not climb up into the loft," said Mrs. Zane, in a severe
tone. "Only last fall Hugh Bennet's little boy slid off the hay down
into one of the stalls and the horse kicked him nearly to death."

"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, h