarked by Lucy had she not caught the 表現 that (n)艦隊／(a)素早いd across Joe Denmeade's 直面する. That was all the more 示すd because of the fact of Joe's usually serene, 意図 impassibility. Lucy conceived the certainty that this boy would 苦しむ intensely if he ever learned of Clara's misfortune. It might not change his love, but it would surely kill something in him--the very something that 控訴，上告d so irresistibly to Clara.

The moment was fraught with a regurgitation of Lucy's dread--the strange premonition that had haunted her--that out of the past must come reckoning. It remained with her more 断固としてやる than ever before, and was not readily shaken off.

Some days later, one Friday toward the end of May, Lucy 棒 負かす／撃墜する the school-house 追跡する to 会合，会う Clara and fetch her 支援する to Claypool's to stay over Sunday. It had been planned for some time, and Lucy had looked 今後 to the 会合 with both joy and 逮捕.

This school-house 追跡する was new to her, and therefore one of manifold 楽しみ. It led through forest and glade, along a tiny brook, and on downhill toward the lower country.

Lucy was keen to catch all the woodland features that had become part of her 存在, without which life in this wilderness would have lost most of its charm. Only a year had passed since first it had （人命などを）奪う，主張するd her! The time 手段d in work, 裁判，公判, change, seemed immeasurably longer. Yet Lucy could not say that she would have had it さもなければ. Always she was putting off a fateful hour or day until she was ready to 会合，会う it. Her work had engrossed her. In a few weeks she had 遂行するd as much with the Claypools as she had been able to do for the Denmeades in months. She had learned her work. Soon she could go to the Johnsons. Then 支援する to the Denmeades! To the higher and wilder forest land under the 縁! But she was honest enough to 自白する that there were other 推論する／理由s for the joy. Lucy ぐずぐず残るd along the 追跡する until a 会合 with the Claypool and Miller children told her that school was out. They were riding burros and ponies, in some 事例／患者s two astride one beast, and they were having fun. Lucy was あられ／賞賛するd with the familiarity of long-設立するd regard, a shrill glad clamour that swelled her heart with its message.

"Hurry home, you rascals," admonished Lucy, as she 棒 支援する into the 追跡する behind them. Then she 勧めるd her horse into a lope, and enjoyed the 甘い forest scents fanning her 直面する, and the moving by of 有望な-coloured glades and shady green dells. In a short time she reached the （疑いを）晴らすing and the schoolhouse. She had not been there for a long time. Yet how 井戸／弁護士席 she remembered it!

At first ちらりと見ること she could not see any horses hitched about, but she heard one neigh. It turned out to be Baldy, and he was poking his nose over the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s of a small corral that had recently been 築くd in the shade of pines at the 辛勝する／優位 of the （疑いを）晴らすing. Lucy tied her horse 近づく and then ran for the school-house.

The door was open. Lucy 急ぐd in, to 遠くに見つける Clara at the desk, evidently busy with her work.

"Howdy, little schoolmarm!" shouted Lucy. Clara leaped up, suddenly radiant.

"Howdy yourself, you old backwoods Samaritan!" returned Clara, and ran to embrace her.

Then, after the first 紅潮／摘発する of this 会合, they both talked at once, without any particular attention to what the other was 説. But that wore off presently and they became 合理的な／理性的な.

"Where's Joe?" queried Lucy, desirous of coming at once to 事柄s about which she had a dearth of news.

"He and Mr. Denmeade have gone to Winbrook to buy things for Joe's cabin."

"Are you riding the 追跡するs alone?" asked Lucy quickly.

"I 港／避難所't yet," replied Clara, with a laugh. "Joe has taken good care of that. Edd 棒 負かす／撃墜する with me this morning. He went to Cedar 山の尾根 to get the mail. Said he'd get 支援する to ride up with us."

"You told him I was coming after you?"

"Shore did, an' reckon he looked silly," drawled Clara.

"Oh Indeed?..." Lucy then made haste to change the 支配する. She had not 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs upon Edd since the day she had shut her door in his 直面する, after the audacious and irreparable kiss she had bestowed upon his cheek. She did not want to see him, either, and yet she did want to tremendously.

"Let's not wait for him," she said hurriedly.

"What's wrong with you?" 需要・要求するd Clara. "Edd seems やめる out of his 長，率いる these days. When I について言及する you he blushes...Yes!"

"How funny--for that big bee hunter!" replied Lucy, essaying a casual laugh.

"井戸／弁護士席, I've a hunch you're the one who should blush," said Clara dryly.

"Clara, いつかs I don't know about you," 観察するd Lucy musingly, as she gazed thoughtfully at her sister.

"How many times have I heard you say that!" returned Clara, with a mingling of pathos and mirth. "Lucy, the fact is you never knew about me. You never had me 人物／姿／数字d. You were always so big yourself that you couldn't see the littleness of me."

"Ahuh!" drawled Lucy. Then more 本気で she went on: "Clara, I'm not big. I've a big love for you, but that's about all."

"Have it your own way. All the same, I'm going to tell you about yourself. That's why I sent word by the children. You didn't seem very curious or anxious to see me."

"Clara, I was only in fun. I don't want to--to know any more about you--unless it is you're happy--and have forgotten--your--your trouble," 再結合させるd Lucy soberly.

"That's just why I must tell you," said her sister, with swift 決意／決議. "I did forget because I was happy. But my 良心 won't let me be happy any longer until I tell you."

Lucy's heart 契約d. She felt a sensation of inward 冷気／寒がらせる. Why had Clara's brown tan changed to pearly white? Her 注目する，もくろむs had darkened 異常に and were 緊張するd in unflinching courage. Yet 十分な of 恐れる!

"All 権利. Get it over then," replied Lucy.

Notwithstanding Clara's 解決する, it was evidently hard for her to speak. "Lucy, since--March the second--I've been--Joe Denmeade's wife," she whispered huskily.

Lucy, を締めるd for something utterly different and connected with Clara's past, suddenly succumbed to amaze. She sat 負かす／撃墜する on one of the school （法廷の）裁判s.

"Good heavens!" she gasped, and then could only 星／主役にする.

"Darling, don't be angry," implored Clara, and （機の）カム to her and knelt beside her. Again Lucy felt those 粘着するing, loving 手渡すs always so potent in their 力／強力にする.

"I'm not angry--yet," replied Lucy. "I'm just flabbergasted. I--I can't think. It's a terrible surprise...Your second elopement!"

"Yes. And this made up for the--the other," murmured Clara.

"March the second? That was the day you took the long ride with Joe? Got 支援する late. On a Saturday. You were exhausted, pale, excited...I remember now. And you never told me!"

"Lucy, don't reproach me," 抗議するd Clara. "I meant to. Joe 手配中の，お尋ね者 to let you into our secret. But I couldn't. It's hard to tell you things."

"Why? Can't I be 信用d?"

"It's because you do 信用 so--so beautifully. It's because you are so--so good, so strong yourself. Before I did it I felt it would be 平易な. Afterwards I 設立する out 異なって."

"井戸／弁護士席, too late now," said Lucy sadly. "But how'd you do it? Where? Why?"

"We 棒 負かす／撃墜する to Gordon," replied Clara hurriedly. "That's a little village below Cedar 山の尾根. We 雇うd a man to 運動 us to Menlo. More than fifty miles. There we were married...（機の）カム home the same way. It was a terrible trip. But for the excitement it'd have killed me."

"March the second! You've kept it secret all this time?"

"Yes. And want still to keep it, except from you."

"Clara--I don't know what to say," 再結合させるd Lucy helplessly. "What on earth made you do it?"

"Joe! Joe!" cried Clara wildly. "Oh, let me tell you. Don't 非難する me till you hear...From the very first Joe Denmeade made love to me. You could never dream what's in that boy. He loved me. My 拒絶s only made him worse. He waylaid me at every turn. He wrote me 公式文書，認めるs. He never let me forget for an hour that he worshipped me...And it grew to be 甘い. 甘い to my bitter heart! I was hungry for love. I 手配中の，お尋ね者, needed the very thing he felt. I fought--oh, how I fought! The idea of 存在 loved was beautiful, wonderful, saving. But to 落ちる in love--myself--that seemed impossible, wicked. It mocked me. But I did 落ちる in love. I woke up one morning to another world...Then I was as weak as water."

Lucy took the palpitating Clara in her 武器 and held her の近くに. After all, she could not 非難する her sister. If no dark 影をつくる／尾行する ぼんやり現れるd up out of the past, then it would be 井戸／弁護士席. Then as the first 紅潮／摘発する of excitement began to fade Lucy's 論理（学）の mind turned from 原因（となる） to 影響.

"Clara, you didn't tell Joe about your past," 主張するd Lucy, very low. She did not question. She 断言するd. She knew. And when Clara's 長，率いる drooped to her bosom, to hide her 直面する there, Lucy had 二塁打 保証／確信.

"I couldn't. I couldn't," said Clara brokenly. "Between my 恐れるs and Joe's ridiculous 約束 in me, I couldn't. Time and time again--when he was making love to me--before I cared--I told him I was no good--selfish, callous little flirt! He would only laugh and make harder love to me. I tried to tell him about the cowboy beaux I'd had. He'd say the more I'd had, the luckier he was to 勝利，勝つ me. To him I was good, innocent, noble. An angel! He wouldn't listen to me...Then when I fell in love with him it wasn't 平易な--the idea of telling. I やめる trying until the night before the day we ran off to get married. Honestly I meant 本気で to tell him. But I'd hardly gotten a word out when he grabbed me--and--kissed me till I couldn't talk...Then--I was sort--of carried away--the--second time."

