Jim Waring of Sonora-Town; Or, Tang of LifeKnibbs, Henry Herbert
General
Jim Waring of Sonora-Town; Or, Tang of Life
Knibbs, Henry Herbert
Western stories
"Reckon everything she sees up here is just amazin' her at every jump.
I'll bet she's happy, even if she _has_ got lungs. Now, a fella couldn't
help but to like a girl like that. She would made a dandy sister, and a
fella would just about do anything in the world for such a sister. And
she wouldn't have to ask, at that. He would just naturally want to do
things for her, because--well, because he couldn't help feeling that
way. Funny how some wimmin made a man feel like he wanted to just about
worship them, and not because they did anything except be just
themselves. Now, there was that Mrs. Weston. She was a jim-dandy
woman--but she was different. She always seemed to know just what she
was going to say and do. And Mrs. Weston's girl, Alice. Reckon I'd scrap
with her right frequent. She was still--"
Dog-gone it! Where was he drifting to? Sylvestre's sheep were five days
crossing the reserve. Smith reported a small fire north of the lookout.
The Ainslee boys put the fire out. It hadn't done any great damage.
Lorry sat back and chewed the lead pencil. As he gazed out of the window
across the noon mesa a faint fragrance was wafted through the doorway.
He sniffed and grinned. It was the warm flavor of wild turkey, a flavor
that suggested crispness, with juicy white meat beneath. Lorry jumped up
and grabbed a pail as he left the cabin. On his way back from the
spring, Bronson waved to him. Lorry nodded. And presently he presented
himself at Bronson's cabin, his face glowing, his flannel shirt neatly
brushed, and a dark-blue silk bandanna knotted gracefully at his throat.
"This is the princess," said Bronson, gesturing toward his daughter.
"And here is the feast."
"And it was a piano," continued Bronson as they sat down.
"Really? 'Way up here?"
"My daughter plays a little," explained Bronson.
"Well, you're sure welcome to use that piano any time. If I'm gone, the
door is unlocked just the same."
"Thank you, Mr. Adams, I only play to amuse myself now."
Lorry fancied there was a note of regret in her last word. He glanced at
her. She was gazing wistfully out of the window. It hurt him to see that
tinge of hopelessness on her young face.
"This here chicken is fine!" he asserted.
The girl's eyes were turned to him. She smiled and glanced roguishly at
her father. Lorry laughed outright.
"What is the joke?" she demanded.
"Nothin'; only my plate is empty, Miss Bronson."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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