FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68  
69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   >>   >|  
ntier maiden, romantic, emotional, peppery when occasion demanded--just the kind to take the fancy of an honest soul like "Red." His eyes followed her wherever she went, as ever. She could not sit down or stand up or open her delicate lips but that he stared at her, hoping he could be of some service to her. Sometimes he prayed that some slight accident would befall her in order that he might prove his devotion. If she would only be sent to jail, that he could bring her soup and pass it through the bars of her cell! He dreamed this once, and awakened in a cold perspiration; for Angela (in the dream) realized his worth then; and the Governor pardoned her, and they were married at once and lived happily ever afterward. A Freudian lapse, maybe, and a dream a little too sane, according to the psychologists, to mean anything much; but rich in hidden meanings for poor "Red." Oh, that it would come true! She had been so kind and sweet to him this morning. Hardy ambled into the room, and looked around in the most casual way. His eye lit upon Uncle Henry first of all, naturally; for he had all but bumped into him. "How are you, Smith?" he said. "Evenin'." And Angela piped up, to both uncle and nephew: "Good evening." Gilbert bowed. "How do you do? Won't you sit down?" And he pulled out a chair for Angela. "No, thanks," Hardy said; but "Yes, thanks!" his daughter decided, and popped into a seat. "Red" loved her for it. Hardy turned to young Jones. "Well?" was all he said. He referred to his state of health--not that he cared how Gilbert felt. "Anything but," the latter answered. Jasper Hardy always went right to the point. He disliked equivocation; so he rasped out immediately: "Have you got the money?" "No." Angela, who was tender-hearted, tried to intercede. "Now, father!" she pleaded. She hated this business. But Hardy paid not the slightest heed to her. He was a man of action, and women shouldn't interfere--particularly young and pretty girls. "Then I reckon I'll have to foreclose," he went on relentlessly. "There's nothing else to do." His hands closed tightly, and his hard eyes looked even harder. "I'm afraid you're right," Gilbert said. "I was afraid it would be inevitable. I couldn't have hoped for anything else." "I'm sorry," Jasper Hardy announced; but did not mean it. Gilbert told him so. "Moreover, I know how you got your money," the young man was not afraid to say. "I know
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68  
69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Angela

 

Gilbert

 

afraid

 

looked

 
Jasper
 

Anything

 

answered

 

nephew

 

disliked

 

decided


popped

 

daughter

 

pulled

 
referred
 
evening
 
turned
 

health

 

closed

 

tightly

 

foreclose


relentlessly

 

harder

 

Moreover

 
announced
 

inevitable

 

couldn

 
reckon
 
intercede
 

father

 
pleaded

hearted
 

tender

 
rasped
 

immediately

 
business
 

interfere

 

shouldn

 
pretty
 

action

 

slightest


equivocation

 
ambled
 

devotion

 

befall

 
Sometimes
 

prayed

 

slight

 

accident

 
dreamed
 

awakened