She ended in a sobbing whisper. All was 明らかにする／漏らすd in those last few words. Lucy could only pity and 心にいだく.

"You poor child! I understand. I don't 非難する you. I'm glad. If you love him so 井戸／弁護士席 and he loves you so 井戸／弁護士席--it must--it shall come out all 権利...Don't cry, Clara. I'm not angry. I'm just stunned and--and 脅すd."

Clara 答える／応じるd to 親切 as to nothing else, and her passion of 感謝 その上の 強化するd Lucy's 解決する to serve.

"脅すd! Yes, that's what I've become lately," she said. "Suppose Joe should find out--all about me. It's not probable, but it might happen. He would never 許す me. He's queer that way. He doesn't understand women. Edd Denmeade, now--he could. He'd stick to a girl--if--if--! But Joe wouldn't, I know. At that I can tell him now, if you say I must. But it's my last chance for happiness--for a home. I hate the thought that I'm not the angel he believes me. I know I could become anything in time--I love him so 井戸／弁護士席. Always I remember that I wasn't wicked. I was only a fool."

"Dear, 悔いるs are useless," replied Lucy 厳粛に. "Let's 直面する the 未来. It seems to me you should tell Joe. After all, he hasn't so much to 許す. He's queer, I know--"

"But, Lucy," interrupted Clara, and she looked up with a strange, sad frankness, "there was a baby."

"My God!" cried Lucy, in horrified 苦しめる.

"Yes...a girl--my own. She was born in Kingston at the home of the woman with whom I lived--a Mrs. Gerald. She had no family. She ran a little restaurant for 鉱夫s. No one else knew, except the doctor, who （機の）カム from the next town, and he was a good old soul. In my 証拠不十分 I told Mrs. Gerald my story--whom I'd run off with--all about it. She 申し込む／申し出d to 可決する・採択する the baby if I'd help support it. So we arranged to do that."

"That was the 負債 you spoke of," replied Lucy, huskily. "Why you needed money often."

"Yes. And that's why I was in such a hurry to find work--to （問題を）取り上げる this teaching...She had written me she would return the child or 令状 to its--its father unless I kept my part of the 取引. I was so 脅すd I couldn't sleep...I was late in sending money, but I'm sure it's all 権利."

"You married Joe--with this--hanging over you?" queried Lucy incredulously.

"I told you how that （機の）カム about. I know what I felt. I 苦しむd. But it all （機の）カム about. It happened," answered Clara, as if driven to desperation.

"Only a 奇蹟 can keep Joe from learning it some day."

"奇蹟s いつかs happen. For instance, your giving me a home. And my love for this boy!...You can never understand how の近くに I was to death or hell...Kingston is a long way off. This is a wilderness. It might happen that God won't やめる forget me."

"Oh, the pity of it!" wailed Lucy, wringing her 手渡すs. "Clara, how can you repudiate your own flesh and 血?"

"I had to," replied Clara sadly. "But I've lived with the memory, and I've changed...I'll 会合，会う Mrs. Gerald's 需要・要求するs, and some day I'll make other and happier 手はず／準備."

"If you only hadn't married Joe! Why, oh, why didn't you come to me?" cried Lucy.

Clara 申し込む／申し出d no reply to that 抗議する. She straightened up and turned away.

"I hear a horse," she said, rising to look at Lucy. "Must be Edd," returned Lucy nervously.

"Riding pretty 急速な／放蕩な for Edd. You know he never runs a horse unless there's a 推論する／理由."

The sisters stood a moment 直面するing each other. Perhaps their emotions presaged 大災害. Outside the sound of 早い hoofbeats thudded to a 事情に応じて変わる 停止（させる）. Lucy was 占領するd with 予期 of 存在 compelled to 直面する Edd Denmeade. いっそう少なく 用意が出来ている than at any time since her sentimental impulse at Claypool's, she could not on such short notice master her feelings.

にもかかわらず, under the 緊張する of the moment she hurried toward the door, to make her hope that the arrival was not Edd a certainty.

Clara went to the window and looked out.

Lucy reached the threshold just as her keen ear caught the musical jingle of 刺激（する）s. Then a step too quick and short for Edd! In another second a tall わずかな／ほっそりした young man 直面するd her. He wore the flashy garb of a rider. Lucy wondered where she had seen that striking 人物／姿／数字, the young, handsome, heated red 直面する with its wicked blue 注目する，もくろむs. He doffed a wide sombrero. When Lucy saw the 炎 of his golden hair she recognised him as the individual once pointed out to her at Cedar 山の尾根. Comrade of Bud Sprall!

"Howdy, Luce! Reckon your kid sister is heah," he said coolly.

Lucy's heart seemed to 沈む within her. Dread and 怒り／怒る leaped to take the place of softer emotions now 消えるing.

"How dare you?" she 需要・要求するd.

"Wal, I'm a darin' hombre," he drawled, taking a step closer. "An' I'm goin' in there to even up a little 得点する／非難する／２０ with Clara."

"Who are you?" queried Lucy wildly.

"非，不，無 of your 商売／仕事. Get out of my way," he said 概略で.

Lucy 封鎖するd the door. Open 対立 did much to stabilise the whirl of her 長，率いる.

"You're not coming in," cried Lucy. "I 警告する you. Edd Denmeade's 推定する／予想するd here any moment. It'll be bad for you if he finds you."

"Wal, I reckon Edd won't get heah pronto," 再結合させるd this cowboy impertinently. "I left my pard, Bud Sprall, 負かす／撃墜する the 追跡する. An' he's a-rarin' to stop Edd one way or another. Bud an' I have been layin' for this chance. Savvy, Luce?"

She gave him a stinging 非難する in the 直面する--so hard a blow that even her open 手渡す staggered him.

"Don't you believe it, Mr. Red-直面する," retorted Lucy furiously. "It'd take more than you or Bud Sprall to stop Edd Denmeade."

"Wild cat, huh? All same Clara!" he ejaculated, with his 手渡す going to his 直面する. The wicked 注目する，もくろむs flashed like blue 解雇する／砲火／射撃. Then he 肺d at her, and しっかり掴むing her arm, in a 選び出す／独身 pull he swung her out of the doorway. Lucy nearly lost her balance.

回復するing, she 急ぐd 支援する into the school-house in time to see this stranger 直面する Clara. For Lucy it was a terrible thing to see her sister's 直面する.

"Howdy, kid! Reckon you was lookin' for me," he said.

"Jim Middleton!" burst out Clara in queer, strangled 発言する／表明する. Then she slipped limply to the 床に打ち倒す In a faint.

For Lucy 不確定 passed. She realised her sister's reckoning had come, like a 雷 flash out of a （疑いを）晴らす sky, and it roused all the tigress in her. Running to Clara, she knelt at her 味方する, to find her white and 冷淡な and unconscious. Then she rose to 直面する the 侵入者 with a 決意 to get rid of him before Clara 回復するd consciousness.

"So you're Jim Middleton?" she queried, in 熱烈な 軽蔑（する）. "If I had a gun I'd shoot you. If I had a whip I'd （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 you as I would a dog. Get out of here. You shall not talk to my sister. She hates you. Nothing you can have to say will 利益／興味 her."

"Wal, I'm not so shore," returned Middleton, without the coolness or nonchalance that before had characterised his speech. He looked かなり shaken. What contrasting gleams of passion--hate--wonder--love--changed the blue gaze he bent upon Clara's white 直面する! "I've a letter she'll want to read."

"A letter! From Mrs. Gerald?" flashed Lucy, quivering all over as his 手渡す went to his breast.

"Yes, if it's anythin' to you," retorted the cowboy, shaking a letter at her.

"Mrs. Gerald wants money?" Lucy went on.

"She shore does," he answered resentfully.

"I suppose you're going to send it to her?"

"I am like hell!"

"Also I suppose you'll want to 権利 the wrong you did Clara? You'll want to marry her truly?" 需要・要求するd Lucy, with infinite sarcasm.

"You've got the wrong hunch, Luce," he replied, laughing coarsely. "I jest want to read her this letter. Shore I've been keepin' it secret these days for her to see first. Then I'll tell Joe Denmeade an' every other man in this 支持を得ようと努めるd."

"港／避難所't you made Clara 苦しむ enough?" queried Lucy, trying to keep her 発言する／表明する 安定した and her wits working.

"She ran off from me. I reckon with another man."

"You're a liar! Oh, I'll make you 支払う／賃金 for this!" cried Lucy, in desperation.

Suddenly she saw him turn his 長，率いる. Listening. He had not heard her 爆発. Then Lucy's 緊張するd 審理，公聴会 caught the welcome clatter of hoofs. Quick as a flash she snatched the letter out of Middleton's 手渡すs.

"Heah, give that 支援する!" he shouted ひどく.

Like a cat Lucy leaped over desks into another aisle, and then, 直面するing about, she thrust the letter into the bosom of her blouse. Middleton leaned 今後, glaring in amaze and fury.

"I'll 涙／ほころび your 着せる／賦与するs off," he shouted, low and hard.

"Jim Middleton, if you know when you're 井戸／弁護士席 off you'll get out of here and out of the country before these Denmeades learn what you've done," returned Lucy.

"An' I'll （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 you good while I'm tearin' your 着せる／賦与するs off," he 宣言するd as he crouched.

"Edd Denmeade will kill you!" whispered Lucy, beginning to 弱める.

"Once more," he hissed venomously, "give me that letter...It's my proof about the baby!"

And on the instant a quick jangling step outside drew the 血 from Lucy's heart. Middleton heard it and wheeled with muttered 悪口を言う／悪態.

