Little was known of Miller's history. He hailed from Ft. Pitt, where he had a

reputation as a good soldier, but a man of morose and quarrelsome disposition.



It was whispered that he drank, and that he had been friendly with the

renegades McKee, Elliott, and Girty. He had passed the fall and winter at Ft.



Henry, serving on garrison duty. Since he had made the acquaintance of Betty

he had shown her all the attention possible.



On this night a close observer would have seen that Miller was laboring under

some strong feeling. A half-subdued fire gleamed from his dark eyes. A



peculiar nervous twitching of his nostrils betrayed a poorly suppressed

excitement.



All evening he followed Betty like a shadow. Her kindness may have encouraged

him. She danced often with him end showed a certain preference for his



society. Alice and Lydia were puzzled by Betty's manner. As they were intimate

friends they believed they knew something of her likes and dislikes. Had not



Betty told them she did not care for Mr. Miller? What was the meaning of the

arch glances she bestowed upon him, if she did not care for him? To be sure,



it was nothing wonderful for Betty to smile,--she was always prodigal of her

smiles--but she had never been known to encourage any man. The truth was that



Betty had put her new resolution into effect; to be as merry and charming as

any fancy-free maiden could possibly be, and the farthest removed from a young



lady pining for an absent and indifferentsweetheart. To her sorrow Betty

played her part too well.



Except to Wetzel, whose keen eyes little escaped, there was no significance in

Miller's hilarity one moment and sudden thoughtfulness the next. And if there



had been, it would have excited no comment. Most of the young men had sampled

some of old Dan's best rye and their flushed faces and unusual spirits did not



result altogether from the exercise of the dance.

After one of the reels Miller led Betty, with whom be had been dancing, into



one of the side rooms. Round the dimly lighted room were benches upon which

were seated some of the dancers. Betty was uneasy in mind and now wished that



she had remained at home. They had exchanged several commonplace remarks when

the music struck up and Betty rose quickly to her feet.



"See, the others have gone. Let us return," she said.

"Wait," said Miller hurriedly. "Do not go just yet. I wish to speak to you. I



have asked you many times if you will marry me. Now I ask you again."

"Mr. Miller, I thanked you and begged you not to cause us both pain by again



referring to that subject," answered Betty with dignity. "If you will persist

in bringing it up we cannot be friends any longer."



"Wait, please wait. I have told you that I will not take 'No' for an answer. I

love you with all my heart and soul and I cannot give you up."



His voice was low and hoarse and thrilled with a strong man's passion. Betty

looked up into his face and tears of compassion filled her eyes. Her heart



softened to this man, and her conscience gave her a little twinge of remorse.

Could she not have averted all this? No doubt she had been much to blame, and



this thought made her voice very low and sweet as she answered him.

"I like you as a friend, Mr. Miller, but we can never be more than friends. I



am very sorry for you, and angry with myself that I did not try to help you

instead of making it worse. Please do not speak of this again. Come, let us



join the others."

They were quite alone in the room. As Betty finished speaking and started for



the door Miller intercepted her. She recoiled in alarm from his white face.

"No, you don't go yet. I won't give you up so easily. No woman can play fast



and loose with me! Do you understand? What have you meant all this winter? You

encouraged me. You know you did," he cried passionately.



"I thought you were a gentleman. I have really taken the trouble to defend you

against persons who evidently were not misled as to your real nature. I will



not listen to you," said Betty coldly. She turned away from him, all her

softened feeling changed to scorn.



"You shall listen to me," he whispered as he grasped her wrist and pulled her

backward. All the man's brutalpassion had been aroused. The fierce border



blood boiled within his heart. Unmasked he showed himself in his true colors a

frontier desperado. His eyes gleamed dark and lurid beneath his bent brows and



a short, desperate laugh passed his lips.

"I will make you love me, my proud beauty. I shall have you yet, one way or



another."

• instinct [´instiŋkt] n.本能；直觉；天资 (初中英语单词)


• resolve [ri´zɔlv] v.决心 n.决心；刚毅 (初中英语单词)


• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)


• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)


• cheerful [´tʃiəful] a.快乐的；高兴的 (初中英语单词)


• wilderness [´wildənis] n.荒地，荒野 (初中英语单词)


• frontier [´frʌntiə] n.国境；边疆；边界 (初中英语单词)


• agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)


• dislike [dis´laik] vt.&n.不喜爱，厌恶 (初中英语单词)


• sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)


• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)


• wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)


• chorus [´kɔ:rəs] n.合唱；齐声 v.合唱 (初中英语单词)


• overhead [´əuvə,hed] ad.当头 a.在头上的 (初中英语单词)


• frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)


• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)


• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)


• everyone [´evriwʌn] pron.=everybody 每人 (初中英语单词)


• healthy [´helθi] a.健康的 (初中英语单词)


• disposition [,dispə´ziʃən] n.安排；性情；倾向 (初中英语单词)


