“Oh, fiddlesticks, Bessie, I am not a baby,” said Betty, with vehemence.  “There is not a horse in the barn but would stand on his hind legs before he would step on me, let alone kick me.”

“I don’t know, Betty, but I think that black horse Mr. Clarke left here would kick any one,” remarked the Colonel.

“Oh, no, he would not hurt me.”

“Betty, we have had pleasant weather for about three days,” said the Colonel, gravely.  “In that time you have let out that crazy bear of yours to turn everything topsy-turvy.  Only yesterday I got my hands in the paint you have put on your canoe.  If you had asked my advice I would have told you that painting your canoe should not have been done for a month yet.  Silas told me you fell down the creek hill; Sam said you tried to drive his team over the bluff, and so on.  We are happy to see you get back your old time spirits, but could you not be a little more careful?  Your versatility is bewildering.  We do not know what to look for next.  I fully expect to see you brought to the house some day maimed for life, or all that beautiful black hair gone to decorate some Huron’s lodge.”

“I tell you I am perfectly delighted that the weather is again so I can go out.  I am tired to death of staying indoors.  This morning I could have cried for very joy.  Bessie will soon be lecturing me about Madcap.  I must not ride farther than the fort.  Well, I don’t care.  I intend to ride all over.”

“Betty, I do not wish you to think I am lecturing you,” said the Colonel’s wife.  “But you are as wild as a March hare and some one must tell you things.  Now listen.  My brother, the Major, told me that Simon Girty, the renegade, had been heard to say that he had seen Eb Zane’s little sister and that if he ever got his hands on her he would make a squaw of her.  I am not teasing you.  I am telling you the truth.  Girty saw you when you were at Fort Pitt two years ago.  Now what would you do if he caught you on one of your lonely rides and carried you off to his wigwam?  He has done things like that before.  James Girty carried off one of the Johnson girls.  Her brothers tried to rescue her and lost their lives.  It is a common trick of the Indians.”

“What would I do if Mr. Simon Girty tried to make a squaw of me?” exclaimed Betty, her eyes flashing fire.  “Why, I’d kill him!”

“I believe it, Betts, on my word I do,” spoke up the Colonel.  “But let us hope you may never see Girty.  All I ask is that you be careful.  I am going over to Short Creek to-morrow.  Will you go with me?  I know Mrs. Raymer will be pleased to see you.”

“Oh, Eb, that will be delightful!”

“Very well, get ready and we shall start early in the morning.”

Two weeks later Betty returned from Short Creek and seemed to have profited much by her short visit.  Col.  Zane remarked with satisfaction to his wife that Betty had regained all her former cheerfulness.