Part 1 From Out The Canyon Chapter 6 To Be Or Not To Be

Observing her now, sitting thus in total unconsciousness of his
scrutiny, Hampton made no attempt to analyze the depth of his interest
for this waif who had come drifting into his life. He did not in the
least comprehend why she should have touched his heart with generous
impulses, nor did he greatly care. The fact was far the more
important, and that fact he no longer questioned. He had been a
lonely, unhappy, discontented man for many a long year, shunned by his
own sex, who feared him, never long seeking the society of the other,
and retaining little real respect for himself. Under such conditions a
reaction was not unnatural, and, short as the time had been since their
first meeting, this odd, straightforward chit of a girl had found an
abiding-place in his heart, had furnished him a distinct motive in life
before unknown.

Even to his somewhat prejudiced eyes she was not an attractive
creature, for she possessed no clear conception of how to render
apparent those few feminine charms she possessed. Negligence and total
unconsciousness of self, coupled with lack of womanly companionship and
guidance, had left her altogether in the rough. He marked now the
coarse ragged shoes, the cheap patched skirt, the tousled auburn hair,
the sunburnt cheeks with a suggestion of freckles plainly visible
beneath the eyes, and some of the fastidiousness of earlier days caused
him to shrug his shoulders. Yet underneath the tan there was the glow
of perfect young health; the eyes were frank, brave, unflinching; while
the rounded chin held a world of character in its firm contour.
Somehow the sight of this brought back to him that abiding faith in her
"dead gameness" which had first awakened his admiration. "She's got it
in her," he thought, silently, "and, by thunder! I 'm here to help her
get it out."