Edd Denmeade leaped over the threshold and seemed to fill the schoolroom with his presence. 血 flowed from his 明らかにする 長，率いる, 負かす／撃墜する his cheek. His 注目する，もくろむs, like pale 炎上s, swept from Lucy to Middleton, to the limp 人物／姿／数字 of the girl on the 床に打ち倒す, and then 支援する to Lucy. The thrill that flooded over her then seemed wave on wave of shock. He had been fighting. His 着せる／賦与するs were in rags and wringing wet. He 前進するd slowly, with long strides, his piercing gaze 転換ing to Middleton.

"Howdy, cowboy! I met your pard, Bud Sprall, 負かす／撃墜する the 追跡する. Reckon you'd better go rake up what's left of him an' pack it out of here."

"The hell you say!" ejaculated Middleton, stepping to 会合，会う Edd half-way. He was slow, 用心深い, 脅迫的な, and somehow sure of himself. "Wal, I'd as lief 会合，会う one Denmeade as another. An' I've shore got somethin' to say."

"You can't talk to me," returned Edd, with 手段d coldness. "I don't know nothin' about you--'cept you're a pard of Sprall's. That's enough...Now go along with you pronto."

The red of Middleton's 直面する had faded to a pale white except for the livid 示す across his cheek. But to Lucy it seemed his emotion was a 熱烈な excitement rather than 恐れる. He swaggered closer to Edd.

"Say, you wild-bee hunter, you're goin' to hear somethin' aboot this Watson girl."

Edd took a slow, 平易な step, then 開始する，打ち上げるd 団体／死体 and arm into pantherish agility. Lucy did not see the blow, but she heard it. Sharp and sudden, it felled Middleton to the 床に打ち倒す half a dozen paces toward the stove. He fell so ひどく that he shook the school-house. For a moment he lay gasping while Edd stepped closer. Then he raised himself on his 肘 and turned a distorted 直面する, the nose of which appeared 粉砕するd flat. He looked a fiend inflamed with lust to 殺人. But cunningly as he turned away and began to 労働 to get to his feet, he did not deceive Lucy.

"Watch out, Edd! He has a gun!" she 叫び声をあげるd.

Even then Middleton wheeled, wrenching the gun from his hip. Lucy saw its sweep as she saw Edd leap, and suddenly bereft of strength she slipped to the 床に打ち倒す, 支援する against a desk, 注目する，もくろむs tight shut, senses paralysed, waiting for the 報告（する）／憶測 she 推定する／予想するd. But it did not come. 捨てる of boots, 衝突／不一致 of 刺激（する）s, hard 追放s of breath, attested to another 肉親，親類d of fight.

She opened wide her 注目する，もくろむs. Edd and Middleton each had two 手渡すs on the 武器, and were leaning 支援する at arm's-length, pulling with all their might.

"I'm agonna bore you--you damn' wild-bee hunter!" panted the cowboy, and then he bent to bite at Edd's 手渡すs. Edd gave him a tremendous kick that brought a bawl of 苦痛 and 激怒（する） from Middleton.

Then began a terrific struggle for 所有／入手 of the gun. Lucy crouched there, fascinated with horror. Yet how the hot 神経s of her 団体／死体 tingled! She awoke to an awful attention, to a 薄暗い recollection of a 猛烈な／残忍な glory in man's prowess, in 血, in 司法（官）. Edd was the heavier and stronger. He kept the cowboy at arm's-length and swung him off his feet. But Middleton always （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する like a cat, He was swung against the desks, 破壊するing them; then his spurred boots 衝突，墜落d over the teacher's （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. They 格闘するd from there to the stove, knocking that 負かす／撃墜する. A cloud of すす puffed 負かす／撃墜する from the stove-麻薬を吸う. The cowboy 中止するd to waste breath in 悪口を言う／悪態s. His 悪意のある 表現 changed to a panic-stricken 恐れる for his own life. He was swung with 暴力／激しさ against the 塀で囲む. Yet he held on to the gun in a wild tenacity. They fought all around the room, 粉砕するing desk after desk. The time （機の）カム when Middleton 中止するd to jerk at the gun, but put all a 病弱なing strength in 成果／努力s to 持つ／拘留する it.

When they were on the other 味方する of the room Lucy could not see them. What she heard was 十分な to keep her in convulsive suspense.

Suddenly out of the corner of her 注目する，もくろむ she saw Clara sit up and reel from 味方する to 味方する, and turn her white 直面する toward the furiously struggling men.

"Clara--don't look!" cried Lucy huskily, almost unable to speak. She moved to go to her sister, but she was spent with fright, and when Clara's purple 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in an appalling 星／主役にする, she やめる gave out. Then 衝突，墜落 and thud and 捨てる, harder, swifter, and the whistle of men's breath moved 支援する across the room into the field of her 見通し. Edd was dragging Middleton, flinging him. The fight was going to the implacable bee-hunter.

"Let go, cowboy. I won't kill you!" 雷鳴d Edd.

Middleton's husky reply was incoherent. For a moment 新たにするd strength seemed to come 猛烈に, and の近くにing in with Edd he 格闘するd with the frenzy of a madman.

Suddenly there burst out a muffled bellow of the gun. Edd seemed 解放（する）d from a tremendous 緊張する. He staggered 支援する toward Lucy. For a 選び出す／独身 soul-riving instant she watched, all faculties but sight shocked into 中断. Then Middleton swayed aside from Edd, both his 手渡すs 圧力（をかける）d to his breast. He sank to his 膝s. Lucy's distended 注目する，もくろむs saw 血 噴出する out over his 手渡すs. Dragging her gaze up to his 直面する, she recoiled in a fearful awe.

"She--she was--" he gasped thickly, his changed 注目する，もくろむs wavering, 直す／買収する，八百長をするing 負かす／撃墜する the room. Then he lurched over on his 味方する and lay 二塁打d up in a heap.

Edd's long arm spread out and his 手渡す went low, to 解放（する） the smoking gun, while he bent rigidly over the fallen man.

"It went--off," he panted. "I was only--tryin' to get it--away from him...Lucy, you saw."

"Oh yes, I saw," cried Lucy. "It wasn't--your fault. He'd have killed you...Is he--is he--?"

Edd straightened up and drew a 深い breath.

"Reckon he's about gone."

Then he （機の）カム to help Lucy to her feet and to support her. "Wal, you need a little fresh 空気／公表する, an' I reckon some won't 傷つける me."

"But Clara!...Oh, she has fainted again!"

"No wonder. Shore she was lucky not to see the--the fight. That fellow was a devil compared to Bud Sprall."

"Oh!...Edd, you didn't kill him, too?" implored Lucy.

"Not やめる. But he's bad used up," 宣言するd Edd as he half carried her across the threshold and lowered her to a seat on the steps. "を締める up now, city girl. Reckon this is your first real backwoods experience...Wal, it might have been worse... Now wouldn't you have had a 罰金 time makin' Bud an' his pard better men?...There, you're comin' around. We need to do some tall figurin'...But I reckon, far as I'm 関心d, there's nothin' to worry over."

After a moment he let go of Lucy and rose from the step. "Lucy, what was it all about?" he queried 静かに.

She covered her 直面する with her 手渡すs, and a strong shudder shook her でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる.

"Wal," he went on, very gently, "I heard that fellow ravin' as I come in. But all I understood was proof about the baby."

"That was enough to hear, don't you think?" replied Lucy, all at once 回復するing her composure. Out of the 大混乱 of her 相反する emotions had arisen an inspiration.

"Reckon it was a good 取引，協定," he said 簡単に, and smiled 負かす／撃墜する on her. "But you needn't tell me nothin' unless you want to. I always knew you'd had some trouble."

"Trouble!" sighed Lucy. Then 回避するing her gaze she continued: "Edd, I ask you to keep my secret...The baby he spoke of--was--is 地雷."

He did not reply at once, nor in any way she could see or hear 表明する whatever feeling he might have had. Lucy, once the damnable falsehood had crossed her lips, was stricken as by a 疫病／悩ます. When she had thrown that off there was a horrible 悔恨 続けざまに猛撃するing at the gates of her heart, Her 団体／死体 seemed first to receive the brunt of the blow she had dealt herself.

"Wal, wal--so that's it," said Edd, in a queer, broken 発言する／表明する. He paused a long moment, then went on, in more usual トン. "Shore I'll never tell...I'm doggone sorry, Lucy. An' I'm not askin' questions. I reckon it doesn't make no difference to me...Now let's think what's best to do. I'll have to send word from Johnson's about this fight. But I'm goin' to see you home first, unless you think you can get there all 権利."

"That depends on Clara. Come with me."

They went 支援する into the schoolhouse to find Clam showing 調印するs of returning consciousness.

"Please carry her outside," said Lucy.

As he 解除するd the girl in his 武器 Lucy's fearful gaze roved 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room. まっただ中に the 廃虚s of the 天然のまま furniture lay the inert form of Jim Middleton, 直面する 負かす／撃墜する, 手渡すs outstretched in a pool of 血. Though the sight sickened her, Lucy gazed until she had 納得させるd herself that there was no life in the prostrate form. Then she hurried after Edd and reeled out into the sunlight and the 甘い fresh 空気／公表する. Edd carried Clara to the shade of pines at the 辛勝する／優位 of the （疑いを）晴らすing.

"I'll go 負かす／撃墜する to the brook," he said. "Reckon we don't want her seein' me all over 血."

Presently Clara's pale eyelids ぱたぱたするd and unclosed, to 明らかにする／漏らす 注目する，もくろむs with purple abysses, hard for Lucy to gaze into. She raised Clara's 長，率いる in her 武器.

"There, dear, you're all 権利 again, aren't you?"

