Now the other ten were sitting in the bus, and on Mr. Butts’ face was a
look that meant, “Must we wait all day while that hussy flirts?”
She took her own seat, thinking that she would get Mr. Butts yet.
They were growing a little impatient about lunch, she thought. The long
drive up to Puye, around a hairpin turn that made the Chicago lady
squeal for three minutes, distracted them a little from the idea of
food. But not much. On top of the plateau while they were exclaiming
over the view she thought of something that might get the wedge into Mr.
Butts.
“In November,” she said as they entered the forest, “there are wild
turkeys here. Lots of the boys in town shoot a couple during the
season.” He grunted, but turned to look again at the neat wooded lawns.
“He’s slipping,” she thought hopefully.
The cliffs of Puye were nearer: pale yellow in the pale brightness of
the air. Higher and higher they went, round big curves that pulled them
closer to the caves with every sweep. She showed them the caves——
“See those dark spots? Those are the cliff-dwellings we came out to see.
Yes, we’ll see them much closer than this, Mrs. Jennings. We’re going to
climb right up; right up there.” Mrs. Jennings squealed a little. She
had them already, Gin reflected; she had all of them but Mr. Butts. How
long would he take?
They swarmed over the rest-house when the bus came to a halt.
“Lunch!” she cried gaily. Mr. Butts seemed unimpressed. The hostess
called her into the kitchen and whispered, “I’m at my wits’ ends. Will
you please put it into your report again tonight? I simply cannot manage
without another maid. I’m sorry, Gin, but I don’t think you’ll have much
time for your own lunch today. Would you mind eating it afterwards?”
Gin carried plates and glasses back and forth from the kitchen to the
living-room. Mrs. Jennings offered to help in a very sportsmanslike
Western manner, but she was refused. Gin was horrified at the idea of a
dude stepping into the kitchen. The hostess worked furiously unpacking
the lunch that had come on the back of the bus; jellied soup and salad
and apricot pie.
“Gosh, I get sick of this soup,” said Gin disconsolately in the kitchen,
talking to the cook. “It’s worse when I have three trips to the same
place in succession. Some day I’ll start bringing my own lunch.” She
walked over to the window and watched the dudes disporting on the porch,
fully fed and happy, teasing the rest-house puppy. Mr. Butts looked
dour, however. He hadn’t been able to eat the apricot pie or the
sandwiches because he was on a diet. “That fat one,” she told the cook,
“is pretty bad.”
The cook looked over her shoulder and agreed heartily. “They all travel,
that kind. Nobody will keep them at home. Have some more coffee?”
“No thanks. We’ll have to be starting. Well....” With a gesture of
tightening her belt, she walked out to the porch. “Well, people, are we
ready to go?”
“Where to?” asked Mr. Butts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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