"I--I can hide
you, easy. Nobody could find where I'll put you, and there you can
rest up. You must be tolerable tired."
There was no doubt about it. There was kindness as well as anxiety in
her voice. For the second time in his entire life, Bull decided that a
woman could be something more than an annoyance. She was placing a
value on him, just as Jessie, three days before, had placed a value on
him; and it disturbed Bull. For so many years, he had been mocked and
scorned by his uncle and cousins that deep in his mind was engraved
the certainty that he was useless. He decided to hurry on before the
girl found out the truth.
"I can still walk," he said, "and, while I can walk, I got to go
south. But--you gimme heart, lady. You gimme a pile of heart to keep
going. Maybe"--he paused, uncertain what to say next, and yet
obviously she expected something more--"I'll get a chance to come back
this way, and if I do, I'll see you! You can lay to that--I'll
see you!"
He was gone before she could answer, and he was wondering why she had
looked down with that sudden color and that queer, pleased smile.
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