"Where is he?" whispered Clara.

"Edd's gone 負かす／撃墜する to the brook to fetch some water. He's all 権利."

"I mean--him...Ah, I saw!" went on Clara. "Edd killed him!"

"I 恐れる so," said Lucy hurriedly. "But it was an 事故. Edd fought to get the gun. It went off...Don't think of that. God has 配達するd you. I have the letter Mrs. Gerald wrote Middleton. He did not betray you. And now he's dead...Edd knows nothing about your relation to this cowboy. See that you keep silent."

Edd returned at this juncture with a 向こうずねing 直面する, except for a 負傷させる over his 寺; and he 手渡すd his wet scarf to Lucy.

"Wal, shore she's come to," he drawled, with all his old coolness "That's good...Now I'll saddle up her horse an' pretty soon she'll be able to ride home."

"I think she will," returned Lucy. "But what shall I say about--about this?"

"Say nothin'," he replied tersely. "I'll do the talkin' when I get home...An', Lucy, on my way to Johnson's I'll take a look at my old friend Bud Sprall. If he's alive, which I reckon he is, I'll tell him damn' good an' short what happened to his pard, an' that he'll get the same unless he moves out of the country. These 支持を得ようと努めるd ain't big enough for us two."

"He might waylay you again as he did this time--and shoot you," said Lucy fearfully.

"Wal, way-layin' me once will be enough, I reckon. Bud has a bad 指名する, an' this sneaky trick on you girls will 直す／買収する，八百長をする him. They'll run him out of the country."

While Edd saddled Clara's horse Lucy walked her to and fro a little.

"Let's go. I can ride," averred Clara. "I'd rather 落ちる off than stay here."

Edd helped her 開始する and walked beside her to where the 追跡する entered the （疑いを）晴らすing. Lucy caught up with them, 十分な of 疑惑, yet keen to get out of sight of the school-house.

"Go 権利 home," said Edd. "I'll stop at Claypool's on my way up an' tell them somethin'. Shore I won't be long. An' if you're not home I'll come a-rarin' 負かす／撃墜する the 追跡する to 会合，会う you."

"Oh, Edd--be careful!" whispered Lucy. She hardly knew what she meant, and she could not look at him. Clara 棒 on into the leaf-国境d 追跡する. Lucy made haste to follow. Soon the golden light of the （疑いを）晴らすing no longer sent gleams into the forest. They entered the green, silent 聖域 of the pines. Lucy felt unutterable 救済. How shaded, how, 保護するing, how helpful the 広大な／多数の／重要な trees! They had the 原始の 影響（力） of nature. They 強化するd her under the 重荷（を負わせる） she had assumed. Whatever had been the wild 誘発するing of her sacrifice, she had no 悔いる for herself, nor could she alter it.

Clara reeled in her saddle, 粘着するing to the 鞍馬 but as she 棒 on it appeared she gathered strength until Lucy （機の）カム to believe she would finish out the ride. And what a 悲劇の ride that was! Clara never once looked 支援する, never spoke. The pearly pallor still showed under her tan. Lucy felt what was going on in her sister's soul, and pitied her. 軽蔑（する） for Clara's 証拠不十分, 怒り／怒る at her duplicity, had no 力／強力にする against love. The reckoning had come and the worst had befallen. Lucy experienced 救済 in the knowledge of this. Clara's 未来 must be her care. It was not 権利, but she would make it 権利; it was not 安全な, yet she must insure its safety. And all at once she realised how she loved Edd Denmeade, and that 結局 she would have gone to him as 自然に as a bird to its mate. Then the green forest seemed to pierce her agony with a thousand 注目する，もくろむs.

一時期／支部 XV

At the 結論 of that ride Clara 崩壊（する）d and had to be carried into her テント, where she fell 犠牲者 to hysteria and exhaustion. Lucy had her 手渡すs 十分な …に出席するing to her sister and keeping the kindly Denmeades from 審理，公聴会 some of Clara's ravings.

Next day Clara was better, and on Sunday 明らかに herself again. To Lucy's amaze she 発表するd she could and would go 支援する to school next day.

"But, Clara--how can you, considering--" 滞るd Lucy.

"I know what you mean," replied her sister. "It'll be rather sickening, to say the least. Yet I'd prefer to be sick than have the awful feeling of dread I had before."

にもかかわらず, Lucy would not hear of Clara's going to teach for at least a week. Amy Claypool would be glad to 行為／法令／行動する as 代用品，人 teacher for a few days, or, failing that, the pupils could be given a vacation. Clara did not readily 産する／生じる this point, though at last she was 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd upon. During these days Lucy 避けるd much 接触する with the Denmeades. It was not possible, however, not to hear something about what had happened.

Upon his return Edd had 行為／行うd himself 正確に as before the 悲劇, a circumstance that had subtle 影響 upon Lucy. By degrees this bee-hunter had grown big in her sight, strong and natural in those 質s which to her mind 構成するd a man. From Joe she learned 確かな 開発s of the 事例／患者. Bud Sprall, late on the day of the fight, had been carried to Johnson's, the nearest ranch, and there he lay 厳しく 負傷させるd. Middleton had not been 除去するd until after the 郡保安官 had 見解（をとる）d his remains on Saturday. Gossip from all ４半期/4分の1s was rife, all of it decidedly favourable to Edd. The dead cowboy had not been 井戸／弁護士席 known at Cedar 山の尾根, and not at all by the 指名する of Middleton.

On Monday Lucy returned to her work at Claypool's, leaving the 状況／情勢 不変の so far as she was 関心d. She and Edd had not について言及するd the thing that 自然に 関心d them both so vitally nor had Lucy 自白するd to Clara what she had take upon herself. There would be need of that, perhaps, after the 郡保安官's 調査.

Lucy's work did not in this instance 緩和する a 激しい heart. Once more alone, away from the worry about Clara's health and the excitement of the Denmeades, she was 攻撃する，非難するd by grief. Clara's 行為／法令／行動する, 見解（をとる）d in any light possible, seemed a sin, no いっそう少なく terrible because of unfortunate and mitigating circumstances. It was something that had been fostered long ago in the family. Lucy had 推定する／予想するd it. She 非難するd the past, the 欠如（する） of proper home training and ideals, the 影響（力） 必然的な from her father's 商売／仕事.

After her work hours each day she would walk off into the 深い forest, and there, hidden from any 注目する，もくろむs she would 産する／生じる to the moods of the moment. seemed as さまざまな as the 面s of her trouble. But whatever the mood happened to be, grief was its 支配的な 公式文書，認める. Clara had gotten beyond her now. She was married, and settled, 供給するing Joe Denmeade was as 罰金 a boy as he seemed. But if Clara's true story became public 所有物／資産／財産 and Joe repudiated her, cast her off--then her 未来 was hopeless. Lucy could not 直面する this 可能性. It やめる baffled her.

Then there was something else やめる as insupportable to 直面する. Sooner or later she must （問題を）取り上げる the 重荷（を負わせる） she had （人命などを）奪う，主張するd as her own. It would be hard. It meant she must abandon her 福利事業 work there の中で the people she had come to love. They needed her. She would have to go さらに先に afield or （問題を）取り上げる some other 肉親，親類d of work. It was not 考えられる that her sister's child could be left to the bringing up of strangers. That would only be 転換ing the 責任／義務 of the weak Watson 血 upon someone else. It did not make in the least for the ideal for which Lucy was ready to lay 負かす／撃墜する her life.

Perhaps hardest of all was the blow to what now she recognised as her unconscious hopes of love, dreams of happy toil as a 開拓する's wife. She knew now, when it was too late, what she could have been 有能な of for Edd Denmeade. She had 設立する a 罰金 big love for a man she had helped develop. She would rather have had such consciousness than to have met and loved a man superior in all ways to Edd. Somehow the struggle was the 広大な／多数の／重要な thing. And yet she had loved Edd also because he was self-十分な without her help. How she cared for him now, since the 殺人，大当り of one enemy and 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうing of another, was hard for her to define. So that this 段階 of her grief was 激烈な／緊急の, poignant, ever-現在の, growing with the days.

She 設立する out, presently, that going into the forest was a source of 慰安. When there seemed no 慰安 she went to the lonely 孤独 of trees and 小衝突, of green coverts and fragrant wild dells, and always she was soothed, 支えるd. She could not understand why, but it was so. She began to 長引かせる the hours spent in the 支持を得ようと努めるd, under a ぼんやり現れるing canyon 塀で囲む, or beside a 密集して foliaged gorge from which floated up the drowsy murmur of a stream. All that the wild forest land consisted of passed into her innermost 存在. She sensed that the very ground she trod was 十分な of 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs of races of human 存在s who had lived and fought there, 苦しむd in their blindness and ignorance, loved and 後部d their young, and had grown old and died. No trace left! No more than autumn leaves! It seemed to be this lesson of nature that 徐々に （機の）カム to her. Thereafter she went to the 支持を得ようと努めるd 早期に in the mornings 同様に as the afternoons, and finally she had courage to go at night.

And it was at night she （機の）カム to feel deepest. 不明瞭 強調d the mystery of the forest. Night birds and crickets, prowling coyotes with their haunting barks, the 勝利，勝つd sad and low in the pines, the weird canopy of foliage 総計費 studded with 星／主役にするs of white 解雇する／砲火／射撃--these taught her the littleness of her life and the tremendousness of the spirit from which she had sprung. She was part of the universe. The very 恐れる she had of the blackness, the beasts, and the unknown told of her 相続物件. She （機の）カム at length to realise that this （一定の）期間 engendered by nature, if it could be しっかり掴むd in its entirety and held, would make bearable all aches of heart and 悲惨s of mind. Her 接触する with actual life covered twenty little years in a town の中で many people; her instincts, the 血 that （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 at her 寺s, the longings of her bones, had been bred of a million years in the 孤独 and wild 環境 of the 薄暗い past. That was why the forest helped her.

