But she shrank from his outstretched hand--as though she had labored
to a larger end than she dreamed and was terrified by the thing
she had made.

"You--you got a red stain on your hands. Oh!"

He came to a stop sharply. The sharp edges, where the roots had been
cut away had worked through the skin and his hands were literally
caked with mud and stained red. Bull looked down at his hands vaguely.

It came to Harry that Bull was taking up a trifle too much of Jessie's
attention. The next thing they knew she would be inviting him to come
to the next dance down her way, and they would have the big hulk of a
man shaming himself and his uncle's family.

"Go on back to the house," he ordered sharply. "We don't have no more
need of you."

Bull obeyed, stumbling along and still looking down at his wounded
hands.




CHAPTER 2


He left the three behind him, bewildered and frightened. Had lightning
split a thick tree beside them, or an unexpected landslide thundered