"I cyant, Lem," she said; "not now." At this refusal from her a pallor swept his features. Utterly crushed, he walked to and fro, a prey to conflicting emotions.
Her mysterious mien and unaccountable frigidity drove the chill of another fear into his being. Could it be that this was the first bud of a fruit that had already started to thrive in Belle-Ann's heart, before she had even reached the school?
She was going out into a new world away from him. Did she already regard herself exalted above the things that made up his humble life?
He looked at her sitting on the log, silent, beautiful, mysterious—another girl from the one he had known all his life.
Abruptly he halted before her. Her eyes sought his face. He fell back a few paces, now white to the lips with feelings that tore him. He stretched his two arms toward her beseechingly.
"Looky heah, Belle-Ann! Look t' me now, little gal!" he cried out in words that tumbled over each other, "Hain't I fittin'? Gawd cyan't find th' bein' thet loves yo'-all like me, Belle-Ann! Hain't I honest? Hain't I knowed yo' all yore little life, Belle-Ann? Whut would maw say, seein' yo'-all driftin' away from me like thes? Do yo' 'low t' go below an' never cum back, Belle-Ann? Hain't I alers fit fo' yo'-all, Belle-Ann? Hain't I fit for yo' all my life?"
He took a step nearer, and with his two strong hands ruthlessly ripped his flannel shirt open and exposed his naked breast to her eyes.
Transfixed, the girl stared at the twenty wide, white scars that criss-crossed his bosom. At sight of this, with sheer will and gallant courage she fought back the tears into her aching heart—fought them back desperately, just as he had fought off the she-bear that had made those marks when they two were children—fought her off single-handed with a club, and saved Belle-Ann's life.
With wide eyes she regarded him as he reached out for her.
His impassioned words penetrated to her very soul. She heard him on vaguely, struggling to control herself. The tide of emotion past, his petitions came now in low, entreating accents.