Farm life -- Fiction; Nebraska -- Fiction; Soldiers -- Fiction; War stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
"Oh, won't you? I'm so sorry I forgot to give you your bag last
night. But you must put on another necktie, at least. You look
too much like a groom."
"Do I?" he asked, with a scarcely perceptible curl of his lip.
Everything he needed was neatly arranged on the plush seat;
shirt, collar, tie, brushes, even a handkerchief. Those in his
pockets were black from dusting off the cinders that blew in all
night, and he threw them down and took up the clean one. There
was a damp spot on it, and as he unfolded it he recognized the
scent of a cologne Enid often used. For some reason this
attention unmanned him. He felt the smart of tears in his eyes,
and to hide them bent over the metal basin and began to scrub his
face. Enid stood behind him, adjusting her hat in the mirror.
"How terribly smoky you are, Claude. I hope you don't smoke
before breakfast?"
"No. I was in the smoking car awhile. I suppose my clothes got
full of it."
"You are covered with dust and cinders, too!" She took the
clothes broom from the rack and began to brush him.
Claude caught her hand. "Don't, please!" he said sharply. "The
porter can do that for me."
Enid watched him furtively as he closed and strapped his
suitcase. She had often heard that men were cross before
breakfast.
"Sure you've forgotten nothing?" he asked before he closed her
bag.
"Yes. I never lose things on the train,--do you?"
"Sometimes," he replied guardedly, not looking up as he snapped
the catch.
Book Three; Sunrise on the Prairie
I
Claude was to continue farming with his father, and after he
returned from his wedding journey, he fell at once to work. The
harvest was almost as abundant as that of the summer before, and
he was busy in the fields six days a week.
One afternoon in August he came home with his team, watered and
fed the horses in a leisurely way, and then entered his house by
the back door. Enid, he knew, would not be there. She had gone to
Frankfort to a meeting of the Anti-Saloon League. The Prohibition
party was bestirring itself in Nebraska that summer, confident of
voting the State dry the following year, which purpose it
triumphantly accomplished.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account