A Saturday in June was the day 始める，決める for an 調査 of the fight that had resulted in the death of Jim Middleton. It would be an ordeal for which Lucy had endeavoured to 準備する herself.

But from what she heard and saw of the people 利益／興味d she 裁判官d the day was to be rather a 祝祭 one. Certainly the Denmeades were not worried. Lucy did not see Edd, but Joe seemed more than usually cheerful, and evidently he had 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd somewhat upon Clara. If she had any 疑惑s as to what might develop, she certainly did not show them. She 棒 by with Joe and the other Denmeades before Lucy was ready. Allie and Gerd dressed up for the occasion as if they were going to a dance. Lucy 棒 with them as far as Johnson's where she was 招待するd to go the 残り／休憩（する） of the way in a car with Sam and other of the Johnsons. During this part of the ride Lucy had little chance to think or brood. The party was a merry one, and their 態度 toward the occasion was manifested by a 発言／述べる Sam finally made to Lucy:

"Say, 元気づける up. You're worryin' about this 調査. It won't 量 to shucks. Everybody in the country is glad of what Edd did. Shore there won't be any 法廷，裁判所 訴訟／進行s. This whole 事例／患者 would have been over long ago an' forgotten if Bud Sprall hadn't been too bad 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうd to talk. Just you wait."

Lucy 設立する some little 穀物 of 保証／確信 in Sam's words, and bore up under her dread. Perhaps she worried too much, and felt too 深く，強烈に, she thought. Sam drove as if he were going to a party, and the twenty miles or more seemed as nothing. Cedar 山の尾根 was 十分な of people, to 裁判官 from the horses, cars, and 乗り物s along each 味方する of the main street. When Sam 停止（させる）d with a grand 繁栄する before the hotel Lucy was thrilled to see Edd Denmeade step out from a motley （人が）群がる. He was looking for her, and he smiled as he met her ちらりと見ること. He read her mind.

"Howdy, Lucy I Reckon you needn't be 脅すd. Shore it's all 権利," he said, 圧力（をかける）ing her 手渡す as he helped her out. "Howdy there, you Sam! Just saw Sadie an' she shore looks pert. Howdy, you-all!"

Lucy was 行為／行うd into the hotel parlour by the 郡保安官, who seemed very gallant and apologetic and most desirous of impressing her with the fact that this 会合 was a 楽しみ to him.

The 治安判事 she met there appeared 平等に affable. He was a little man, with sharp blue 注目する，もくろむs and ruddy shaven 直面する, and he had only one ann.

"Wal, now, it was too bad to drag you away from thet good work we're all a-hearin' aboot," he said.

"裁判官," spoke up the 郡保安官, "we got Edd's story an' now all we want is this girl's. She see the fight over the gun."

"Sit 負かす／撃墜する, 行方不明になる, an' pray don't look so white," said the 治安判事, with a kindly smile. "We see no call to take this 事例／患者 to 法廷，裁判所. Jest answer a few questions an' we'll let you off...You was the only one who see the fight between Edd an' thet cowboy?"

"Yes. My sister had fainted and lay on the 床に打ち倒す," replied Lucy. "But just at the last of it I saw her sit up. And after, when I looked 支援する, she had fainted again."

"Now we know thet Harv Sprall threw a gun on Edd--"

"Sprall!" interrupted Lucy. "You're mistaken. The other fellow was Bud Sprall and he wasn't in the schoolroom. Edd had the fight for the gun with--"

"Excuse me, 行方不明になる," interrupted the 裁判官 in turn. "The dead cowboy was Harv Sprall, a cousin of Bud's. He wasn't 井戸／弁護士席 known in these parts, but we got a line on him from men over Winbrook way...Now jest tell us what you saw."

その結果 Lucy began with the blow Edd had 配達するd at the いわゆる Herv Sprall, and 関係のある hurriedly and fluently the 詳細（に述べる）s of the fight.

"Wal, thet'll be aboot all," said the 裁判官, with his genial smile, as he bent over to begin 令状ing. "I'm much 強いるd."

"All! May--I go--now?" 滞るd Lucy.

"Go. I should smile. I'm escortin' you out. Not thet we're not sorry to have you go," replied the 郡保安官, and forthwith he led her out to where the others were waiting in the porch.

Lucy （機の）カム in for かなりの attention from the surrounding （人が）群がる; and by 推論する／理由 of this and the solicitude of her friends she quickly 回復するd her composure. Presently she was carried away to the house of friends of the Johnsons. She wondered where Clara was, and Joe and Edd, but 存在 swift to しっかり掴む the fact that the 調査 had been trivial, she was happy to keep her curiosity to herself.

During the several hours she remained in town, however, she was 運命にあるd to learn a good 取引，協定, and that by 単に listening. The 指名する Jim Middleton was について言及するd as one of several 指名するs under which Harv Sprall had long carried on 取引 not 正確に／まさに within the 法律. He had been known to absent himself for long periods from the several places where he was supposed to work. If Bud Sprall had known anything about his cousin's 事件／事情／状勢s with Clara, he had kept his mouth shut. The 調査 had turned a light on his own unsavoury 評判, and what with one thing and another he was liable to be sent to 明言する／公表する 刑務所，拘置所. The 裁判官 had made it known that he would give Sprall a chance to leave the country.

It seemed to be the universally 受託するd idea that the two Spralls had planned to waylay Edd or Joe Denmeade, and then surprise the young school teacher or 追いつく her on the 追跡する. Their 計画（する）s had miscarried and they had gotten their just 砂漠s; and that evidently の近くにd the 出来事/事件.

Lucy did not see Edd again on this occasion, and someone said he had ridden off alone toward home. Clara and Joe did not show inclination for company; and they too soon 出発／死d.

Before dark that night Lucy got 支援する with the Claypools, too tired from riding, and 疲れた／うんざりした with excitement and the necessity for keeping up 外見s, to care about eating, or her usual walk after supper. She went to bed, and in the 不明瞭 and silence of her little hut she felt as alone as if she were lost in the forest. To-morrow would be Sunday. She would spend the whole day thinking over her problem and deciding how to 会合，会う it. If only the hours could be lengthened--time made to stand still!

That Sunday passed by and then another, leaving Lucy more at sea than ever. But she finished her work with the Claypools. July was to have been the time 始める，決める for her to go to the Johnsons or the Millers. When the date arrived Lucy knew that she had no 意向 of going. Her own day of reckoning had come. Somehow she was glad in a sad 肉親，親類d way.

The Denmeades welcomed her as one of the family; and their unstinted delight did not make her 仕事 any easier. They all had some characteristic 発言／述べる to thrill and yet 傷つける her. Denmeade grinned and said: "Wal, I reckon you're 支援する for good. It shore, looks like a go between Joe an' your sister."

会合 Clara was 拷問ing. "井戸／弁護士席, old mysterious, get it off your chest," said her sister, with a shrewd 有望な look. "Something's 殺人，大当り you. Is it me or Edd?"

"Goodness! Do I show my troubles as plainly as that?" replied Lucy pathetically.

"You're white and almost thin," returned Clara solicitously. "You せねばならない stay here and 残り／休憩（する）--ride around--go to school with me."

"Perhaps I do need a change...And you, Clara--how are you? Have you 設立する it hard to go 負かす／撃墜する there--to be in that schoolroom every day?"

"Me? Oh, I'm 罰金. It bothered me some at first--特に that--that big stain on the 床に打ち倒す. I couldn't scrub it out. So I took 負かす／撃墜する a rug. I'm not so squeamish as I was. But I go late, and you bet I don't keep any of my scholars in after school hours."

"Don't you ever think of--of--" 滞るd Lucy, hardly knowing what she meant.

"Of course, you ninny," retorted Clara. "Am I a clod? I think too much. I have my fight...But, Lucy, I'm happy. Every day I find more in Joe to love. I'm going to pull out and make a success of life. First I thought it was for Joe's sake--then yours. But I guess I've begun to think of myself a little."

"Have you heard from Mrs. Gerald?" queried Lucy finally.

"Yes. As soon as she got my letter. Evidently it was all 権利 again. But she never について言及するd 令状ing to Jim."

"She would be glad to get rid of her 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金--I imagine?" went on Lucy casually.

"I've guessed that, myself," 再結合させるd Clara soberly. "It worries me some, yet I--"

She did not 結論する her 発言／述べる, and Lucy did not 圧力（をかける） the 支配する any その上の at the moment, though she knew this was the time to do it. But Lucy rather 恐れるd a scene with Clara and did not want it to occur during the waking hours of the Denmeades.

"Have you and Joe told your secret?" queried Lucy.

"Not yet," replied Clara 簡潔に.

"Where is Joe now?"

"He's working at his homestead. Has twenty acres 工場／植物d, and more （疑いを）晴らすd. They're all helping him. Edd has taken a 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益／興味 in Joe's place since he lost 利益／興味 in his own."

"Then Edd has given up work on his own farm. Since when?"

"I don't know. But it was lately. I heard his father talking about it. Edd's not the same since he--since that 事故. Joe comes home here every night and he tells me how Edd's changed. Hasn't he been to see you, Lucy?"

"No."

"Of course Edd's 負かす／撃墜する in the mouth about you. I don't think 殺人，大当り that cowboy worries him. I heard him say he was sorry he hadn't done for Bud Sprall, too, and that if he'd known the 職業 those two put up on him there'd have been a different story to tell...No. It's just that Edd's horribly in love with you."

