FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94  
95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   >>   >|  
will cowhide Ruff and I want to see him do it." In Flo Hutter then Carley saw another and a different spirit of the West, a violence unrestrained and fierce that showed in the girl's even voice and in the piercing light of her eyes. They went back to the horses, got their lunches from the saddlebags, and, finding comfortable seats in a sunny, protected place, they ate and talked. Carley had to force herself to swallow. It seemed that the horrid odor of dip and sheep had permeated everything. Glenn had known her better than she had known herself, and he had wished to spare her an unnecessary and disgusting experience. Yet so stubborn was Carley that she did not regret going through with it. "Carley, I don't mind telling you that you've stuck it out better than any tenderfoot we ever had here," said Flo. "Thank you. That from a Western girl is a compliment I'll not soon forget," replied Carley. "I shore mean it. We've had rotten weather. And to end the little trip at this sheep-dip hole! Why, Glenn certainly wanted you to stack up against the real thing!" "Flo, he did not want me to come on the trip, and especially here," protested Carley. "Shore I know. But he let you." "Neither Glenn nor any other man could prevent me from doing what I wanted to do." "Well, if you'll excuse me," drawled Flo, "I'll differ with you. I reckon Glenn Kilbourne is not the man you knew before the war." "No, he is not. But that does not alter the case." "Carley, we're not well acquainted," went on Flo, more carefully feeling her way, "and I'm not your kind. I don't know your Eastern ways. But I know what the West does to a man. The war ruined your friend--both his body and mind.... How sorry mother and I were for Glenn, those days when it looked he'd sure 'go west,' for good!... Did you know he'd been gassed and that he had five hemorrhages?" "Oh! I knew his lungs had been weakened by gas. But he never told me about having hemorrhages." "Well, he shore had them. The last one I'll never forget. Every time he'd cough it would fetch the blood. I could tell!... Oh, it was awful. I begged him not to cough. He smiled--like a ghost smiling--and he whispered, 'I'll quit.'... And he did. The doctor came from Flagstaff and packed him in ice. Glenn sat propped up all night and never moved a muscle. Never coughed again! And the bleeding stopped. After that we put him out on the porch where he could breathe fresh air all the tim
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94  
95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Carley

 

forget

 

hemorrhages

 

wanted

 

looked

 

Eastern

 

acquainted

 

carefully

 
Kilbourne
 

feeling


mother

 

friend

 

ruined

 

propped

 

packed

 

Flagstaff

 

whispered

 
smiling
 

doctor

 

muscle


breathe
 

coughed

 

bleeding

 

stopped

 

reckon

 

weakened

 

gassed

 

begged

 

smiled

 

protected


comfortable

 

finding

 

lunches

 
saddlebags
 

talked

 
permeated
 

wished

 

horrid

 

swallow

 

horses


Hutter

 
cowhide
 
spirit
 
violence
 

piercing

 

unrestrained

 
fierce
 

showed

 

unnecessary

 

protested