"Grey, Zane - Betty Zane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grey Zane)

mischievous; inclined to coquettishness, and more terrible than all she had a
fiery temper which could be aroused with the most surprising ease.

Colonel Zane was wont to say that his sister's accomplishments were
innumerable. After only a few months on the border she could prepare the flax
and weave a linsey dresscloth with admirable skill. Sometimes to humor Betty
the Colonel's wife would allow her to get the dinner, and she would do it in a
manner that pleased her brothers, and called forth golden praises from the
cook, old Sam's wife who had beer with the family twenty years. Betty sang in
the little church on Sundays; she organized and taught a Sunday school class;
she often beat Colonel Zane and Major McColloch at their favorite game of
checkers, which they had played together since they were knee high; in fact,
Betty did nearly everything well, from baking pies to painting the birch bark
walls of her room. But these things were insignificant in Colonel Zane's eyes.
If the Colonel were ever guilty of bragging it was about his sister's ability
in those acquirements demanding a true eye, a fleet foot, a strong arm and a
daring spirit. He had told all the people in the settlement, to many of whom
Betty was unknown, that she could ride like an Indian and shoot with undoubted
skill; that she had a generous share of the Zanes' fleetness of foot, and that
she would send a canoe over as bad a place as she could find. The boasts of
the Colonel remained as yet unproven, but, be that as it may, Betty had,
notwithstanding her many faults, endeared herself to all. She made sunshine
and happiness everywhere; the old people loved her; the children adored her,
and the broad shouldered, heavy footed young settlers were shy and silent, yet
blissfully happy in her presence.

"Betty, will you fill my pipe?" asked the Colonel, when he had finished his
supper and had pulled his big chair nearer the fire. His oldest child, Noah, a
sturdy lad of six, climbed upon his knee and plied him with questions.

"Did you see any bars and bufflers?" he asked, his eyes large and round.

"No, my lad, not one."

"How long will it be until I am big enough to go?"

"Not for a very long time, Noah."

"But I am not afraid of Betty's bar. He growls at me when I throw sticks at
him, and snaps his teeth. Can I go with you next time?"

"My brother came over from Short Creek to-day. He has been to Fort Pitt,"
interposed Mrs. Zane. As she was speaking a tap sounded on the door, which,
being opened by Betty, disclosed Captain Boggs his daughter Lydia, and Major
Samuel McColloch, the brother of Mrs. Zane.

"Ah, Colonel! I expected to find you at home to-night. The weather has been
miserable for hunting and it is not getting any better. The wind is blowing
from the northwest and a storm is coming," said Captain Boggs, a fine,
soldierly looking man.