The panting boys stood and looked at each other. Each of them had a few rents in their khaki trousers; and might have been served even worse only that their puttees protected the lower part of their limbs.
"Whew! that was a hot time!" gasped Thad. "Did you see how many times I bowled the thing over, and only to have to defend myself again? Give me a mad wildcat for gameness. They haven't their equal going, pound for pound."
"And I hit him when I threw that stone; I'm proud of that shot, suh!" declared the Southern boy, with a grim smile.
"Say, it was a right smart throw, all right; but s'pose yuh come and help me outen this trap now, strangers," came from the mountain girl.
As they turned toward her, and advanced, Thad saw immediately that she was not the little Bertha whom he had looked upon, sitting beside Reuben Sparks, and with her golden hair, seeming very much like a fairy.
This girl was slender, and with coarse, black hair. She was garbed in common homespun clothes, and wore shoes that were doubtless much too large for her feet. One of her ankles had been caught tightly in the crevice of the rock. She might have managed to extricate herself if given a little time; but the sudden appearance of that ugly fighting wildcat had upset her; so that she had twisted and squirmed until her foot was held as though in a blacksmith's vise.
Bob in his usual impetuous way might have been impelled to tug at that imprisoned foot, and add to her sufferings; but Thad, who was cooler, set about discovering just how it was gripped; then, as gently as he could he gave it a sudden turn, and the thing was done.
The girl uttered a little scream as a pain shot through her ankle; but then she realized that the way the boy had gone about it was the right one. Results count every time. When a man succeeds, the path he has taken is looked upon as a shining example to the rising generation; should he fail, the same route is pointed out as beset with unsurmountable difficulties.
"I'm right glad you kim along in time," the girl remarked, as her black eyes scanned the faces of the two boys who had done her such a good turn.
"Had you done anything to the cat; or was it just crazy for a fight?" asked Bob, as he looked more closely at the angular girl; and Thad thought he could detect that in his manner to tell he might have recognized her.