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an' torn off you. You-all sure will be a-lookin' worse'n what I ever looked the next time he sees you,--you with your no-'count, half-gal and half-boy name!" As the mountain girl, with the quickness of a wild thing, leaped upon her, Betty Jo screamed--one piercing cry, that ended in a choking gasp as Judy's hands found her throat. Brian, who was still at the barn, busy with the morning chores, heard. With all his might, he ran toward the spot from which the call came. Betty Jo fought desperately; but, strong as she was, she could never have endured against the vicious strength of the frenzied mountain-bred Judy, who was slowly and surely forcing her toward the brink of the river-bank, against which the swift waters of the rapids swept with terrific force. A moment more and Brian would have been too late. Throwing Judy aside, he caught the exhausted Betty Jo in his arms, and, carrying her a little back from the edge of the stream, placed her gently on the ground. Betty Jo did not faint; but she was too spent with her exertions to speak, though she managed to smile at him reassuringly, and shook her head when he asked if she was hurt. When Brian was assured that the girl was really unharmed, he turned angrily to face Judy. But Judy had disappeared in the brush. Presently, as Betty Jo's breathing became normal, she arranged her disordered hair and dress, and told Brian what the mountain girl had said; and this, of course, forced the man to relate his experience with Judy that night when she had told him that Betty Jo must not come back. "I suppose I should have warned you, Miss Williams," he finished; "but the whole thing seemed to me so impossible, I could not believe there was any danger of the crazy creature actually attempting to carry out her wild threat; and, besides,--well, you can see that it was rather difficult for me to speak of it to you. I am sorry," he ended, with embarrassment. For a long moment, the two looked at each other silently; then Betty Jo's practical common sense came to the rescue: "It would have been awkward for you to try to tell me, wouldn't it, Mr. Burns? And now that it is all over, and no harm done, we must just forget it as quickly as we can. We won't ever mention it again, will we?" "Certainly not," he agreed heartily. "But I shall keep an eye on Miss Judy, in the future, I can promise you." "I doubt if we ever see her again," returned Betty Jo, thoughtfully. "I don
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