have given me a beating
"You had some excuse, but I’m sorry. They would have hurt you if you hadn’t kept them off."
"Yes, they’d probably have given me a beating. People do things in hot blood they wish they hadn’t afterward. I know this Oakville rough-scuff. Since we’ve had it out, and they know what to expect, they’ll give me a wide berth. Now go and sleep. You were never safer in your life."
She did not trust herself to reply, but the glance she gave him from her tearful eyes was so eloquent with grateful feeling that he was suddenly conscious of some unwonted sensations. He again patrolled the place and tied the dog near the barn.
"It’s barely possible that some of these mean cusses might venture to kindle a fire, but a bark from Towser will warn ’em off. She IS a spirited little woman," he added, with a sharp change in soliloquy. "There’s nothing milk-and-water about her. Thunder! I felt like kissing her when she looked at me so. I guess that crack on my skull has made me a little light-headed."
He lay down in his clothes so that he might rush out in case of any alarm, and he intended to keep awake. Then, the first thing he knew, the sun was shining in the windows.
It was long before Alida slept, and the burden of her thoughts confirmed the words that she had spoken so involuntarily. "You don’t know how a woman feels when a man stands up for her as you did." It is the nature of her sex to adore hardy, courageous manhood. Beyond all power of expression, Alida felt her need of a champion and protector. She was capable of going away for his sake, but she would go in terror and despair.
Processing your request, Please wait....