"Poor--Edd, if it's so!" murmured Lucy. "But maybe you take too much for 認めるd, just because Joe feels that way about you."

"Maybe," replied her sister mockingly. "Edd will probably come home to-day with Joe, as he hasn't been here lately. Take the trouble to look at him and see what you think."

"Are you trying to awaken my sympathies?" queried Lucy satirically.

"I wish to goodness I could," returned Clara under her breath.

Lucy realised that she was not her old self, and this had 影響する／感情d Clara vexatiously, perhaps distressingly. Lucy strove against the bitterness and 悲しみ which in spite of her will 影響（力）d her thought and speech. She would not let another day go by without telling Clara what she had taken upon herself. That would be destroying her last 橋（渡しをする） behind her; she could go 前へ／外へ 解放する／自由な to 会合，会う new life somewhere else, knowing she had done the last faithful service to her family.

The Denmeade boys （機の）カム home 早期に, but Lucy did not see Edd until at supper, which, as usual, was eaten on the porch between the cabins. He did seem changed, and the difference was not physical. He was as big and brawny and brown as ever. Sight of him 再開するd a 負傷させる she thought had 傷をいやす／和解させるd.

"Come 負かす／撃墜する an' see my bees," he 招待するd her after supper.

The time was 近づく sunset and the green gully seemed 十分な of murmuring of bees and stream and 勝利，勝つd. Edd had 追加するd several new 蜂の巣s to his collection, all of which were sections of trees that he had sawed out and packed home.

"How'd you ever keep the bees in?" she asked wonderingly.

"I stuffed the 穴を開ける up an' then 削減（する） out the piece," he replied. "It can't be done with every bee tree, by a long 発射."

For once he seemed not to be keen to talk about his beloved bees, nor, for that 事柄, about anything. He sat 負かす／撃墜する ponderingly, as a man 負わせるd by cares beyond his comprehension. But the stubborn strength of him was manifest. Lucy had at first to 逆戻りする to the thought that the 飛行機で行くing bees were 害のない. With them humming 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her, alighting on her, this 協会 of safety did not come at once. She walked to and fro over the green grass and by the sturdy pines, trying to bring 支援する a self that had gone for ever. The sun sank behind purple silver-辛勝する／優位d clouds, and the golden 縁 stood up to catch the last 有望な ゆらめく of dying day.

"Wal, you're leavin' us soon?" queried Edd presently.

"Yes. How did you know?" replied Lucy, 停止（させる）ing before him.

"Reckon I guessed it...I'm awful sorry. We're shore goin' to 行方不明になる you."

That was all. He did not put queries Lucy 恐れるd she could not answer. He showed no 調印する of thoughts that 調査するd into her secret 事件／事情／状勢s. Somehow he gave Lucy the impression of a faithful animal which had been beaten. He was dumb. Yet she imagined his 明らかな stolidity （機の）カム from her aloofness. Lucy, in her 悲惨, essayed to talk commonplaces. But this failed, and she was 軍隊d to choose between 落ちるing on her 膝s before him and 飛行機で行くing 支援する to the テント. So she left him sitting there, and then from the （法廷の）裁判 above she 秘かに調査するd 負かす／撃墜する through the foliage upon him until dusk hid him from 見解（をとる）.

Was she a 反逆者 to the best in herself? Had she not betrayed this backwoods boy who had 答える／応じるd so nobly to every good impulse she had fostered in him? But 血 関係 were stronger than love. How terribly 悔恨 flayed her! And 疑問s flew 厚い as leaves in a 嵐／襲撃する. にもかかわらず, she could not 弱める, could never 出発／死 in any degree from the course she had 定める／命ずるd for herself. That was a dark hour. Her deepest emotions were augmented to passion. She was reaching a 危機, the 影響 of which she could not see.

Later the moon arose and blanched the lofty 縁 and the surrounding forest. 黒人／ボイコット 影をつくる／尾行するs of trees fell across the 追跡する and 小道／航路. The 空気／公表する had a delicious mountain coolness, and the silence was impressive. Lucy drank it all in, passionately loath to make the move that must of its very 勢い end these wilderness joys for her. But at last she dragged herself away from the moonlit, 黒人／ボイコット-閉めだした 追跡する.

She 設立する Clara and Joe sitting in lover-like, proximity on the rustic （法廷の）裁判 近づく the テント. As she approached them she did not 遠くに見つける any 調印する of their 当惑.

"Joe. I want to have a serious talk with Clara. Would you 強いる me by letting me have her alone for a while?" said Lucy.

"If it's serious, why can't I hear it?" queried Joe.

"I can't discuss a 純粋に family 事柄 before you," returned Lucy. "I'm going away soon. And this 事柄 関心s us--me---and things 支援する home."

"Lucy, I belong to your family now," said Joe, as slowly he 解放する／撤去させるd himself from Clara and stood up.

"So you do," replied Lucy, 労働ing to keep composed. "What of it?"

"I've a hunch you 港／避難所't 人物／姿／数字d us Denmeades," he 再結合させるd rather curtly, and strode away.

"What'd he mean?" asked Lucy, as she 星／主役にするd 負かす／撃墜する at Clara, whose big 注目する，もくろむs looked 黒人／ボイコット in the moonlight.

"I'm pretty sure he meant the Denmeades are not fair-天候 friends," said Clara thoughtfully. "He's been trying to pump me. Wants to know why you're here and going away--why you look so troubled...I told him, and Edd, too, that I wasn't in your 信用／信任. It's no 嘘（をつく）. And here I've been 脅すd stiff at the look of you."

"If you're not more than 脅すd you're lucky. Come in the テント," said Lucy.

Inside, the light was a pale radiance, filtering through the canvas. Lucy shut the door and locked it, poignantly aware of Clara's ぐずぐず残る の近くに to her. Her 注目する，もくろむs seemed like 広大な／多数の／重要な 星／主役にするing 湾s.

Lucy drew a 深い breath and cast off the fetters that bound her.

"Clara, do you remember the day of the fight in the school-house--that you were unconscious when Edd arrived?" queried Lucy in low, 強烈な 発言する／表明する.

"Yes," whispered Clara.

"Then of course you could not have heard what Jim Middleton said. He was about to leap upon me to get the letter I had snatched. He 脅すd to 涙／ほころび my 着せる／賦与するs off. Then he said it was his proof about the baby...Edd ran into the schoolroom just in time to hear the last few words...Later he said he'd heard--and he asked me--whose it was. I told him--地雷!"

"Good--God!" cried Clara faintly, and sat 負かす／撃墜する upon the bed as if strength to stand had left her.

"I spoke impulsively, yet it was the same as if I had thought for hours," went on Lucy hurriedly. "I never could have given you away...and I couldn't 嘘（をつく）--by 説 it--it was somebody's else."

"嘘（をつく）! It's a--terrible 嘘（をつく）!" burst out Clara hoarsely. "It's horrible...You've 廃虚d your good 指名する...You've broken Edd's heart. Now I know what ails him...But I won't stand for your taking my shame--my 重荷（を負わせる） on your shoulders."

"The thing is done," 宣言するd Lucy with finality.

"I won't--I won't!" flashed her sister passionately. "What do you take me for? I've done enough."

"Yes, you have. And since you've shirked your 責任／義務s--cast off your own flesh and 血 to be brought up by a greedy, callous woman--I ーするつもりである to do what is 権利 by that poor, unfortunate child."

Her cutting words wrought Clara into a frenzy of grief, shame, 激怒（する） and despair. For a while she was beside herself, and Lucy let her rave, いつかs 持つ／拘留するing her 強制的に from 難破させるing the テント and crying out too loud. She even 設立する a 穀物 of なぐさみ in Clara's 決裂／故障. What manner of woman would her sister have been if she had not shown terrible agitation?

At length Clara became coherent and いっそう少なく violent, and she begged Lucy to abandon this idea. Lucy answered as gently and kindly as was possible for her, under the circumstances, but she could not be changed. Clara was wildly importunate. Her 良心 had stricken her as never before. She loved Lucy and could not 耐える this 追加するd 大災害. Thus it was that Clara's weak though 情熱的な 嘆願s and Lucy's 成果／努力s to be 肉親，親類d yet 会社／堅い, to 支配（する）／統制する her own temper, now at white heat, finally led to a terrible quarrel. Once before, as girls, they had quarrelled 激しく over an escapade of Clara's. Now, as women, they clinched again in such passion as could only be born of 血 関係, of years of sacrifice on the part of one, of realisation of ignominy on the part of the other. And the 戦う／戦い went to Lucy, 徐々に, because of the might of her will and 権利 of her 原因（となる）.

"You can't see what you've done," 結論するd Lucy in spent passion. "You're like our father. Poor weak thing that you are, I can't 非難する you. It's in the family...If only you'd had the sense and the honour to tell me the truth!--before you married this clean simple-minded boy! Somehow we might have escaped the worst of it. But you married him, you selfish, callous little egotist! And now it's too late. Go on. Find what happiness you can. Be a good wife to this boy and let that make what little 修正するs is possible for you...I'll shoulder your 不名誉. I'll be a mother to your child. I'll fight the taint in the Watson 血--the thing that made you what you are. To my mind your 失敗 to make such fight yourself is the 罪，犯罪. I don't 持つ／拘留する your love, your 証拠不十分 against you. But you abandoned part of yourself to go abroad in the world to grow up as you did. To do the same thing over!...You are little, 哀れな, wicked. But you are my sister--all I have left to love. And I'll do what you cannot!"

