“Afraid—you—won’t? That’s ’bout ’nough! You ain’t under a bridge now!”
The twit stung. His face darkened. He set her down abruptly, picked up his gun, moved away toward the left.
“I—I didn’t mean that,” she quickly added. “I dunno why I said it—it jest come, like. But—remember, we come up here to see somebody.”
He nodded sombrely and strode on. Confound it! Why did these hill girls take things so seriously? He hadn’t meant to kiss her anyhow. Or had he? He didn’t know; maybe, in that momentary devil-may-care mood, he would have done it. And what if he had? There was nothing fatal about a careless kiss or so, all in fun. But then, there was Steve, of course. Yes, that was it. That fierce, vengeful, desperate boy—she was cleaving to him, one of her own people, and the kiss of any other man was not to be lightly taken. So be it. She was right enough, of course.
Yet, in his unintrospective way, he felt a vague irritation over the eternal presence of Steve. If only the youth did not exist—— He let the thought go no farther. He did not consider what might be if Steve were removed. Neither did he recall that this girl’s blood was tainted by her parentage. He let the whole matter die, and instead put his mind on the lonely, sick boy himself, victim of Snake Sanders’ machinations and fugitive from the insensate monster which killed men’s souls—the Law. Sympathy for him again warmed his heart. He pressed on in his errand of aid.
“D’you shave every day?” sounded a small voice at his heels.
“Uh? Shave?” He groped, bewildered by the sudden change of thought. “Why—yes. Every morning after breakfast. Why?”
“Your chin’s so smooth. It ain’t all full of splinters like pop’s. And your face always looks so clean. I never see any other man that kept his face clean every day. I—I kind of like it.”
The ingenuous statement made him laugh.
“Glad there’s something about me that you like,” he mocked. “But to me it’s not so much a matter of appearance as of comfort. I can’t stand a mess of bristles on my face and throat. It’s prickly. So I slice it off.”