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