Clara fell 支援する upon the pillow, dishevelled, white as death under the pale moonlit テント. Her nerveless 手渡すs 緩和するd their clutch on her breast. She shrank as if 燃やすd, and her 悲劇の 注目する，もくろむs の近くにd to hide her accuser.

"Oh, Lucy--Lucy!" she moaned. "God help me!"

Lucy walked alone in the dark 小道／航路, and two hours were but as moments. Upon her return to the テント she 設立する Clara asleep. Lucy did not light the lamp or fully undress, so loath was she to awaken her sister. And, exhausted herself, in a few moments she sank into slumber. Morning 設立する her refreshed in strength and spirit.

She 推定する／予想するd an ordeal almost as trying as the 衝突 of wills the night before--that she would have to 直面する a cringing, 哀れな girl, wrung by 悔恨 and shame. But Clara awoke in strange mood, proud, 悲劇の-注目する，もくろむd and aloof, reminding Lucy of their youthful days when her sister had been reproved for some misdemeanour. Lucy 受託するd this as a welcome surprise, and, 深い in her own perturbation, she did not dwell 本気で upon it. The 広大な／多数の／重要な fact of her 危機 （人が）群がるd out aught else--she must leave the Denmeade ranch that day, and the wilderness home which was really the only home she had ever loved, 延期する would be only a cruelty to herself. Still, the ordeal was past and she had なぐさみ in her victory. At least she would not fail. This was her 最高の and last 負債 to her family.

Never before had the forest been so enchanting as on that summer morning. She punished herself ruthlessly by going to the fragrant glade where she had learned her first lessons from the wilderness. Weeks had passed, yet every pine needle seemed in its place. キツツキs 大打撃を与えるd on the dead trunks; 次第に損なう suckers glided 長，率いる downward 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the brown-barked trees; woodland バタフライs ぱたぱたするd across the sunlit spaces; blue jays 急襲するd screechin' from bough to bough; red squirrels tore scratchingly in chattering 追跡 of one another. Crows and 強硬派s and eagles sailed the sunny world between the forest tips and the lofty 縁. It was hot in the sun; 冷静な／正味の in the shade. The scent of pine was overpoweringly 甘い. A hot, drowsy summer 微風 stirred through the foliage. And the golden aisle 近づく Lucy's 退却／保養地 seemed a stream for myriads of Edd's homing bees, humming by to the 蜂の巣s.

Lucy tried to 納得させる herself that all forests 所有するd the same 質s as this one--that the beauty and charm and strength of it （機の）カム from her 注目する，もくろむ and heart--that wherever she went to work she now could take this precious knowledge with her. Trees and creatures of the wild were 大臣s to a harmony with nature.

A forest was a thing of infinite mystery, a 多重の 詳細（に述べる）, of immeasurable design. Trees, 激しく揺するs, 小衝突, brook could not explain the home instinct engendered in the wild coverts, the shaded dells, the dark caverns, the lonely aisles, the magnificent archways. The green leaves of the trees brought the rain from the sea and created what they lived upon. The 水晶 springs under the mossy cliffs were born of thirsty foliage, of the pulse in the roots of the trees. These springs were the sources of rivers. They were the fountains of all life. If the forests 死なせる／死ぬd, there would be left only 砂漠, desolate and dead.

Lucy sat under her favourite pine, her 支援する against the rough bark, and she could reach her 手渡す out of the shade into the sun. She thought for what seemed a long time. Then the forgot herself in a moment of abandon. She kissed and smelled the fragrant bark; she 鎮圧するd handfuls of the brown pine needles, pricking her fingers till they bled; she gathered the pine 反対／詐欺s to her, 国／地域ing her 手渡すs with the hot pitch. And suddenly 打ち勝つ by these physical sensations, she 解除するd 直面する and 武器 to the green canopy above and uttered an inarticulate cry, poignant and wild.

Then a rustling in the 小衝突 startled her; and as if in answer to her cry Edd Denmeade strode out of the green 塀で囲む of thicket, 権利 upon her.

"Reckon you was callin' me," he said, in his 冷静な／正味の, 平易な drawl.

"Oh-h!...You 脅すd me!" she exclaimed, 星／主役にするing up at him. He wore his bee-追跡（する）ing garb, ragged from service and redolent of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. His brown, brawny shoulder bulged through a rent. In one 手渡す he carried a short-扱うd axe. His clean-shaven, tanned 直面する shone almost golden, and his （疑いを）晴らす grey 注目する，もくろむs held a singular piercing softness. How tall and lithe and strong he looked! A wild-bee hunter! But that was only a 指名する. Lucy would not have had him different.

"Where'd you come from?" she asked, suddenly realising the imminence of some question that dwarfed all other problems.

"Wal, I 追跡するd you," he replied.

"You saw me come here?...You've been watching me?"

"Shore. I was standin' in that thicket of pines, peepin' through at you."

"Was that--nice of you--Edd?" she 滞るd.

"Reckon I don't know. All I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to find out was how you really felt about leavin' us all--an' my 支持を得ようと努めるd."

"井戸／弁護士席, did you learn?" she asked, very low.

"I shore did."

"And what is it?"

"Wal, I reckon you feel pretty bad," he answered 簡単に. "First off I thought it was only your old trouble. But after a while I could see you hated to leave our 支持を得ようと努めるd. An' shore we're all part of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. If I hadn't seen that I'd never have let you know I was there watchin' you."

"Edd, I do hate to leave your 支持を得ようと努めるd--and all your folks--and you--more than I can tell," she said sadly.

"Wal, then, what're you leavin' for?" he asked bluntly.

"I must."

"Reckon that don't mean much to me. Why must you?"

"It won't do any good to talk about it. You wouldn't understand--and I'll be upset. Please don't ask me."

"But, Lucy, is it fair not to tell me anythin'?" he queried ponderingly. "You know I love you like you told me a man does when he thinks of a girl before himself."

"Oh no--it isn't!" burst out Lucy poignantly, suddenly, strangely 打ち勝つ by his 予期しない 宣言.

"Wal, then, tell me all about it," he entreated.

Lucy 星／主役にするd hard at the clusters of fragrant pine needles she had gathered in her （競技場の）トラック一周. Alarming symptoms in her breast gave her pause. She was not mistress of her emotions. She could be taken unawares. This boy had 最高の 力／強力にする over her, if he knew how to 雇う it. Lucy struggled with a new and untried 状況／情勢.

"Edd, I 借りがある a 義務 to--to myself--and to my family," she said, and tried bravely to look at him.

"An' to somebody else?" he 需要・要求するd, with sudden passion. He dropped on his 膝s and reached for Lucy. His 手渡すs were like アイロンをかける. They 解除するd her to her 膝s and drew her の近くに. He was rough. His clasp 傷つける. But these things were nothing to the 表現 she caught in his 注目する，もくろむs--a terrible flash that could mean only jealousy.

"Let me go!" she cried wildly, trying to get away. Her gaze drooped. It seemed she had no 怒り／怒る. Her heart swelled as if bursting. 証拠不十分 of will and muscle attacked her.

"Be still an' listen," he ordered, shaking her. He need not have 雇うd 暴力／激しさ. "Reckon you've had your own way too much...I lied to you about how I killed that cowboy."

"Oh, Edd--then it wasn't an 事故?" cried Lucy, 沈むing limp against him. All 軍隊 within her seemed to coalesce.

"It shore wasn't," he replied grimly. "But I let you an' everybody think so. That damned skunk! He was tryin' his best to 殺人 me. I had no gun...I told him I wouldn't 傷つける him...Then what'd he do? He was cunnin' as hell. He whispered things--hissed them at me like a snake--vile words about you--what you were. It was a trick. Shore he meant to surprise me--make me lose my 神経...so he could get the gun. An' all the time he pulled only the harder. He could feel I loved you. An' his trick 近づく worked. But I seen through it--an I turned the gun against him."

"Oh, my God! you killed him--故意に!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Yes. An' it wasn't self-defence. I killed him because of what he called you."

"Me!...Oh, of course," cried Lucy hysterically. A deadly sweetness of emotion was 急速な／放蕩な taking the 残余 of her sense and strength. In another moment she would betray herself--her love, bursting at its dam--and what was infinitely worse, her sister.

"Lucy, it don't make no difference what that cowboy said--even if it was true," he went on, now huskily. "But--were you his wife or anybody's?"

"No!" flashed Lucy passionately, and she spoke the truth in a 猛烈な／残忍な pride that had nothing to do with her 状況／情勢, or the 義務 she had assumed.

"Aw--now!" he panted, and let go of her. Rising, he seemed to be throwing off an evil （一定の）期間.

Lucy fell 支援する against the pine tree, unable even to 試みる／企てる to 飛行機で行く from him. 星／主役にするing at Edd, she yet saw the green and blue canopy 総計費, and the golden gleam of the 広大な／多数の／重要な 塀で囲む. Was that the summer 勝利，勝つd 雷鳴ing in her ears? How strangely Edd's grimness had fled; Then--there he was ぼんやり現れるing over her again--eager now, rapt with some 圧倒的な thought. He fell beside her, の近くに, and took her 手渡す in an 活動／戦闘 that was a caress.

"Lucy--will you let me talk--an' listen の近くに?" he asked, in a トン she had never heard.

She could not see his 直面する now and dared not move.

"Yes," she whispered, her 長，率いる 沈むing a little, drooping away from his 注目する，もくろむs.

