am all right now," said she, and withdrew her hand from his arm. She
gave her head an angry, whimsical shake. "I am ashamed of myself," said
she, "but I was horribly frightened, and sometimes I do faint. I can
generally get the better of myself, but sometimes I can't. It always
makes me so angry. I do hope you don't think I am such an awful coward,
because I am not."

"I think most girls whom I have known would have made much more fuss
than you did," said James. "You never screamed."

"I never did scream in my life," said the girl. "I don't think I could.
I don't know how. I think if I did scream, I should certainly faint."

James stopped and opened his medicine-case. "I think you had better take
just a swallow of brandy," said he.

The girl thrust back the bottle which he offered her with high disdain.
"Brandy," said she, "just because I have been frightened a little! I
should be ashamed of myself if I did such a thing. I am ashamed now for
almost fainting away, but I should never forgive myself if I took brandy
because of it. If I haven't nerve enough to keep straight without
brandy, I should be a pretty poor specimen of a girl." She looked at him
indignantly, and James saw what he had not seen before (he had been so
engrossed with the strangeness of the situation), that she was a
beautiful girl with a singular type of beauty. She was very small, but
she gave the impression of intense springiness and wiriness. Although
she was thin, no one could have called her delicate. She looked as much
alive as a flame, with nerves on the surface from head to heel. Her eyes
were blue, not large, but full of light, her hair, which tossed around
her face in a soft fluff, was ash-blonde. Brown was the last color,