• chatter [´tʃætə] vi.&n.饶舌；闲聊 (初中英语单词)


• turkey [´tə:ki] n.火鸡 (初中英语单词)


• ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)


• grandmother [´græn,mʌðə] n.(外)祖母 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)


• hunter [´hʌntə] n.猎人；猎狗；猎马 (初中英语单词)


• admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən] n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词)


• assembly [ə´sembli] n.集会；装配；与会者 (初中英语单词)


• observer [əb´zə:və] n.遵守者；观察员 (初中英语单词)


• acquaintance [ə´kweintəns] n.相识；熟人，相识的人 (初中英语单词)


• nervous [´nə:vəs] a.神经的；神经过敏的 (初中英语单词)


• encourage [in´kʌridʒ] vt.鼓励；怂勇；促进 (初中英语单词)


• resolution [,rezə´lu:ʃən] n.决心；坚决；果断 (初中英语单词)


• charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)


• absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)


• comment [´kɔment] n.&v.评论；评注；注意 (初中英语单词)


• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)


• altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)


• dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• conscience [´kɔnʃəns] n.良心；道德心 (初中英语单词)


• evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)


• coldly [´kəuldli] ad.冷淡地 (初中英语单词)


• fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)


• desperate [´despərit] a.拼死的；绝望的 (初中英语单词)


• longing [´lɔŋiŋ] n.&a.渴望(的) (高中英语单词)


• intensity [in´tensiti] a.激烈；强度；深度 (高中英语单词)


• colonel [´kə:nəl] n.海(陆)军上校 (高中英语单词)


• buffalo [´bʌfələu] n.水牛；野牛 (高中英语单词)


• foremost [´fɔ:məust] a.最重要的；最先的 (高中英语单词)


• impatient [im´peiʃənt] a.不耐烦的，急躁的 (高中英语单词)


• countless [´kauntlis] a.无数的 (高中英语单词)


• smoothly [´smu:ðli] ad.光滑地；顺利地 (高中英语单词)


• onward [´ɔnwəd] ad.&a.向前(的) (高中英语单词)


• gloomy [´glu:mi] a.昏暗的；忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


• destination [,desti´neiʃən] n.目标地 (高中英语单词)


• celebration [,seli´breiʃən] n.庆祝(会)；庆典 (高中英语单词)


• dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中英语单词)


• rugged [´rʌgid] a.不平的；粗犷的 (高中英语单词)


• grandma [´grænmɑ:] n.奶奶；外婆 (高中英语单词)


• vigorous [´vigərəs] a.精力旺盛的；健壮的 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• fearless [´fiələs] a.不怕的，无畏的 (高中英语单词)


• thoughtfully [´θɔ:tfuli] ad.深思地；体贴地 (高中英语单词)


• mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)


• conspicuous [kən´spikjuəs] a.显著的；出众的 (高中英语单词)


• garrison [´gærisən] n.警备队 vt.驻防 (高中英语单词)


• preference [´prefərəns] n.优先选择；偏爱(物) (高中英语单词)


• indifferent [in´difrənt] a.不关心的；中立的 (高中英语单词)


• sweetheart [´swi:thɑ:t] n.爱人；情人 (高中英语单词)


• significance [sig´nifikəns] n.意义；重要性 (高中英语单词)


• uneasy [ʌn´i:zi] a.不安的；不自在的 (高中英语单词)


• composure [kəm´pəuʒə] n.镇静，沉着 (英语四级单词)


• old-time [´əuld-´taim] a.老资格的；古时的 (英语四级单词)


• upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)


• miller [´milə] n.磨坊主；铣床(工) (英语四级单词)


• sleigh [slei] n.雪橇 vi.坐雪橇 (英语四级单词)


• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)


• whiskey [´wiski] n.威士忌酒 =whisky (英语四级单词)


• impatiently [im´peiʃəntli] ad.不耐烦地，急躁地 (英语四级单词)


• poorly [´puəli] a.不舒服的 ad.贫穷地 (英语四级单词)


• farthest [´fɑ:ðist] ad.&a.最远(的) (英语四级单词)


• commonplace [´kɔmənpleis] a.平凡的；常见的 (英语四级单词)


• hurriedly [´hʌridli] ad.仓促地，忙乱地 (英语四级单词)


• hoarse [hɔ:s] a.嘶哑的；嗓门粗哑的 (英语四级单词)


• compassion [kəm´pæʃən] n.同情；怜悯 (英语四级单词)


• brutal [´bru:tl] a.兽性的；残暴的 (英语四级单词)


• cracked [krækt] a.有裂缝的；碎的；粗哑 (英语六级单词)


• wintry [´wintri] a.冬天的；荒凉的 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• inseparable [in´sepərəbəl] a.分不开的 (英语六级单词)


• indomitable [in´dɔmitəbəl] a.不屈不挠的 (英语六级单词)


• prodigal [´prɔdigəl] a.浪费的 n.挥霍者 (英语六级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)