Page:Barbour--Peggy in the rain.djvu/24

 violet, and now, with the terror in them, they were unnaturally large and dark. Somehow, with those eyes on him he felt less big-brotherly than he had a moment before. The eyes turned away and he was rather glad of it, for he found that his heart had begun to beat a strange tune. He studied the soft curve of her cheek and the little tendril of brown hair that had become plastered against it by the rain, and the desire to protect her became so strong that he could have stood up and, like Ajax, defied the lightning! The magnolia tree, while it fell far short of supplying the shelter of the tent that Gordon had likened it to, was a sturdy old forest giant, with a wide spread, and its great oval leaves, green-lacquered on top, spilled the rain from their glistening surfaces like so many duck's feathers. The rain found its way through, to be sure, but, Gordon reflected, perhaps the cabin which he had sought would have proved no tighter. The horse, trembling and snorting when the thunder crashed, behaved admirably, like the thoroughbred gentleman he was.

"They say," said the girl presently, "that it's dangerous to be under a tree. Is it?"