He had a gun on his shoulder, and a savage-eyed dog skulked at his heels.

Betty nearly screamed in her terror at this sudden appearance.

She knew at a glance that the fellow must be "Limping Tige," one of the worst characters in the county.

He had just served a third term in the penitentiary, and she had heard Mom Beck say that nobody in the Valley would draw an easy breath while Limping Tige was loose.
A cold fear seized the child, and such a weakness numbed her trembling hands that she could scarcely hold the bridle.
Wheeling the pony so suddenly that she almost lost her balance, she gave him a cut with the switch that sent him flying back over the road he had come, at the top of his speed.

Now every bush and every tree and every brier-tangled fence corner seemed to hold some nameless terror for her, and even her lips were cold and blue with fear.
At the cross-roads she had another fright, as something big and black loomed up in the moonlight ahead of her.