Rancho Del Muerto, and Other Stories of Adventure: by Various Authors, from "Outing"King, Charles
General
Rancho Del Muerto, and Other Stories of Adventure: by Various Authors, from "Outing"
King, Charles
Adventure stories; Fiction; Hunting stories; Short stories
The old lady declined to receive Mrs. Northrup from that time until the
day of her death, about four years later, but when her will was opened
it was found that she had left $200,000 to her niece, Eleanor Van Zandt,
“as a mark of respect for her truth, courage and _artistic ability_,”
and $10,000 for a monument “to that gallant soldier and true gentleman,
John Northrup, who died on the field of Gettysburg in the defense of his
country's flag.” Nell designed the monument, and every Decoration Day
she puts a saddle made of flowers on the old lady's grave. But to my
tale.
Harry Van Zandt, at the time of which I write, was about twenty-six,
tall, broad shouldered, athletic, brown as to eyes, hair, skin and
pointed beard, an engineer and architect by profession, an advanced and
liberal thinker for so young a man, full of high spirits, though with
a depth and earnestness of purpose very refreshing in these days when
selfish indifference is the rule, and altogether a manly, honorable,
self reliant and energetic young fellow. He had charming manners,
reverenced all women, rich or poor, proud or humble, and treated old
people with an affectionate deference that won him many friends.
The steamer had changed her course to the left rather sharply, heading
for her wharf, when a Long Lake boat, with a woman at the sculls and
a young man holding the tiller ropes, crossed our bow and floated by
within fifteen feet of us. I did not need the quick, “There she is!
Look, Harry!” from Mr. Northrup to know that it was Miss Solander. She
had turned her head slightly toward them to bow, and the setting sun
shone squarely in her face, making the wonderful amber hair seem
a nimbus of golden light against the dark background of her huge
Gainsborough hat.
A more perfectly, harmoniously, radiantly beautiful girl I have
never seen. Her coloring was simply marvelous, and I inclined to Mrs.
Northrup's opinion that it must be artificial. It is impossible to give
an adequate description of her--the wonderful child-woman. A face of
rounded and exquisite contours, the skin of that warmest, richest,
brunette type that is almost dusky; cheeks that had the soft, tender,
velvety bloom of a sun-kissed peach; a charming mouth, scarlet as a
flower, ripe, luscious, sensitive, ready to curve with sweet, swift
laughter or to droop with grief. Her eyes, in the glimpse I had of her,
I took to be black or a very dark brown, but later I found they were
of that rare deep blue that becomes violet by an artificial light, and,
indeed, owing to the length and thickness of the dark lashes, it was not
easy at any time to determine their exact color, much less shade. Well,
she was more nearly perfect than any other human thing I ever hope to
see.
From her gold-flax curls' most marvelous shine,
Down to her lithe and delicate feet,
There was not a curve nor a waving line
But moved in a harmony firm and sweet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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