"Wal, it all come to me like lightnin'," he began, in a swift, 十分な 発言する／表明する, singularly rich. And he smoothed her 手渡す as if to soothe a child. "I've saved up 近づく a thousand dollars. Reckon it's not much, but it'll help us start. An' I can work at anythin'. Shore you must have a little money, too...Wal, we'll get your baby an' then go far off some place where nobody knows you, same as when you come here. We'll work an' make a home for it. Ever since you told me I've been findin' out I was goin' to love your baby...It'll be the same as if it was 地雷. We can come 支援する here to live, after a few years. I'd hate never to come 支援する. I've 始める，決める my heart on that mesa homestead...Wal, no one will ever know. I'll forget your--your trouble, an' so will you. I don't want to know any more than you've told me. I don't 持つ／拘留する that against you. It might have happened to me. But for you it would have happened to my sister Mertie...Life is a good 取引，協定 like bee-huntin'. You get stung a lot. But the honey is only the sweeter...All this seems to have come 一連の会議、交渉／完成する for the best, an' I'm not sorry, if only I can make you happy."

Lucy sac as if in a 副／悪徳行為, shocked through and through with some tremendous 現在の.

"Edd Denmeade," she whispered, "are you asking me--to--to marry you?"

"I'm more than askin', Lucy darlin'."

"After what I 自白するd?" she 追加するd unbelievingly.

"Shore. But for that I'd never had the courage to ask again...I've come to hope maybe you'll love me some day."

This moment seemed the 最高潮 of the 緊張する under which Lucy had long kept up. It had the shocking 力／強力にする of 完全にする surprise and unhoped-for rapture. It やめる broke 負かす／撃墜する her 弱めるd reserve.

"I--love you now--you big--big--" she burst out, choking at the last, and blinded by 涙／ほころびs she turned her 直面する to Edd's and, kissing his cheek, she sank on his shoulder. But she was not so の近くに to fainting that she failed to feel the 影響 of her 宣言 upon him. He gave a wild start, and for a second Lucy felt as if she were in the 武器 of a 巨大（な）. Then he let go of her, and sat rigidly against the tree, supporting her 長，率いる on his shoulder. She could hear the 強くたたく of his heart. Backwoodsman though he was, he divined that this was not the time to forget her 降伏する and her 証拠不十分. In the 静かな of the 後継するing moments Lucy （機の）カム wholly into a realisation of the splendour of her love.

It was late in the day when they returned to the （疑いを）晴らすing. Hours had flown on the wings of happiness and the thrill of 計画（する）s. Lucy forgot the dark 影をつくる／尾行する. And not until they 現れるd from the forest to see Clara standing in the テント door, with 意図 gaze upon them, did Lucy remember the bitter 減少（する）s in her cup. Clara beckoned imperiously, with something in her look or 活動／戦闘 that struck Lucy singularly. She let go of Edd's 手渡す, which she had been 持つ／拘留するing almost unconsciously.

"Wal, I reckon your sharp-注目する，もくろむd sister is on to us," drawled Edd.

"It seems so. But, Edd--she'll be glad, I know."

"Shore. An' so will Joe an' all the Denmeades. It's a mighty good day for us."

"The good fortune is all on my 味方する," whispered Lucy, as they approached the テント.

Clara stood on the threshold, 持つ／拘留するing the door wide. Her 直面する had the pearly pallor and her 注目する，もくろむs the purple blackness usual to them in moments of agitation. She did not seem a girl any longer. Her beauty was something to strike the heart.

"Lucy--come in--you and your gentleman friend," she said, her 発言する／表明する trembling with emotion. Yet there was a faint 公式文書，認める of pride or mockery of self or of them in it.

"Wal, Clara, you may 同様に kiss me an' be done with it," drawled Edd, as he entered behind Lucy. "For you're goin' to be my sister two ways."

Clara's 返答 was electrifying. Her 直面する seemed to 炎 with rapture and the swift kiss she gave Edd 認める of no 疑問 as to her 受託 of Edd's blunt speech. But she made no move to approach Lucy.

Joe Denmeade sat on the 辛勝する／優位 of the bed, white and spent. Sight of him 原因（となる）d Lucy's heart to leap to her throat.

"Howdy, Lucy!" he said, with a smile that was beautiful, "Is my brother Edd talkin' straight?"

"Yes, Joe. I'm going to be doubly your sister," she replied.

"I couldn't ask no more," he 再結合させるd, with 深い feeling.

There followed a moment of 強制. Lucy could not しっかり掴む the 状況／情勢, but she felt its tensity. Then, trembling, she turned to 直面する Clara.

"I have told Joe," said Clara as Lucy met her 注目する，もくろむs.

Lucy received this blow fully, without 準備, and に引き続いて hard on 強調する／ストレス of feeling that had left her spent. Her 知能 was swift to 受託する the wondrous and almost incredible fact of Clara's regeneration, but her emotions seemed dead or locked in her breast. Mutely she 星／主役にするd at this beloved sister. She saw an incalculable change, if she saw 明確に at all. She might have been dazed. In that endless moment there was a slow 活動／戦闘 of her own mind, but something she 表明するd wrought havoc in Clara. The glow, the rapture, the exaltation that so 高めるd Clara's beauty, suddenly faded and died. Even her moment of 最高の victory had been 十分な of thought of self. But Lucy's agony transformed it.

"I--told him," burst out Clara, sobbing. "I couldn't stand it--any longer. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 him to know...I could have gone on--living a 嘘（をつく）--if you had not taken my--my shame. But that was too much. It killed something in me...So I told him I couldn't let you do it. I must do it myself. And I gave Joe up...But, Lucy, he forgave me!...He will stand by me!"

"Oh, Joe--how splendid--of you!" gasped Lucy, and with the hard utterance her bound faculties seemed to 緩和する. She ran to Joe's 味方する. "But how can you 会合，会う this--this terrible 状況／情勢?"

Joe took her trembling 手渡すs in his.

"Why, Lucy, don't be upset!" he said. "It's not so bad. If Clara had told me long ago I reckon you'd both been saved a lot of heart-breakin'...There's only one way. The preacher who married Clara an' me will keep our secret. An' he'll marry us again. We'll just leave out tellin' anybody that this--this cowboy forgot to marry Clara himself."

"Yes--yes!" cried Lucy wildly.

"Reckon thet's aboot all," continued Joe, with his rare smile. "Clara an' I will tell the folks, an' leave at once...An' we'll come 支援する with the baby!"

Here Edd Denmeade strode to a position before them, and though he seemed to be about to 演説（する）／住所 Joe, he certainly looked at Lucy.

"Reckon you'd do 井戸／弁護士席 to have the parson 会合，会う you in Cedar 山の尾根 an' marry you there," he said.

Lucy could have laughed had she not been fighting 涙／ほころびs. "Edd, are you talking to Joe--or me?"

"Lucy, would you marry me at the same time?" he queried hoarsely.

"I--I 恐れる the （人が）群がる at Cedar 山の尾根. They'll 嵐／襲撃する us," 滞るd Clara.

"Shore we can fool them," returned Edd.

"All 権利. We've settled it all," said Joe, in a 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 肉親，親類d of happiness. "I'll go in an' tell the folks."

"Wal, I'm goin' with you," 再結合させるd Edd as Joe rose. They strode out together, and Edd's brawny arm went 一連の会議、交渉／完成する his brother's shoulder. "Joe, I reckon it's as good one way as another. It's all in the family. The three of them'll be Denmeades."

Lucy の近くにd the テント door after them and turned to her sister. Clara's 注目する，もくろむs were 向こうずねing through 涙／ほころびs.

"Aren't they good?" she murmured. "'It's all in the family,' Edd said. Either he or Joe would have been happy to be father to my baby...Oh, I did not 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる them. I did not understand Joe--or you--or myself...I did not know what love was...Now I can atone for the past."

At sunset Lucy escaped the hilarious Denmeades and slipped into the forest, to hide in an unfrequented glade. She had to be alone.

The 深遠な 変形s of the day were いっそう少なく baffling and incredible once she 設立する herself in the loneliness and 孤独 of the forest. Life was real and earnest, beautiful and terrible, inexplicable as the 炎 of the setting sun, so fiery golden on the rugged, 非常に高い 縁. In the depths of the 静かな 支持を得ようと努めるd she could understand something of 簡単. For her and Clara life had been throbbing and poignant. For the Denmeades life seemed like that of the trees and denizens of the forest.

The sun sank, the birds 中止するd their plaintive 公式文書，認めるs, and a dreaming silence pervaded the green world of foliage. Late bees hummed by. The drowsy summer heat began to 冷静な／正味の.

Lucy's heart was 十分な of reverent 感謝 to whatever had wrought the change in Clara. Love, 苦しむing, the 影響（力） of nature, all had 連合させるd to 燃やす out the baneful, selfish 証拠不十分 that had made Clara a 犠牲者 to circumstances. And these were only other 指名するs for God.

How inscrutably had things worked to this happy end! She tried to look backward and understand. But that seemed impossible. Yet she realised how stubbornly, miserably, she had clung to her ideal. If she had only known the reward!

The 広大な／多数の／重要な solemn forest land was after all to be her home. She would go on with her work の中で these simple people, 感謝する that she would be received by them, happy that she could bring good to their lonely homes. The thing she had prayed most for had become a reality. If 疑問 ever 攻撃する，非難するd her again, it would be of short duration. She thought of the bee-hunter She would be his wife on the morrow!

Dusk mantled the forest. A faint night 勝利，勝つd arose, mournful and 甘い. Lucy threaded her way 支援する toward the （疑いを）晴らすing. And the peace of the wilderness seemed to have permeated her soul. She was just one little 原子 in a 広大な world of struggling humans, like a little pine sapling 解除するing itself の中で millions of its 肉親，親類d toward the light. But that 解除するing was the 広大な／多数の／重要な and the beautiful secret.

THE END

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