"Grey, Zane - Betty Zane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grey Zane)

He stepped behind a clump of laurel bushes near the roadside and waited.
Rapidly the horse and rider approached him. When they were but a few paces
distant he sprang out and, as the pony shied and reared at sight of him, he
clutched the bridle and pulled the pony's head down. Looking up he encountered
the astonished and bewildered gaze from a pair of the prettiest dark eyes it
had ever been his fortune, or misfortune, to look into.

Betty, for it was she, looked at the young man in amazement, while Alfred was
even more surprised and disconcerted. For a moment they looked at each other
in silence. But Betty, who was scarcely ever at a loss for words, presently
found her voice.

"Well, sir! What does this mean?" she asked indignantly.

"It means that you must turn around and go back to the fort," answered Alfred,
also recovering himself.

Now Betty's favorite ride happened to be along this road. It lay along the top
of the bluff a mile or more and afforded a fine unobstructed view of the
river. Betty had either not heard of the Captain's order, that no one was to
leave the fort, or she had disregarded it altogether; probably the latter, as
she generally did what suited her fancy.

"Release my pony's head!" she cried, her face flushing, as she gave a jerk to
the reins. "How dare you? What right have you to detain me?"

The expression Betty saw on Clarke's face was not new to her, for she
remembered having seen it on the faces of young gentlemen whom she had met at
her aunt's house in Philadelphia. It was the slight, provoking smile of the
man familiar with the various moods of young women, the expression of an
amused contempt for their imperiousness. But it was not that which angered
Betty. It was the coolness with which he still held her pony regardless of her
commands.

"Pray do not get excited," he said. "I am sorry I cannot allow such a pretty
little girl to have her own way. I shall hold your pony until you say you will
go back to the fort."

"Sir!" exclaimed Betty, blushing a bright-red. "You--you are impertinent!"

"Not at all," answered Alfred, with a pleasant laugh. "I am sure I do not
intend to be. Captain Boggs did not acquaint me with full particulars or I
might have declined my present occupation: not, however, that it is not
agreeable just at this moment. He should have mentioned the danger of my being
run down by Indian ponies and imperious young ladies."

"Will you let go of that bridle, or shall I get off and walk back for
assistance?" said Betty, getting angrier every moment.